In Part One of this two-part series, we introduced former SlideShare and LinkedIn software engineer Sylvain Kalache, who shared his career growth within the two companies. In this second part, we’ll look at San Francisco-based The Holberton School of Software Engineering, which Kalache co-founded to better prepare students to work in a DevOps world.
School Founder, Still a Coder
Kalache still uses much the same coding skills in his new role as he did as an engineer. “I still manage machines, the ones that host our website and intranet and the iMacs that students use,” he says.
The Holberton School of Software Engineering founders removed every manual step possible, using software to automate the admissions process and any process that they could. Even in the classroom, automation rules: Computers automatically review student work on projects.
“Computers test that students’ code works as expected by simulating user interaction, checking syntax and assessing how fast the code executes. For infrastructure in code, computers check for stability, response times and security breaches. By using multiple ratings parameters that are linked to specific skills, the computers collect detailed data about the strengths and weaknesses of each student,” says Kalache.
“We have a lot of our own secret sauce in software automation running the school for us,” he adds. “This requires all the technical skills I used in my coding days including designing, building, configuring, testing, deploying and maintaining software and systems.”
Teaching Methods
The Holberton School of Software Engineering engages students in building each skill they will need for careers in software engineering through use of industry-standard teaching methods. “Methods include deep learning in building features into software products and classical teaching in clear, documented code,” Kalache says. “We have a team of 150-plus mentors who make sure our curriculum is up to date and in sync with what the industry actually does and who coach and share their knowledge with students.”
The Holberton School of Software Engineering uses fully practical methods with no formal teachers or lectures, only mentors. “Mentors are like managers in a workplace. I mentor, coaching students in their learning journey and giving advice when there are issues,” he says.
Students engage in peer learning, working collaboratively on software projects, which encompass the skills they will need to demonstrate in their careers. Successful completion of projects, including solo projects, is proof of attaining the required skills. “Students must defend their projects before mentors with mentors ensuring that every student can present and explain the technical aspects of the project; if even one student can’t explain it, then the group fails on that project,” says Kalache.
“We teach problem-solving and how to learn new skills because there will constantly be new technologies and concepts for our students to understand and master in their careers in the tech world,” he adds. “Professionals who cannot adapt and retrain themselves will quickly fall out of date with technology.”
Readying Students for Careers from Day One
The Holberton School of Software Engineering prepares students to be ready to work when they start their careers. “Graduates of other programs whom I have spoken with have no idea what it is to ship code to production and run a production environment. They are used to academic projects that teachers correct for them,” Kalache says. “That is not how it works in the industry.
“Even boot camps and universities provide minimal practical experience that will make job hunting difficult,” he continues. Smaller organizations don’t have the money to pay someone to learn before starting them working in production. Thus, he says, startups need to execute fast using professionals with mature skills. “Though our students will fail and struggle, they will do it at the school, which will have a much smaller impact than doing it on the job,” says Kalache. Students are exposed to creating, shipping and working with code in production for two years before graduation.
What’s more, real, workday DevOps requires effective communications skills. “Whether it is to introduce the last tool you built, explain what happened during an outage or convince your managers that your solution to a problem is the right one, you need to have oral and written communications skills,” says Kalache. As such, the school runs students through a series of exercises in public speaking, technical writing and documentation, as well as post-mortem communications when dissecting an outage, prepping them even further for their careers and the world beyond the classroom.