For the past few weeks, I've been working in a new job. I still work for REAL Software, of course. However, my role within the company has changed. I now carry two complementary (not to be confused with complimentary!) new titles. I'm the lead compiler architect, as well as the lead programmer.
So what do these sundry titles actually mean?
As lead compiler architect, I am in charge of language direction, design and implementation. New compiler features, compiler-related bug fixes, etc are all things which eventually land on my plate. Before you start to fret that I'm going to totally murder the REALbasic language, let me put your mind at ease. I have no intentions of destroying the language. ;-) I certainly have plans and ideas, but many of them come from years of discussion with Mars. For the immediate future, most of my linguistic plans basically revolve around bringing previously planned language features to light.
I'm very excited about this change of scenery with regards to my daily programming topics. I've always wanted to work on the compiler, and have spent many months training for this transition with Mars. In fact, I've been working solely on the compiler for about the last six to eight months and have several shipping features under my belt (along with dozens of fixes and a few refactorings to boot). Both Mars and I are very confident in my ability to step into the role and perform to everyone's expectations.
The additional title of lead programmer is a somewhat new concept internally. We've always had the concept of "person we look to for technical answers", as does any team of programmers. However, we've not had a defined role for the lead programmer to fill. Recently, we've realized that we need a person in charge of the technical day-to-day aspects of running the programming staff. I'm very happy and excited to be that person.
In addition to my daily programming duties, I now have some extra duties. Some of them are technical in nature, as you would expect. Others are managerial in nature, which is a very interesting new area of growth for me.
One of the new managerial duties I have is to ensure my staff is adequate. We're currently looking to hire programmers with strong REALbasic, OOP, and database skills. So if you think you have what it takes to work on the REALbasic IDE with a team of passionate and dedicated people, please send me your resume and an example of your best code.
All-in-all, I'm very excited about the changes in my professional career. The technical and personal challenges these changes pose are certainly welcome! I know I can rise to meet them and help make REALbasic even better (boy, don't I just *sound* like a manager now!!).
Congratulations. Quite a challenging and rewarding dual role but not all that uncommon with a small development team. I see the formalization of these roles as a very good sign.
To what address should we, in theory, send such submissions?
@Isaac -- you can send resumes to hr@realsoftware.com, or aaron@realsoftware.com
Man, compilers are cool. I'm trying to sort though them on my own, and all the things I've seen online stink, which makes figuring them out hard. Congrats on the... promotion?, Aaron!
RS doesn't have an intern type program, does it?
@jdiwnab -- thanks, and yes it is a promotion. :-) RS doesn't officially have an internship program, but we've taken on interns before. You'd have to be willing and able to move to Austin, TX to even be considered for the internship, which is usually kills most interest people have in interning. If you want to discuss the possibility though, contact me off-list directly.