Rebecca - My 5 years at Swipe & Tap

July 31st marks 5 years since I joined Swipe & Tap as a Junior Web Developer. I was fresh out of university and was expecting to do several courses to get myself up to speed with Laravel etc before working on the projects. Whilst the courses and learning were a part of this when I first started, I was working on the projects pretty much straight away, which was also a great way to learn. 

One of the main things I have learnt is Laravel and how versatile it is. During my time at Swipe & Tap, I have worked on an array of different projects on Laravel, from simple websites to complex admin portals complete with API’s. 

Another framework I have become very familiar with is Bootstrap, which is a responsive CSS framework which we use for the majority of our projects. My knowledge of Javascript has also improved tremendously since working at Swipe and Tap. I have been able to learn and use several different frameworks whilst working on projects, such as Vue, Ajax and jQuery to name a few. 

As technology evolves, so do all the frameworks we use. As developers, we never stop learning. There are always new things to learn, be it a new version of Laravel or a new framework altogether. For example, I am currently learning Tailwind and React and building my skills on those. 

One of the skills I feel like I have developed the most over the 5 years is my problem-solving skills. Part of a developer’s life revolves around fixing errors or bugs in code. However, learning all of the different ways of troubleshooting code errors and bugs in the system and how they can be used to detect and fix the problem. 

Another way my problem-solving has improved is with the planning of features based on requirements. I am now able to plan out the best way to complete a feature, estimate it and complete the tasks. I have become much more confident in doing this throughout the 5 years.  

Another major thing I’ve learned is that communication is key. Be it with clients or within the team, communication is so important for projects to run as smoothly as possible so everyone is on the same page. It’s okay to ask for help and clarification on things if we are unsure of them. 

A great thing about working at Swipe & Tap is the culture in the team, both professionally and personally. It is a very positive environment to work in, and all members of the team work together and help each other out wherever we can. Even with people coming and going, this culture has always been at the core of the business.  We all get along so well which is great. Even throughout the pandemic when we were in lockdown, we were on zoom every Friday afternoon doing quizzes or playing pictograms. From team outings to our lunchtime walks when we were in the office, to adding songs to our office playlist, we make sure to bring in the fun wherever we can. 

Overall, the best things about working at Swipe and Tap are the fact that we get to learn and develop new skills all the time, the range of projects we work on and the community we have in the office.