In this month’s Meet the Zauian, we catch up with William Oak, our Senior Developer. William brings with him 30 years of experience to Zaui. He constantly pushes himself to craft the most efficient code and keep development cutting-edge, equipping Zaui with the right features for tour, activity, and transport operators.
His advice to new Zauians in software development—Do code reviews! Today, he’s sharing his experience, expertise, and love for Zaui.
What’s your process while working on a new project?
Design, design, design … then code … then debug, debug, debug.
What is the most exciting part of being a Software Developer at Zaui?
The thing I love about working at Zaui is the constant learning and the ongoing opportunity to mentor other devs.
How have you been able to learn and grow at Zaui?
Zaui is a constant course of learning new things about programming … VUE, knockout, Unit testing, node ecosystem, AWS, the list goes on!
Do you use any specific tools or have a routine that helps you stay productive?
My home office is very comfortable, quiet, bright, and wonderful to concentrate in.
What was the favourite Zaui project and why?
My favourite project at Zaui was helping the dev team learn AGILE, and seeing the new hires join the dev team’s culture.
What does your workday look like?
I start each morning with a long and arduous commute, walking upstairs takes more than 30 seconds! Once at work, several times a day I have to walk all the way downstairs to get another tea and then commute again up those horrible stairs and work the rest of the day… then the commute back downstairs after work… You know that’s over 8 and a half hours a year commuting!
What helps you feel connected to your coworkers while working remotely?
Standup video meetings every morning!
My Favourite quote:
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I program in my spare time, experimenting with new ideas and new languages.
What do you do to turn things around when you’re having a bad day?
I talk to my wife, in person or via text messenger. She always helps me see the bright side of life.
What advice would you give to new Zauians in their first month?
Do code reviews! It’s good practice, and it helps you learn our code style.
What passion projects do you do outside of work?
I am working on upgrading my home server from PHP 7.4 (that we use at Zaui) to 8.1 (the current latest version of PHP).
If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?
Some guy who is not named ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ … (that’s a pseudonym for the person who created bitcoin.)
If you could pick anybody to be your mentor, who would it be?
Satoshi Nakamoto!
