Vets Who Code Engineering SOPs and Field Manual 🎖️

"Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance" - Military Leadership Principle

Core Values: Our Guiding Principles 🇺🇸

Our military service instilled values that continue to guide us as software engineers:

1. Integrity First

  • Write clear, maintainable code that reflects its intended purpose
  • Own your mistakes and learn from them
  • Practice radical transparency in your work
  • Give credit where credit is due
  • Document truthfully and thoroughly

2. Service Before Self

  • Your code impacts the entire team and community
  • Build solutions that benefit the whole organization
  • Support the developer community through open-source contributions
  • Put user needs at the forefront of development decisions
  • Mentor and support your fellow veterans

3. Excellence In All We Do

  • Commit to continuous improvement
  • Regularly evaluate and enhance your code
  • Stay current with industry best practices
  • Share knowledge to elevate the entire team
  • Maintain high standards in all deliverables

Goal

To provide a comprehensive field manual that:

  1. Guides veterans through their software engineering journey
  2. Standardizes project documentation and processes
  3. Serves as a quick-reference technical guide
  4. Maintains operational readiness through best practices
  5. Fosters a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing
  6. Upholds the core values of Integrity, Service, and Excellence
  7. Empowers veterans to succeed in the tech industry
  8. Supports the Vets Who Code community
  9. Encourages contributions and feedback from all members

General Guidance: Professional Development Guidelines 🇺🇸

  • Maintain high standards through thorough code reviews and testing
  • Prioritize quality over speed - careful planning prevents future issues
  • Focus on one task at a time using GitHub Projects for organization
  • Practice clear communication:
  • Use wikis for documentation
  • Engage in discussions for knowledge sharing
  • Create detailed issues for tracking work
  • Start with simple, effective solutions before adding complexity
  • Respect project scope - create new issues for additional features
  • Deploy updates incrementally and document changes clearly
  • Keep your team informed through regular updates
  • Report problems thoroughly with clear reproduction steps
  • Take ownership of the codebase - everyone is responsible for quality
  • Leverage automation through GitHub Actions to ensure consistency
  • Use standardized templates to streamline processes

Battle Cry

"Code with Honor, Deploy with Pride! 🎖️"

Remember: Our core values of Integrity, Service, and Excellence guide everything we do. From writing our first line of code to deploying enterprise solutions, we maintain the high standards that defined our military service.

This is a Living Document

These SOPs are maintained and improved by the Vets Who Code community. All contributions are welcome!

How to Contribute

  1. Submit Pull Requests
  2. Improve existing documentation
  3. Add new sections based on experience
  4. Update technical references

  5. Fix errors or clarify instructions

  6. Report Issues

  7. Identify areas needing clarification
  8. Suggest new topics to cover
  9. Report outdated information

  10. Request additional examples

  11. Share Knowledge

  12. Document lessons learned
  13. Add field notes from your experience
  14. Contribute code examples
  15. Suggest process improvements

Contribution Guidelines

  1. Follow the Format
  2. Maintain military terminology
  3. Include clear examples
  4. Provide practical context

  5. Keep documentation actionable

  6. Maintain Standards

  7. Ensure technical accuracy
  8. Follow markdown formatting
  9. Include relevant references

  10. Test any code examples

  11. Review Process

  12. All changes undergo peer review
  13. Technical accuracy verification
  14. Style guide compliance check
  15. Community feedback integration

Remember: This document evolves with our community. Your experience transitioning from military service to software engineering is valuable - share it to help others succeed.

Together, we maintain excellence in our code and our conduct. 🇺🇸