Title: How I Use Slack In The Industry
Transcription of Video:
Hello everyone, my name is Jason Thompson, right now I am an Application Engineer for Tyler Technologies. Today, I’m going to talk about how I utilize Slack in my job everyday. Slack is a great instant messaging tool which allows me to easily and quickly connect with my teammates regarding specific tasks we are working on. The instant message you can get with Slack makes for much faster communication with my teammates rather than using email. It is much easier to ask a simple quick question, or ask someone if they can hop on a call over slack than it would be waiting for them to read their email.
A few features that I utilize daily with Slack is the CI/CD integration which allows the team to quickly get updates on a recent build or deployment. If my code was causing some error in a build I would want to quickly get that breaking code out so I don’t slow down my colleagues working on their own problems. Getting a notification in a Slack channel that the build failed and a quick error log as to why helps us narrow down who’s fault it was so it can be quickly remedied.
While working remotely Slack is a great tool when it comes to having a teammate help with your code. I will frequently hop on calls with teammates where we can show our screens to each other and walk through the code. Its a great tool to make sure you can communicate quickly and effectively.
Thank you.
1. Real-Time Communication:
- Instant Messaging: Slack provides instant messaging capabilities, allowing us to communicate in real-time. This is essential for quickly resolving issues, sharing ideas, and keeping everyone in the loop.
- Channels: We can create channels for different projects, teams, or topics. This helps keep conversations organized and ensures that relevant information is easily accessible to the right people.
- Threaded Conversations: Threads allow us to keep discussions focused and organized, especially when reviewing code or troubleshooting issues. This helps in maintaining a clear and coherent conversation flow.
2. Integration with Development Tools: I feel that this one is very important
- GitHub/GitLab Integration: Slack can be integrated with GitHub or GitLab, allowing us to receive notifications about code commits, pull requests, and issues directly in our channels. This keeps everyone updated on the development progress without leaving Slack.
- CI/CD Pipelines: Integration with CI/CD tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, or Travis CI enables us to receive build and deployment notifications. We can quickly address build failures or deployment issues as they happen.
3. Knowledge Sharing and Documentation:
- Pinned Items and Bookmarks: Important messages, documents, or links can be pinned or bookmarked in channels. This ensures that key information is easily accessible to everyone in the team.
4. Remote Collaboration:
- Voice and Video Calls: Slack provides video calling features, making it easier to have face-to-face meetings, pair programming sessions, or quick stand-ups, even when we’re working remotely.
- Screen Sharing: Screen sharing capabilities enable us to collaborate on code, debug issues together, and provide real-time assistance to team members.