Negative Code

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I'm David Graham, a software designer in Denver, Colorado. I work at GitHub, making github.com a little more wonderful every day. Follow me on Twitter!

Joining GitHub

It’s been a busy couple months since I joined the crew at GitHub. Designing, testing, and shipping code to millions of people has been a blast, but it’s taken a few weeks to understand why I’m so happy to be a GitHubber.

Great Software Starts With Great Design

I’ve loved GitHub’s product since the day I signed up. In all the time I’ve been building software, I’ve used very few tools as well-crafted as github.com.

Now that I’ve been on the team for a while, it’s obvious why I love it so much. The design team has an obsessive attention to detail. Every pixel and interaction is carefully considered, discussed, and refined before it ships.

It’s not perfect (yet), but we’re getting closer every day.

Great Engineering

All of this design work is for nothing if it’s not backed up by some serious engineering. GitHub’s internal systems are impressive. We’re shipping code, live to the site, dozens of times a day.

When I was building enterprise software we’d ship once every six months. At GitHub we even update the Enterprise version every two weeks. That’s unheard of in enterprise software. Always be shipping.

Optimize for Happiness

Maybe most importantly, Tom’s talked a lot about building a company that’s optimized for happiness. And he’s not joking. I’ve never been surrounded by as many people who care about each other and their customers as much as this team.

So when they approached me about joining them on their mission for world domination, I thought a long time about it, but in the end the decision was easy. I’m so proud and honored to work at GitHub.

- David Graham
13 Jul 2012