Aspiring Programmer questions about working for LL

[Noelle Lapis]

Hello and hello!

I got a little question about focusing my studies. I'm currently studying to become a Developer; probably back end with c#, C++ and then some.

I have a goal of one day working for Linden Labs as a developer! So my question is what would be a great way to make me stand out above other applicants? 

I'm considering a bootcamp but i'm not sure. Right now i'm 100% online education with sites like Udemy, CodeAcademy, CodeCombat and many more just so i can get my foot in the coding door. Would anyone recommend a certain bootcamp over another and why? Or should i continue self studying. 

I have friends who are 100% self educated and now they are senior developers for all kinds of companies; and they recommend it! But i'm not sure if i can handle that without the aid of a taught classroom. 

I go over the jobs posting page and take note of what LL is looking for in a developer and i plan on studying those as well. Also do anyone know if companies like LL are dead set on hiring programmers with multiple years of experience or will they take an entry level programmer and assist with training them? Cause that would be AWESOME!

I've been working in I.T as help Desk for 7 years, now i'm in the Security Field as a Senior IT Data Security Analyst for a global freight forwarding company so i'm no stranger to computers. So if you have any advice, i'd really appreciate it!! 

Thank you for reading, and hope you have a wonderful day!

Yours truly;

Noelle Lapis.

[Deann3]

Honest answer from an outsider? Don't go to work for Linden Lab. Can you not see the mess they have to deal with? anything new you might have will just get thrown in with the rest of the garbage on top of more garbage that the system just isn't designed to cope with. You're honestly better off going to work for sony.

[Whirly Fizzle]

7 hours ago, Noelle Lapis said:

So my question is what would be a great way to make me stand out above other applicants? 

You can contribute code to LL right now.  Being a known code contributor before you apply for a job would help I'm sure.
The viewer code is open source & any Resident can sign the CA (contribution agreement) & submit code patches to LL.

Some handy links:

• Open source portal on the wiki - a little outdated but still useful: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Open_Source_Portal
• Join the open source dev mailing list: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/OpenSource-Dev
• Sign the CA (Contribution Agreement): http://lecs-opensource.secondlife.com/SLVcontribution_agmt.pdf
• Learn to compile the viewer: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Visual_Studio_2013_Viewer_Builds
• Study the viewer code: https://bitbucket.org/lindenlab/viewer-release
• Attend the Open Development User group: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Open_Development_User_Group - This is run by Oz Linden who would probably be the Linden that would be hiring you as a programmer.
• Attend other Linden user groups: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:User_Groups
• Use the LL RC & project viewers & report bugs in them on the JIRA.

Paging @Oz Linden

[Callum Meriman]

As Whirly says, clone the source code for the viewer and start learning how things work. The resources she listed will be invaluable!

If you have the skill and want to be extra valued, work in linux  there is a huge shortage of developers willing to assist with Linux issues.

[ellestones]

i would suggest focusing your learning efforts on server side programming.  Is a zillion people want to do client side visuals and interactions. if you never make it into a game company as a programmer then are plenty of other businesses that can't get enough serversiders who know their stuff

but if you do want to make it as a clientsider then get into game modding. Game modders who are good, can get legend status.  Basically is not enough to just be good at programming, we need a reputation. When we have been in an industry for a while and produce good work then we get reputation.  When we newbie with zero industry experience then we have zero reputation, so we have to make our own 

as others have suggested. Building and adding to your own SL viewer is game modding

[Beq Janus]

19 hours ago, Noelle Lapis said:

Hello and hello!

I got a little question about focusing my studies. I'm currently studying to become a Developer; probably back end with c#, C++ and then some.

I have a goal of one day working for Linden Labs as a developer! So my question is what would be a great way to make me stand out above other applicants? 

I'm considering a bootcamp but i'm not sure. Right now i'm 100% online education with sites like Udemy, CodeAcademy, CodeCombat and many more just so i can get my foot in the coding door. Would anyone recommend a certain bootcamp over another and why? Or should i continue self studying. 

I have friends who are 100% self educated and now they are senior developers for all kinds of companies; and they recommend it! But i'm not sure if i can handle that without the aid of a taught classroom. 

I go over the jobs posting page and take note of what LL is looking for in a developer and i plan on studying those as well. Also do anyone know if companies like LL are dead set on hiring programmers with multiple years of experience or will they take an entry level programmer and assist with training them? Cause that would be AWESOME!

I've been working in I.T as help Desk for 7 years, now i'm in the Security Field as a Senior IT Data Security Analyst for a global freight forwarding company so i'm no stranger to computers. So if you have any advice, i'd really appreciate it!! 

Thank you for reading, and hope you have a wonderful day!

Yours truly;

Noelle Lapis.

Hi,

I can speak with some familiarity here. I had no formal computing education, I began coding when I was about 14, helping my brother who couldn't "get it". It was hard to break into the industry even back in those days, and there is an element of luck in all this stuff, but I firmly believe that you make your own luck by making sure that there are plenty of opportunities for luck to shine upon you, so the key message is try and try and try again. 

I am not going to divulge my RL credentials here, but I have worked for many years from junior to very senior roles from development to architecture. Specialising towards a specific industry is possible but a solid underpinning in computer science will help you more than anything else. Being able to demonstrate how to select an appropriate algorithm, and understand the compromises your choices lead to are generally valuable tools no matter where you end up. Don't think too specifically about the target industry, it will have changed and moved on before you reach your destination.

VR/AR and Mobile are hot topics, your security background is a valuable asset in this too. Skills used in predicting attack vectors and conducting penetration testing are similar skills to those needed to take a user bug report and extrapolate what might cause it. Going forward AI will become more prevalent in gameplay mechanics. It is highly sought after in general terms too. 

For a games specific focus, especially in the VR space, you would want to examine the mathematics around 3D. Be wary of focussing too much on a given solution, time passes quickly and you can end up left with outdated skills. In the viewer, we use OpenGL for the 3d rendering today, but for how much longer is another question, and you need to think outside of a single plan and look at the games industry as a whole, but in learning OpenGL you come across many areas of the field of 3D programming that are very portable. Unity development is widely taught, and again, those skills in general terms are highly transferable to other game engines. At some point, you may well want to focus on a specific technology but establishing a firm foundation and building on that is going to make you more resilient to changes in the market.

For LL you will need to be US-based, they do not employ non-US people, though they do have certain offshore contract relationships. Based on what I know of the people working for the Lab it is a great environment and people love their jobs and the company. If you want some specific suggestions, consider coming along to a Linden meeting and talking to one or more of the staffers. A lot of roles in LL are looking for experienced people, the teams are pretty small and tight and bringing on someone has a considerable overhead so doing all you can to minimise their risk there is going to be important. With that in mind, look at what Whirly said, there are lots of ways to establish a track record that you can then cite when you apply. Contribution to open source projects is often used by tech firms to pre-vet a candidate, they can go out and look at your contributions through the lens of github etc.

Beq