Changing jobs

Today is my last day at my current position. I learned a lot about mobile development being the sole developer for both the iOS and Android product. I have also written a game that is free out on the Android market called Grid Hunt and am working on another Android side project.

For my current position I do WebStart Java Application work too along with project management and graphics artist work. For the new position I will be start with Android specific programming. They already have the iOS side up and running. I will work on converting that to Android. They plan on having the mobile team being able to work both sides of the mobile OS platforms. I already have a nice head start here.

I am excited and nervous to change jobs. Excited as I will no longer have to do all the project management and graphics artist work. I will start with a specification and get to code away. I also will not be switching IDE, keyboard, mouse, monitor and programming language multiple times a week. This allows me to really hammer down on Java / Android under Eclipse. I really like Eclipse and find it to be super fast for my programming style. IntelliJ IDEA is fine too, which is where I did my desktop Java work, Xcode stinks but AppCode was pretty good for iOS development. I will not miss Xcode and its various limitations nor will I miss Objective C as a primary programming language. I will of course still see it as I can pull that code and look things over during the Android conversion.

Nervous because you have to learn the ins and outs of a new environment. What version of Agile are they using? Bug tracking? Version Control? Who is who when it comes time to ask questions? How locked down is your development machine? When do people eat lunch and where do they go? What are core business hours? Can I work from home? Do others comment the code and use comments when checking in code? Braces on separate lines? TAB or SPACE? Is the current code base solid or kind of spotty? Is there a solid understanding of OOP? What format does the data come from the server? Does each developer have a piece of test hardware or is it shared? Do they allow wearing of headphones or music at all? Where is the bathroom, break room, copy room, etc? Weird office politics? General sense of humor? Dress code specifics? Flexibility of work hours? Time reporting rules? Base hardware? Web surfing rules?

Yeah, it is going to be an interesting day on Monday as I begin to figure things out. I will get back into the flow of being a kick tail programmer pretty soon and then it being at work will become and easy habit and I will know a ton of new people. All of 20 blocks from where I currently work so I can visit the old staff over lunch easily enough. I am ready to be a full time Android developer. Always more to learn about that platform.