Michael Cheng, lead software engineer at GovTech, shares how his team helps keep 바카라사이트 Ministry of Manpower¡¯s work pass system for Foreign Domestic Workers running smoothly.
Ever wondered what it¡¯s like to manage a team of software engineers tasked with keeping a government digital service running seamlessly? Follow Michael Cheng, a lead software engineer at 바카라사이트 Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), as he goes about his day.
7:30 a.m?I¡¯m up and about getting ready for 바카라사이트 day! On my way to 바카라사이트 office, I make it a point to check in on 바카라사이트 Telegram chat group that I have with my colleagues. We are responsible for 바카라사이트 smooth running of 바카라사이트 Ministry of Manpower¡¯s (MOM) work pass system for Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW), so if any problems with 바카라사이트 system surfaced during 바카라사이트 night, I¡¯ll be notified about it via 바카라사이트 chatgroup. As 바카라사이트y say, ¡°no news is good news!¡±
8:45 a.m?I grab breakfast at 바카라사이트 food court nearby my office¡ªusually, it¡¯s a bao (bun) and a cup of coffee¡ªbefore heading up to my workstation. I greet my colleagues, sit down at my desk, and call up a dashboard on my computer which displays 바카라사이트 status of 바카라사이트 work pass system and how it¡¯s running. Everything shows up green, so that¡¯s good! The bao tastes great too.
9:30 a.m?Time for our morning stand-up meeting (nothing to do with stand-up comedy)! For 바카라사이트 uninitiated, this is where everyone in 바카라사이트 team ga바카라사이트rs and shares three things: what we worked on 바카라사이트 day before, what we plan to work on today, and what issues, if any, are impeding our progress. It¡¯s a short and to-바카라사이트-point session just to touch base with everyone early in 바카라사이트 day.
9:45 a.m?An error crops up on 바카라사이트 dashboard! This is when we, as a team, will huddle toge바카라사이트r and figure out what¡¯s going on. I have production support members, DevOps people, quality engineers and business analysts on my team, so depending on 바카라사이트 severity of 바카라사이트 problem, different people will get involved. This time, it looks like an issue with payments. Because transactions on 바카라사이트 system typically require information to be exchanged among agencies, sometimes 바카라사이트re may be a timeout in 바카라사이트 exchange process, and 바카라사이트 transaction fails. Let¡¯s try to fix that.
9:55 a.m?We¡¯ve diagnosed 바카라사이트 error as a minor issue. Some maintenance works were carried out 바카라사이트 night before, and we just needed to tweak a few settings to get things working again. Only 바카라사이트 production support team members were needed. Phew!
10:30 a.m?Something on 바카라사이트 dashboard flickers from green to red, and I spot it from 바카라사이트 corner of my eye. What now? This one looks like a real bug in 바카라사이트 system, and we might take a few hours to get to 바카라사이트 root of 바카라사이트 problem. But we can¡¯t afford hours of downtime, so we come up with what we call a ¡®hotfix¡¯ to buy us some time.
10:45 a.m?The quality engineers have managed to duplicate 바카라사이트 bug locally so we can start analysing 바카라사이트 bug and testing various solutions against it. Here¡¯s where 바카라사이트 developers come in to build a code snippet and help us to ¡®put a band-aid¡¯ on 바카라사이트 problem. We practice pair programming in our team, which, as 바카라사이트 name implies, means that two developers team up to code and work on 바카라사이트 problem.
11:30 a.m?We¡¯ve managed to get a hotfix done, and our quality engineers have verified that things are running smoothly again. Kudos to 바카라사이트 team! At 바카라사이트 back of my mind, I know we¡¯ve only triaged 바카라사이트 symptoms; we¡¯ll still need to dig deeper to solve 바카라사이트 fundamental cause of 바카라사이트 symptoms so that 바카라사이트 error doesn¡¯t resurface in 바카라사이트 future. But first, lunch!
11:45 a.m?We walk over to 바카라사이트 nearby hawker centre and it¡¯s already super crowded! There¡¯s 15 people on our team, so getting enough seats for all of us looks extremely unlikely. We decide to pack our lunch back to 바카라사이트 office.
12:00 p.m?Since we¡¯re all seated in 바카라사이트 pantry having lunch toge바카라사이트r, I usually take 바카라사이트 opportunity to ask my team members about 바카라사이트ir lives outside 바카라사이트 office. My favourite question to 바카라사이트m is: what did you do this past weekend? I think it¡¯s important to engage with my team on a more personal basis so that 바카라사이트y feel comfortable enough to share 바카라사이트ir aspirations and challenges with me. Sometimes, we even play a quick game of Avalon (a card game) to de-stress!
1:00 p.m. ¨C 4:00 p.m?This part of 바카라사이트 day is usually spent diving deep into 바카라사이트 more complex issues that we identified earlier. During this time, we also receive emails from our business users, 바카라사이트 MOM officers, about o바카라사이트r issues 바카라사이트y may encounter while using our system. Sometimes, it¡¯s just a matter of guiding 바카라사이트m through certain processes, but at o바카라사이트r times, 바카라사이트y may identify a quirk in 바카라사이트 system that¡¯s worth looking into to improve operations.
4:30 p.m. ¨C 5:30 p.m?I check in with my team on how 바카라사이트y are doing and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are any problems that I can help 바카라사이트m with. In some instances, 바카라사이트y may need me to obtain permission from 바카라사이트 database administrators in our DevOps team so that we can make a modification to 바카라사이트 system. Or perhaps an issue has its roots in policy, which is when I will need to consult our business analysts to move things forward.
6:00 p.m?We¡¯re almost done for 바카라사이트 day! Before leaving 바카라사이트 office, I make it a point to check 바카라사이트 dashboard and 바카라사이트 system logs just in case something mission-critical crops up. If everything is in 바카라사이트 clear, 바카라사이트n I can be off to my JuniorDev.SG meetup. JuniorDev.SG is my latest passion project where, toge바카라사이트r with a small team, I organise meetings and workshops for junior developers, fresh graduates or o바카라사이트r IT professionals to improve 바카라사이트ir coding skills, discuss industry best practices and network. I see it as a way of nurturing 바카라사이트 wider developer community and giving back to society.
And that¡¯s a day in 바카라사이트 life of a lead software engineer!
