Practice Makes …. Perfect?

Faris-Penn Finds Part of the Experience is Build Something, DeBug it and Keep Going

July 16, 2007

Sheila Faris-Penn, director of web communications for University Advancement, is spending seven weeks as an application developer intern at Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Marketing’s New Media Division, thanks to a Staff Development Award she received this spring.

Inside Online asked Faris-Penn to provide a weekly blog about the experience. This is her fourth submission.

Week 4

Fixing the DAMM Project

Forgive the TV reference: "Previously on Sheila’s Blog..."

I was working on the Digital Anthology of Marketing web-page Materials (DAMM) website while my instructor was on vacation. But the one “working” example that I was supposed to use as a template during the week for all the other back-end pages wasn’t actually working. I discovered that I was capable of getting a lot done, even when I didn’t quite know what I was doing. I think that’s called “fake it ‘til you make it.”

When my instructor returned from vacation this week we took a look at the pages to see what was wrong. I’m glad to report that it wasn’t something I had done incorrectly! (Whew.) It also wasn’t something that was easy to find. (Sigh.)

So I got to learn another process, and I think it’s probably one of the best things I’m learning over here. I got to watch an experienced coder go through the documentation, step by step, to see how each line of code is SUPPOSED to work and how to use it. This ability to find the answer when you’re not sure where to start looking and there’s no one to ask is HUGE, and I’m glad that it’s part of my training (even if unintended).

We did find what wasn’t working and fixed it. (Then I got to go through and fix it on each and every page, which I’m going to call good practice <grin>.) Though there are still some bugs and some things left to do, for the most part the pages for the maintenance of the database are working!

Introducing New People

The New Media office in the Warner Bros. Worldwide Television office recently hired several new employees, so they had a group lunch to introduce them. What’s really cool is that I was included as one of the “new” people.

We had lunch off the Lot, at this great deli. It was the first Burbank restaurant I’ve eaten at – I usually bring my lunch or eat on the Lot. It was good to get to talk to people in a casual setting and to find out a little bit about what each person does. There are some really talented people here who have some serious web skills. It would be easy to be intimidated, but they’re also all really nice.

They seemed surprised that my stay at WB would be so short. When they found out that my “real job” was on campus, they were interested in that experience. It’s nice to know that the grass is pretty green on our side, too.

Office Mates

With the hiring of new employees came the usual lack of desk space. One afternoon my instructor came to my cubicle and said, “we’re going to have to move you.” So we grabbed my computer, papers and colored pens and headed across the hall … right into his office. (Yikes.)

He has one of those desks without a front panel, so we put my computer on his desk, on the opposite side, with my back to the door. Anyone who knows me knows how nervous it makes me to have my back to the door. Oddly enough that hasn’t been bothering me

Instead I was mortified that I might do something to annoy my instructor (since it’s his office). Any of the little things you do that might bug someone (like eating crackers or something) or sounds that I or my computer might make, made me nervous. In addition, I don’t usually have anything on my mind (because it’s all over my desk). So keeping things organized and put away is another skill I’m practicing – though I’m not so sure that one will stick <grin>.

It hasn’t been a problem at all. And it’s been great to be able to ask questions without getting up, lol. So I guess it was better this way? Okay, even I’m not buying that. But it hasn’t been bad.

At Least I'm Not Making the SAME Mistakes!

I’m beginning to think that my job here at Warner Bros. is really to make as many programming mistakes as I possibly can in as short a time as possible. Each time I do, I get to go through the process of figuring out what I did wrong and correcting it (debugging).

When I get stuck, my instructor is willing to drop everything he’s working on and help me out (with a smile, even). He’s great at taking each “teaching moment” to talk about how it’s supposed to work and why it’s not working. He also seems to know when I have enough to puzzle it out on my own – and since I’m going to have to be able to do that when I get back to CSUF, that’s a good thing. And every once in a while I find the answer WITHOUT having to bug him (pun intended) and that's a real thrill.

All the above is actually nice spin for, “Crap. It crashed. Again. Now what?” <grin> More “good practice.”

Week 5 Previews

Burbank’s Media District
The DAMM Front End
Things Left To Do
Unintended QA