Atoo-Sync Cloud
I joined Atoo-Next in March 2021. My first assignment was to rebuild the Atoo-Sync Compta WordPress plugin from the Atoo-Sync GesCom codebase. I broke the software, and nobody noticed during testing: I had taken the unique key of Atoo-Sync GesCom and carried it over to Atoo-Sync Compta. It took my employer a month to repair the damage at the clients’ end. It is the most useful lesson I have had in this trade.
Then came the custom developments, installed directly inside the clients’ plugins. There were only two of us: my colleague became the in-house referent for the PrestaShop modules, and I for the WordPress ones. I was soon given the improvement of the web service that lets Atoo-Sync connect to Shopify, whose API changes every three months even though a version stays usable for a year. Meanwhile my colleague was building the Atoo-Sync Cloud Comptabilité interface, and very quickly he plugged into my API.
In June 2021 I built my first link to another system, IZIFLUX, the one that opened the marketplaces to us. In October the mission changed scale: turn that web service into the core of the new Atoo-Sync Cloud program, able to handle both business management and accounting.
I did not merely rewrite the code in PHP, I reworked it substantially. I added specific providers, which make it possible to ship a link developed for a single client without opening it to all the others. Above all I made the core generic: a new link comes down to a configuration file listing its particularities, then to the specific parts alone, without ever touching the core. I ran the EBP SaaS and Cegid XRP FLEX links in parallel.
Those configuration files ended up serving far beyond the code. In February 2022 my colleague was still hand-coding the connection interface of every link, which took him a considerable amount of time: I showed him how to lean on my files, and how to enrich them so that the interface builds itself. On my side, the marketing team regularly asked me to fill in a document listing what the software could and could not do, thirty minutes for a single link; I wrote a side program that reproduces the document’s layout and fills it automatically from the same files.
In 2022 the team grew to produce more links and I took the new developers under my wing. I used the opportunity to put in place development standards and internal documentation, which did not exist. We went up to ten developers, eight of them on Atoo-Sync Cloud and under my responsibility.
In 2023 the latest hire refused to do what I asked, on the grounds that I was not his superior. As I was already running the whole team, I asked for the promotion matching what I did, and became team lead. Officially everything changed, in practice I was already doing the work; Gantt charts and specifications were added to it. I left Atoo-Next in 2024 to start Alaïs-Studio.
The first assignment, and the unique key
(March 2021)
Rebuilding the Atoo-Sync Compta WordPress plugin from the Atoo-Sync GesCom codebase: I took GesCom’s unique key and carried it over to Compta.
The software was broken and testing did not catch it. A month was needed to repair things at the clients’ end. Since then I look differently at what seems like a simple copy and paste.
WordPress referent and Shopify web service
With two developers we split the ground: the PrestaShop modules for my colleague, the WordPress modules and the custom developments at the clients’ for me.
I was then handed the web service linking Atoo-Sync to Shopify. Its API is renewed every three months, a version staying usable for a year, which means keeping up continuously. My colleague, who was building the Atoo-Sync Cloud Comptabilité interface, plugged into it.
IZIFLUX, my first link
(June 2021)
A first link to a system other than the CMSs: IZIFLUX, which gave Atoo-Sync access to the marketplaces.
That is where I started to see what repeated itself from one link to the next, and what deserved to be shared.
The generic core of Atoo-Sync Cloud
(October 2021)
The web service was to become the core of Atoo-Sync Cloud, business management and accounting together. I rewrote it in PHP and reworked it deeply.
Specific providers make it possible to ship a link made for a single client without opening it to the others. And the core became generic: for a new link, a configuration file describes its particularities, the developer only writes the specific parts and never touches the core.
The EBP SaaS and Cegid XRP FLEX links followed straight after, in parallel.
What the configuration files made possible
(February 2022)
My colleague was still hand-coding the connection interface of every link. I showed him how to lean on my configuration files, in place since 2021, and how to enrich them so that the interface builds itself dynamically.
The marketing team, for its part, asked me to fill in a document listing what the software could and could not do: thirty minutes per link. I wrote a side program that takes the document’s layout and fills it automatically from the same files.
The team, the standards, then the official role
(2022 — 2024)
The team grew to produce more links. I trained the new developers and put in place the development standards and internal documentation that had been missing. We went up to ten developers, eight of them on Atoo-Sync Cloud and under my responsibility.
In 2023 a hire refused to follow my requests on the grounds that I was not his superior. I asked for the promotion matching the work I actually did and became team lead: nothing changed day to day, apart from the Gantt charts and specifications that came with it. I left Atoo-Next in 2024 to start Alaïs-Studio.