Full Stack Octopus
Kat Stevens
@katstevens
Stack
- Django
- content
- planning
- management
- design/UX
- sys admin
and
Start
- legacy .NET site - didn’t integrate well
- free hand to choose
- new to Django and Python, started with small prototype projects
- Bordeaux En Primeur - shopping cart without e-commerce
- re-use modules in main project
- boss was happy
Django and Python
- favourite part of the stack
- all the Django goodness
- open source
- custom template tags
- can lose track sometimes
- love the Debug Toolbar
- only have to merge code with self
- can leave # hilarious comments
- can use libraries and APIs - used Tumblr API so users can use Tumblr phone app
- can get carried away and reinvent the wheel - don’t even realise the wheel exists
- no technical feedback
- can ditch things if not working, no complex ticketing, can deploy small fixes quicker
- testing suffers, but needed, # TODO:
- get stuck sometimes - stackoverflow, not always answered
Front End
- already knew fundamentals of web design
- know core client base
- only IE8+, but needs responsive design
time sinks
- photoshop “the full stack developer’s nemesis” - wasted so much time rebooting getting photoshop to work - try to offload to company print designer
Content
- import stock from legacy MS SQL server
- UTF-8, latin-1 and simplified chinese
- ODBC drivers ... (2 years ago)
- data minefield - different ways of writing names of wine AND similar names are different
- needed help with wine knowledge
- customised Django Admin so others could use it
- translations through i18n
Managing and Admin
- analytics, enough money ...
- T&C, bank, ad agencies, renew domain names
Sys admin
- don’t know much, “fills me with terror”, would outsource if I could
- security - no users
- quick response eg heartbleed
- but some problems are beyond me
Etc
- proofing cookbook
- 6 month secondment to cover email marketing
- HTML5 roulette wheel!!