Remote, lonely and productive

Talk given at Android Makers Paris 2017

Being the only developer in a project can be frustrating, everything falls into your shoulders and it's very easy to get trapped into bad habits. You are not alone! There are many tools, practices and services that will make your life easier... and efficient!

Several months ago David joined Help Scout as the only Android Developer with the main purpose of building their Android application from scratch. Coming from an agency environment where there were more than 30 developers willing to discuss and present different ideas, it's been quite a challenge.

This talk shares David's experience, explaining what tools, practices and methodologies he's followed. Being the only developer is no impediment to build great quality code, follow good design patterns and delight your users.

How to do Pull Requests, Code Reviews, Design Reviews, Continuous Delivery and Integration... Whether you are a one man band or work with a team, these tips will help you become a better programmer!

Transcript

1. Memories of a remote and lonely Android developer
   

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4. When considering a new job,
   53.3%
   said remote options were a top
   priority
   

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5. A majority of developers
   63.9%
   reported working remotely at least
   one day a month
   

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6. 11.1%
   say they’re full-time remote or
   almost all the time
   

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7. http://stackoverflow.com/insights/survey/2017
   

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8. http://blog.ovidiubokar.com/sites/default/files/images/dilbert-working-from-home.jpg
   

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9. What does remote mean?
   

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17. A bad writer could turn a
    2-minute chat into a 10-minute
    chat
    “
    - Nick Francis
    CEO Help Scout
    

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19. Hours
    0
    7.5
    15
    22.5
    30
    Android Studio Slack Github.com Inbox twitter.com facebook.com
    1
    2.5
    3
    4
    8
    22
    1
    3
    2
    3
    6
    25
    March February
    

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20. Lonely
    

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22. Your main goal is to ship a product
    

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23. Your main goal is to ship a product
    

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24. Productive
    

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26. 7 stages of naming
    

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27. helpscout
    api
    app
    database
    

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28. app
    common
    data
    domain
    injection
    

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29. domain
    conversations
    folders
    mailboxes
    session
    search
    settings
    

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30. mailboxes
    model
    usecases
    view
    MailboxesMVP
    MailboxesPresenter
    

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31. Static analysis
    

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32. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
    // wrapper task to run all static code analysis
    task staticAnalysis {
    description 'Runs checkstyle, findbugs and pmd against the
    main sources.'
    group 'Verification'
    }
    def sourceSetMain = android.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs
    def rulesDir = new File(project.teamPropsDir, 'rules')
    def ignoreFail = !project.failFastOnError
    def includeSrcPatternApplication = 'net/helpscout/**/*.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternClass = 'net/helpscout/android/**/R.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternGeneratedFiles = '**/gen/**'
    def excludeSrcDagger = 'net/helpscout/android/injection*.java'
    

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33. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
    // wrapper task to run all static code analysis
    task staticAnalysis {
    description 'Runs checkstyle, findbugs and pmd against the
    main sources.'
    group 'Verification'
    }
    def sourceSetMain = android.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs
    def rulesDir = new File(project.teamPropsDir, 'rules')
    def ignoreFail = !project.failFastOnError
    def includeSrcPatternApplication = 'net/helpscout/**/*.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternClass = 'net/helpscout/android/**/R.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternGeneratedFiles = '**/gen/**'
    def excludeSrcDagger = 'net/helpscout/android/injection*.java'
    

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34. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
    // wrapper task to run all static code analysis
    task staticAnalysis {
    description 'Runs checkstyle, findbugs and pmd against the
    main sources.'
    group 'Verification'
    }
    def sourceSetMain = android.sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs
    def rulesDir = new File(project.teamPropsDir, 'rules')
    def ignoreFail = !project.failFastOnError
    def includeSrcPatternApplication = 'net/helpscout/**/*.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternClass = 'net/helpscout/android/**/R.java'
    def excludeSrcPatternGeneratedFiles = '**/gen/**'
    def excludeSrcDagger = 'net/helpscout/android/injection*.java'
    

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35. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'checkstyle'
    task checkstyleMain(type: Checkstyle) {
    ...
    }
    staticAnalysis.dependsOn checkstyleMain
    task verifyNoCheckstyleWarnings {
    doLast {
    File warningsFile = file(‘buildMessage/reports/
    checkstyle/main.xml')
    if (warningsFile.exists() &&
    warningsFile.text.contains("throw new GradleException("There were checkstyle
    warnings! For more info check $warningsFile")
    }
    }
    }
    

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36. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'checkstyle'
    task checkstyleMain(type: Checkstyle) {
    ...
    }
    staticAnalysis.dependsOn checkstyleMain
    task verifyNoCheckstyleWarnings {
    doLast {
    File warningsFile = file(‘buildMessage/reports/
    checkstyle/main.xml')
    if (warningsFile.exists() &&
    warningsFile.text.contains("throw new GradleException("There were checkstyle
    warnings! For more info check $warningsFile")
    }
    }
    }
    

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37. Static analysis
    apply plugin: 'checkstyle'
    task checkstyleMain(type: Checkstyle) {
    ...
    }
    staticAnalysis.dependsOn checkstyleMain
    task verifyNoCheckstyleWarnings {
    doLast {
    File warningsFile = file(‘buildMessage/reports/
    checkstyle/main.xml')
    if (warningsFile.exists() &&
    warningsFile.text.contains("throw new GradleException("There were checkstyle
    warnings! For more info check $warningsFile")
    }
    }
    }
    

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38. The process
    

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41. Who is going to review my code?
    

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42. Who is going to review my code?
    

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43. Page heading
    Open Pull Request !rst, the old way
    

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44. Pull Requests now
    

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45. Pull Requests now
    

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46. The planning
    

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52. Github integration in Android Studio
    

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55. Release process
    

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56. The pipeline
    

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57. Amazon Device Farm and Jenkins
    

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58. Travis
    before_install:
    - chmod +x team-props/firebase/firebase_tests.sh
    - chmod +x team-props/firebase/proguard_mapping.sh
    - chmod +x team-props/release/release.sh
    script:
    - ./gradlew clean build
    - team-props/firebase/firebase_tests.sh
    - team-props/release/release.sh
    - team-props/firebase/proguard_mapping.sh
    

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59. Firebase Test Lab
    #!/bin/bash
    # Use gcloud from Google to run Espresso tests
    # on Firebase Test Lab
    BRANCH='master';
    ACCOUNT='your.iam.gserviceaccount.com';
    FILE='./team-props/firebase/google_cloud_secret.json';
    if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
    echo "Skipping tests on Firebase: was pull request."
    elif [ "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" != "$BRANCH" ]; then
    echo "Skipping tests on Firebase: wrong branch. Expected
    '$BRANCH' but was '$TRAVIS_BRANCH'."
    else
    echo "Starting tests on Firebase"
    https://firebase.google.com/docs/test-lab/command-line
    

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60. Firebase Test Lab
    https://firebase.google.com/docs/test-lab/command-line
    ./google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud auth activate-service-
    account $ACCOUNT --key-file $FILE
    ./google-cloud-sdk/bin/gcloud beta test android run --
    async --type instrumentation --app ./app/build/outputs/
    apk/app-debug.apk --test ./app/build/outputs/apk/app-
    debug-androidTest.apk --device-ids Nexus5 --os-version-ids
    22 --project help-scout
    

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61. Publish to Alpha / Beta
    apply plugin: 'com.github.triplet.play'
    def playstoreServiceAccount = System.env.PLAYSTORE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
    def playstorePk12File = System.env.PLAYSTORE_PK12_FILE
    if (playstoreServiceAccount && playstorePk12File) {
    play {
    track = 'beta'
    serviceAccountEmail = playstoreServiceAccount
    pk12File = rootProject.file(playstorePk12File)
    }
    }
    project.afterEvaluate {
    def publishApkRelease = project.tasks.getByName("publishApkRelease")
    def incrementVersionForRelease =
    project.tasks.getByName("incrementVersionForRelease")
    publishApkRelease.dependsOn incrementVersionForRelease
    

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62. Publish to Alpha / Beta
    #!/bin/bash
    # Use Google Play plugin to release an app version to the
    Alpha Channel
    BRANCH='master';
    GRADLE_TASK='publishProductionRelease';
    if [ "$TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST" != "false" ]; then
    echo "Skipping release on Google Play: was pull
    request."
    elif [ "$TRAVIS_BRANCH" != "$BRANCH" ]; then
    echo "Skipping release on Google Play: wrong branch.
    Expected '$BRANCH' but was '$TRAVIS_BRANCH'."
    else
    echo "Starting release on Google Play"
    ./gradlew $GRADLE_TASK
    echo "APK upload to Google Play complete"
    fi
    

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63. Publish to Alpha / Beta
    

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64. Publish to Alpha / Beta
    

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65. Thank you!
    David González
    @dggonzalez
    malmstein@gmail.com
    

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66. Remote: Office not required (book)
    - https://goo.gl/yAZOAu
    1
    Resources
    What We’ve Learned Building a Remote Culture
    - https://www.helpscout.net/blog/remote-culture/
    Why I Stopped Using Multiple Monitors
    - https://hackernoon.com/why-i-stopped-using-multiple-monitors-bfd87efa2e5b
    The source of all technical debt
    - https://speakerdeck.com/malmstein/the-source-of-all-technical-debt
    Good naming is a process, not a single step
    - http://arlobelshee.com/good-naming-is-a-process-not-a-single-step/
    Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2017
    - http://stackoverflow.com/insights/survey/2017
    

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