Hi, I'm Sparkol's new lead developer. I've not been here long but I'm already changing how we develop VideoScribe. It will still be the amazing animation product used all around the world – only faster and more reliable. Here's how.
I joined Sparkol because I could see by how talented and passionate the people who work here are. I was convinced that they could produce even better experiences for you by applying techniques and processes that I've learnt.
My first week was spent learning about VideoScribe and in particular the parts of it that cause the most friction.
I also learnt about the future plans for VideoScribe, how we intend to keep adding fantastic new features.
Scrum – quick, quality improvements
From our discussions we decided to implement Scrum, which is an Agile methodology.
Scrum is a structured way to implement features quickly as a team, whilst maintaining a very high quality level.
Scrum is very much the accepted approach to developing high quality software, which can quickly change to meet need requirements. It’s used by the BBC, HP, Google, IBM, Logitech, Microsoft, to name just a few large organisations, along with many smaller companies and digital agencies.
It means when we fix bugs, they stay fixed.
Intro to Agile Scrum in Under 10 Minutes (video)
Testing, testing
One of the key approaches typically used with Scrum is Test Driven Development (TDD).
Tests in the software industry are a widely accepted way to ensure that software does what it’s meant to do. When code is written it describes to the computer the way it should behave. When unexpected behaviour occurs, we call this a bug.
With Test Driven Development before any code is written we first come up with a series of tests that define what should happen. After this the bare minimum of code is written to pass these tests.
We then make the code easier to read and remove duplication. By reducing the amount of code and structuring it into smaller well defined pieces, we reduce the chance of problems like bugs or poor performance creeping in.
Over time as more tests are written we gain more confidence in our code. Our tests are run multiple times a day which notify us if anything breaks.
This gives us a reliable product with fewer bugs and the ability to concentrate on adding new features, rather than fixing old ones.
Agile in Practice: Test Driven Development (video)
Fast, reliable software
The benefit of these changes will take time to gain momentum, but it’s a course I'm committed to that is proven to produce reliable, high performance software.
These improvements mean that you will be empowered to unleash your imagination with a fast piece of software that can be relied on.
Here's to the future of VideoScribe.
If you have any thoughts about development I'd love to hear them in the VideoScribe Community or in the comments below.
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