Our primary focus at The Frontier Group is web and mobile applications, but we do find time to design a website every now and again. We’ve added three websites recently completed to our case studies section of the site.
You can see them by clicking the links below:
If you’re looking for an engaging and interactive way to learn Ruby, I’d recommend Ruby Koans by EdgeCase. I think that the koans are especially interesting if you’re coming from another programming language like PHP or Java, because they rely on some basic programming knowledge, but don’t presume any Ruby-specific abilities.
The Koans walk you along the path to enlightenment in order to learn Ruby. The goal is to learn the Ruby language, syntax, structure, and some common functions and libraries.
By manipulating and building upon Ruby’s TestUnit framework, the EdgeCase developers have created a step-by-step process for teaching Ruby through the practice of “Red, Green, Refactor.” They’ve added some simple game mechanics too, by showing your systematic progression through the 270+ challenges (puzzles). Reaching enlightenment results in a pretty ASCII graphic, and a legitimate sense of achievement.
Before you start with the koans though you’ll need a working Ruby installation. I recommend you take a look at the excellent rvm project, which will allow you to install multiple rubies (1.8.7 and 1.9.2 for example, alongside each other) and multiple gemsets in your home directory. Former Frontiersmen and 2011 Ruby Hero Award winner Darcy Laycock was heavily involved in this project as part of the 2010 Ruby Summer of Code, so we really like rvm at TFG.
The GitHub repository even includes a handy Keynote presentation, which I used as the basis for my talk about Ruby Koans at last week’s Ruby on Rails Oceania Perth meetup.
Lastly, if you’d like to have a play with the koans before diving in too deep, they’re available online through your web browser at Ruby Koans Online. This is a no-risk way of trying out Ruby (hint: team them up with why’s Try Ruby project) in your browser.
The Frontier Group is a boutique software development company based in West Perth. We have a strong focus on web software, and utilise Ruby on Rails and JavaScript to build web applications, and Objective-C for our iOS projects. We’re looking to take on experienced iOS and Web Developers and also a Development Manager (at TFG that means you’re a part-time project manager who also writes code).
You understand the difference between websites and web applications, and you want to write apps that matter for people that care about them.
You’ll have a track record of working on completed projects, and if you’re a Development Manager, you’ll have delivered some of these projects personally. You’ll have a few years commercial experience, probably working as part of a team doing solid but under-appreciated work. You will have experience with Mac, Linux or UNIX, but it might not be your daily environment. Similarly you will have an opinion about vi vs. Emacs or Python vs. Ruby, but you’ll understand that they’re just opinions.
You’ll care about your tools and will take real, genuine pride in the quality of the code you create. You won’t consider automated testing and continuous integration as optional components of a project, and will appreciate automated deployment procedures too. Learning new programming languages and getting more out of the languages you already know will excite you. Efficiency will be important too, and you’ll be looking for ways to automate your workflow and push the repetition off to a script.
You’ll be confident in your programming ability, regardless of the language you prefer, yet humble enough to seek guidance when needed. You’ll know how JavaScript can be used to enhance the web, and will have demonstrated experience with a leading JavaScript library. You might even care about SASS and HAML, if you’re really cool.
Using the right tools is important and we realise that. We don’t have a parent company dictating how we do things or what our “standard operating environment” is – you’ll get to make those decisions with us. We all use MacBook Pros for development, but you might want a new iMac, for example. You’ll keep up to date with current trends and care about using modern techniques and practices, as well as tools and technologies.
Send a short email to jobs@thefrontiergroup.com.au and reference your Github and Stack Overflow accounts, along with any Open Source projects you’re involved with. Include a resume if it’s three pages or less.
*International applicants are also welcome
Earlier this year we began working on an internal e-commerce product that would appeal to our existing customer base, as well as new customers. While there are a myriad of options already available for businesses looking to move sales online, our experiences with them over the years has always been hit and miss.
Taking into consideration the needs of our customer base, we decided to integrate e-commerce facilities into our existing CMS platform. This has the immediate appeal that our customers do not need to learn yet a second content management platform. For new customers it’s great that they can now build a website with us and immediately sell online using our pre-built systems.
If you’re looking for a way to sell your products online, enquire about Madison Shop with your new website.
Why Choose Madison?
Our latest web application has gone live, the ECU Open Day Planner for Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia.
If you’re thinking of visiting either the Mt Lawley or Joondalup campuses on the day, check it out!
The latest @rubyfive podcast is up, our own @sj26 receiving a mention for Ruby 1.9.3 performance improvements. http://t.co/hfx3EPMz
@frontiergroup about 1 day ago #