Chad Petty

Current

• Software Developer at IBM

Past

• Teaching Assistant at UNC-Chapel Hill
• Software Tester (Co-op) at Novell

Education

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Brigham Young University

Recommended

4 people have recommended Chad

Connections

82 connections

Industry

Computer Software

Chad Petty’s Summary

I have developed software for over 10 years, using C, C++, and Java. I enjoy designing and writing high-quality code. From my experience, here are some key elements that go into producing great software:

· Interaction design. Understand the real user goals, and design the software to meet them. Quality and usability are some of the most important features.

· Clear design specs and a good review process. Know what you’re going to build, and specify the interaction clearly. Give the team a chance to look it over and give feedback to make it better.

· Good programmers. Form a team that knows the language and is always striving to improve by studying books and articles by top practitioners in the field.

· Unit test. Create unit tests that run automatically to ensure code correctness and make it possible to refactor and enhance code with confidence.


I enjoy sharing what I learn with my team -- recently I have been involved with the "Best Practices" efforts, helping decide on and share with the team more effective ways of using Java.

I am a strong believer in Interaction Design -- reading Alan Cooper's _The Inmates are Running the Asylum_ a few years ago changed the way I think about software development. Meeting the real user goals has become one of my primary development goals.

I have learned the power of design reviews, and know what it takes to conduct good design reviews (and how to avoid some of the potential problems). I have seen how good design makes implementation faster and smoother.

I enjoy reading about programming and software development, by writers such as Joel Spolsky, Martin Fowler, Fred Brooks, Steve McConnell, Alan Cooper, Steve Yegge, and Joshua Bloch. I like learning how to use the tools well, learning how to make the process better and more efficient.

Chad Petty’s Specialties:

Java, software design, programming, refactoring, development best practices, writing, design and code reviews, unit testing

Chad Petty’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• expertise requests
• reference requests
• getting back in touch