Israeli Software Engineering Start-Up Creates Simulation Training ‘Quests’ – Forbes
CARVER, Massachusetts – SEPTEMBER 03: Knights joust during âThe Challenge of Championsâ at opening … [+] day of King Richardâs Faire in Carver, Massachusetts on September 3, 2022. The renaissance faire will run weekends through October 23, 2022. The faire features performers, cosplay and interactive theatre as well as jousting shows and acrobats. (Photo by…….
CARVER, Massachusetts – SEPTEMBER 03: Knights joust during âThe Challenge of Championsâ at opening … [+]
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We learn by doing. It was either Aristotle or Sir Richard Branson (it was probably both) who said it, but we learn by doing things, working out our behavior and actions in real-life scenarios through our experience of the world and people. But times have moved on since 322 BC and today we have Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality and intelligent software automation.
Tel Aviv, Israel-headquarterd Wilco agrees with the learn-by-doing maxim, so much so that its team has established its business upon it.
Not to be confused with the British homeware and DIY store (that’s Wilko) or the Chicago-based alternative rock band (that’s Wilco too, but with bass and drums), Wilco is designed to enable software engineers to emulate the conditions at a tech startup. The software sends users on ‘quests’ that cover everyday engineering tasks – from deploying an app to finding the root cause of a live software production issue – utilizing real-life technology stacks, but in a safe environment.
Flight simulator software
As a firm fond of referring to itself as a ‘flight simulator for software developers’, the Wilco team is (obviously) not referring to aeroplane video games, the reference is meant to convey the immersive reality of the software development and building experience that it offers.
The latest offering from Wilco is called Quest Builder. This is a software tool that software application development professionals can use to build quests in which development tools are put to use to solve realistic software development challenges. This follows Wilco’s recent launch of its developer upskilling platform, offering training quests in a real-world development environment, which quickly reached thousands of monthly users.
Reminding us that the developer startup market is booming, Wilco points to news of the $37B invested last year. As such, the skills and training market is growing alongside the developer experience and skills assessment and management market. Many companies offer products that aim to make software developers’ lives easier, so it’s challenging for any one tool to stand out.
“Developer tools shine when they’re used in the context of a complex environment or a large-scale production application,” said On Freund, co-founder and CEO of Wilco. “Demo sandbox apps and ‘Hello world’ tutorials [the most basic programming action most developers start their life with – and now part of developer folklore] don’t properly communicate the differentiators and value that a product offers. Developers need to get hands-on and use a product to solve a problem they’re facing, in order to fully understand its value.”
Quest Builder allows a developer of any moderate or advanced skill level to create a Wilco quest showcasing any given set of development tools. Quests can recreate a software development scenario that highlights the specific pain point the tool addresses, so developers can see first-hand a product’s particular value in a true-to-life setting. Early users of the editor include leading developer companies like CircleCI, Armory and Permit.io.
Observability ability
Four observability-focused [technology designed to look into system health, availability and status] quests by New Relic, a design partner, have already been completed by thousands of developers.
“Wilco’s platform simulates the complex day-to-day reality that developers face when building software as part of a team working on a large codebase,” said Tom Trahan, VP of Business Development, CircleCI. “Developers see clearly how [a technology] can solve real-world engineering challenges, in a way that just can’t be communicated through a standard tutorial. Whether while up-skilling themselves, onboarding to a new team or during continuous on-the-job training, we’re excited for developers to engage with CircleCI within Wilco quests.”
Thus far, organizations have created quests to achieve a variety of business objectives, including interactive tutorials that provide product education to new customers. They have also been used to create demos that let software sales prospects experience first-hand how the tool solves a real-world problem. Additionally, software development teams are using the platform to onboard new team members and to help their engineers prepare for on-call shifts by solving simulated production issues.
“This example of technology innovation is typical of our region i.e. it comes from a startup organization and has the energy to empower other startups and more established firms alike,” said Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, a Jerusalem-based global venture investment platform. “Given the global skills situation with regard to software application developers in particular, I think we can see global relevance for this product, although I also like seeing this type of product develop in its home market. With businesses in every industry vertical now looking to grasp a data-driven advantage as they embrace cloud and all front line technologies from mobile to AI and with a future view to quantum, we need to create self-serve empowerment at every level – and that’s clearly in evidence here.”
Continuous deployment, continuous learning
Wilco’s tools may be quite of the moment i.e. in software engineering terms, we are now in the age of so-called continuous deployment and continuous integration (CI/CD). This continuous cadence has come about due to the always-on nature of web-based cloud-centric applications that users interact with 24×7 on their desktop and mobile devices i.e. if the app is on all the time, then updates and enhancements need to happen continuously.
In parallel then, this product proposition from Wilco is not dry classroom learning by rote, this is hands-on continuous learning that anyone (apart from juniors and beginners) can drive.
What’s the best way to learn then? Well, as that well-known sports apparel company would say, Just Code It.
