Working at SDSLabs (4)

It was a cold January evening when I received the news that I was selected in SDSLabs. Back then, I didn’t know about the effect that phone call would have, but here we are, 11 months later and now, SDSLabs has become a central part of my identity here at IITR. It’s in here, that I met some of the most hard working and talented people in the entire campus and it has been an absolute pleasure working with them.

The Learning Experience

After joining, I was introduced to a lot of new stuff like Git, Node, Python, Backbone.js, Design Patterns, Javascript, MVC, AJAX, jQuery, Angular, CSS, Stylus, LESS… I could go on and on. I started using Linux (after using windows for the past 10 years) and have since fallen in love with it. The point is that lab is a center for learning, you learn something new every time you are here. It provides a place to learn without any kind of restriction. The lab is open 24 hours a day so you can come and go as you please. Everybody is extremely helpful and will consistently point you in the right direction as to what you should learn or try next. You get to learn how websites that you visit daily and how the applications you use on your mobile actually work. Every last detail.

Another great thing about the environment is the geek-speak that flows about. Just listening to all the conversations in the lab will tell you something new about an open source library, why the new application for android is really cool, why a new startup is bound to fail etc. This list is endless as well.

My Work

Muzi

I first tried using Muzi back in my first semester when one of my friends told me about this awesome web portal for the campus that provides an amazing music player. Since then, I have used it almost everyday. It has been a great joy to actually work on the application and see your changes live on the final deployed version that people across the entire campus use everyday. I worked on the new UI for displaying top tracks for each artist which helps a user to find good music a lot quicker. I also did some work on debugging the application, fixing the infamous double play bug, that used to play two songs at the same time. The part that I liked best was that there was absolutely no restriction for me to work on any of the existing projects. All of the source code was available to me and I could make any modification that would make the overall experience better for the user.

API

I worked on the central API that supports all of our applications on the portal. Through this project, I got to learn how a web portal should be structured. This project involved making few changes across all applications and as a result, I got to know what are the best practices that should be followed. I also learned about cross domain resource sharing and preventing attacks that use the same. The main point is that working on any lab project teaches you something that you do not know and helps you to become better. Other lab members, sometime from the same year, will always be there to guide you whenever you are stuck.

Group Activites

SDSLabs started primarily as a group of web developers who, over a period of two years, developed the web portal as we know it today. For the past one year, the group has branched out and has been involved in various activities across the campus ranging from regular meetings of the Linux User Group to organizing Syntax Error, IITR’s first hackathon. As a member of the group, I was able to participate in and help organize such activities over the past year. I participated in the Linux User Group and helped people from all years, even M.Tech students, to install Ubuntu on their laptops. I also took some of the public lectures of the group to introduce eager students to web development and help them get started. And although I was not a part of the organizing committee for Syntax Error, I did have a lot of fun in the all night coding session for the hackathon. Such activities have provided me a learning experience of a different kind which wouldn’t have been possible without the group.

What Else?

• Frequent interactions with our alumni. Any member can have a chat with any of our alumni at any time. They constantly respond to all the emails as if they are still part of the group. This goes to show the effect that lab has on all it’s members.
• Amazing chapos. This semester, we have had a lot of chapos, almost one chapo every week. That includes Domi chapos with your huge order coming on a rickshaw, to hotel chapos in Prakash or Divine.
• Your regular home away from home. A lot of the members choose to spend their nights at SDSLabs, rather than staying at their hostels. Some people even leave for their classes directly from the lab itself!
• A 42” TV. The best place to view all your sports matches from the Cricket World Cup to the UEFA Champions league whilst sitting comfortably on a bean bag ( that’s right, bean bags ).

Recruitment

Coming January, SDSLabs is recruiting. If you feel like you belong here, head over to join.sdslabs.co to get started.