The Rapid Response Team
Steve Hutton
Employer: Factor 5
Job: Senior Software Engineer
DDJ: Steve, where do you work?
SH: Factor 5 is a video game company that's currently developing next-generation video games for the PlayStation 3. I work on in-house tools that all the employees use to build the games. In particular, I work on something called the "resource manager tool," which we use to manage and catalog all the data which goes into the games.
DDJ: What do you like about your job?
SH: I like the fact that my work is a mix of service-style database programming and also GUI programming. I also like writing tools for the in-house users because of the rapid feedback. And it's also fun to see the progress in the games themselves as they get better and better each week. It's very exciting to see that and it keeps you motivated.
DDJ: What do you find challenging about your job?
SH: Working on the next-generation games means the technology we're using changes pretty quickly. We have to keep the tools working as the game engine continues to evolve, and also we have to respond to feature requests from game designers, so it's kind of a balancing act.
DDJ: What have you found that makes your job easier?
SH: One of the things I really like about this company is that there's the culture of technical excellence. The owners of the company are highly technical—they're in the office everyday writing code. So when something challenging comes up, it doesn't take long for everyone to understand the impact of the situation at the highest level. Challenges don't block us for very long.
