The Winston Development Team: Conquering Tomorrow’s Tech Today For Our Clients

Louis Nuzzolese

Q: What programming language or technology are you most excited about right now?

I’m really excited about .NET 8, especially since it’s the latest LTS release. It brings a lot of neat updates, like performance improvements, native AOT support, and better tools for cloud and web apps. I’m particularly interested in how it makes things more efficient for scalable projects, and I’ve been having fun exploring how it pairs with Angular for full-stack development.

Q: How do you stay updated with new trends and technologies in software development?

I try to stay updated by checking out a mix of blogs, newsletters, and forums like Stack Overflow and GitHub. I also listen to podcasts and watch YouTube channels focused on software development. It helps to hear about new tools and frameworks from different perspectives. I make sure to experiment with new tech inside projects because hands-on experience is the best way to really learn. Lastly, being active in online communities like Reddit or X helps me stay in the loop and catch new trends as they pop up.

Aradhana Sharma:

Q: What’s a recent software development trend you think will shape the future of Winston’s technology? 

With the breakthrough of ChatGPT, I believe the use of artificial intelligence is a trend that has popped up everywhere. Every application on our phone, for instance, now has incorporated a large language model feature that didn’t exist last year. It allows for the use of AI to be more accessible as it lowered the barrier to entry. The initial step of offering a chatbot and the strategic use of AI tools in the future will continue to shape our business and industry.

Q: What are some best practices you implement to ensure a smooth software deployment process?

To ensure a smooth software deployment process, each deploy item gets reviewed in a test environment first, and code changes are reviewed by senior developers. During the deploy, we conduct regression testing to confirm expected functionality. Another important aspect is to limit downtime by deploying one sever at a time, so the user doesn’t experience any interruptions in the application.

Chris Nigro:

Q: Can you share a project you’ve worked on that you’re particularly proud of?

I am proud of all the projects my team has delivered. As a manager, I do not have many individual contributions, but I will say that there are many small things that I’ve worked on that are important to keeping things running smoothly. These are work products that run silently in the background or act as integration points between systems. Most of them are Robotic Process Automations that run as scheduled tasks to address things like informing testers what clients have transactions that are currently live and need to be included in their test surface, informing team members that they have outstanding work items that need their actual hours entered in order to be complete, or adjudicating and updating the statuses of issues and their related work items. All of these RPAs help by automating work that takes us away from real work.

Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in software development?

When I was aimlessly attending community college, the only courses that I enjoyed were philosophy and logic. The professor informed the class that “philosophy bakes no bread,” meaning that there is no money to be made. Around the same time, my brother graduated from a technical school with a degree in Computer Information Systems. I talked to him about it and started looking at computer code and software development. I recognized the logic syntax that was similar to the sentential logic that I loved so much in my class. I also realized that there is quite a bit of philosophy in software development; I was hooked. I registered at the same school my brother attended, got my degree, and have been working in the field for over 25 years.

Dennis Young

Q: What do you think is the key to building a successful and high-performing team?

Have a clear vision.  Hire great engineers.  Give them crazy goals.

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