Interview — Adam Richardson
Interactive Developer / Street Fighter Evangelist
Can you tell me a little about your role at Forest Giant?
Well, my title is Interactive Developer, which really covers a wide gamut of software development — from interfacing with hardware, to bringing a really high quality user interface to a custom software solution.
Cool! Could you share with me a little bit about your path to becoming a developer?
Yeah, I originally started as a computer science major back in college with an interest in game developing. I also had an interest in liberal arts, which led to me switching majors and graduating with a philosophy degree. I soon realized that my career options were limited, so I ended up going back to school for computer engineering. At one of my first companies out of school I got to work with Flash a lot, which is obviously very visual, and one of my friends who worked for Forest Giant at the time thought I’d be a good fit here and helped me get an interview.
Did you have a specific “aha” moment when you knew that you wanted to be a software developer?
Yeah, actually in the 6th grade I had a teacher named Mr. Mims who had us all learn a program called LOGO, which is very similar to Flash in a lot of ways. LOGO was one of my first coding experiences and I think I realized that computer graphics stuff was really fun to do.
So what keeps you excited about software development?
I like the the power and flexibility of it. A computer is the ultimate tool — there is no limit to the tasks that it can be used for, and that’s just really exciting. You are able to build on top of things, and there are newer tools coming out every day that give you more power to accomplish the things you want to do.
The other day we were chatting and you mentioned how as a developer you’re always learning and listening from others. Can you share more of your thoughts on why this is important for you?
I’d definitely say with the pace at which things are changing, you can never say, “I have all the skills required.” You always have to be willing to learn. You have to love learning new things. I think being able to do that is an integral characteristic of any developer.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Normally I try to divide my job into sub-tasks. When I don’t know how to do a particular task, my number one tool is the Internet. So I’m always reading — I probably do that more than anything else. I’m always trying to figure out what the best possible option is for a solution. Development in general is a lot of experimentation. There is very little cost in trying something to see if it works.
Have you had any mentors?
Growing up there were always the “rockstar” programmers like John Carmack, and all the guys who were in the game development field — who didn’t go to college, but spent all their time on computers and now they’re driving Lamborghinis. But I don’t know, I think an important thing about being a good developer who’s on a team is that the rock star mentality, it’s just not really productive. It’s just not a big part of what I consider to be the culture. That said though, there are lots of people doing really great work.
Are there certain philosophies of development that you adhere to or admire?
Yeah, totally. I mean, one thing that I don’t think works is attempting to design your solutions prior to implementing it, like the waterfall method. A better approach is to try your best to get a solution in as little time as possible, and then improve on it. Development is all about time management — what’s the most reasonable solution you can come up with in the time that you have?
What is your dream project?
Working on a large game seems fun, but we’ve kind of done that before, and I’ve realized in a lot of ways the process of making them isn’t a lot different than anything else. If anything it’s actually more challenging. Another domain I’m interested in is astronomy, or writing a program that visits an extremely remote location on the planet, like a robot that goes into a volcano or a mars rover. That’s one of the great things about technology. It allows people to do things that aren’t physically possible. To me, making a robot to go somewhere a man can’t seems like the perfect use for it.
Are there any tips or advice you’d give to someone aspiring to be a developer?
Focus on the output, and not on the process. You can always do things better. At the end of the day, all that matters is results, and getting them in as little time as possible.
Originally published on Forest Giant’s blog.
