Welcome to our very first developer spotlight release series where we'll feature some awesome Splunk developers from across our Community and showcase their work. Today, we're excited to introduce Paul Stout and his amazing work behind "Duck Yeah!".
Writing code since he was 8
Paul is currently a principal consultant for a Splunk Partner, SOI solutions. He's an experienced developer who has been writing code since he was about 8 on the Atari 800 and Apple IIe computers. Paul has a deep understanding of the Splunk Platform, having worked for Splunk, with Splunk customers, and with Splunk Partners. While he frequently uses Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud, he also has experience with ITSI deployments and Splunk Enterprise Security.
Journey as an app developer
In 2011, Paul was brought to work for Splunk to implement Splunk at Splunk – a project formerly called Splunk(x). At the time, he had never built a Splunk app or even used Python. Despite this, he was able to figure it out and successfully build an app for SalesForce. You can still find his original TA-SFDC in the Splunkbase archives bearing SalesForce's 2011 logo. From there, Paul continued building things and one of his most downloaded apps is the WebGL globe, a project he initially developed in the basement of 250 Brannan and later revived as a Splunk customer.
About the Duck Yeah! app
One of Paul's most iconic app developments is "Duck Yeah!", a developer tool that properly packages and vets Splunk apps for distribution through AppInspect. Since building it, Paul hasn't released a single app without passing it through "Duck Yeah!" first. He does most of his Python/JavaScript/CSS in vim, using a mix of vim and the Splunk UI for SimpleXML and other knowledge objects required for apps to function properly. "Duck Yeah!" is designed to cater to developers of varying comfort levels with command line and UI, making it easy to package an app or identify any issues, regardless of how it's built. Think of "Duck Yeah!" as a wizard that guides developers through the critical metadata for an app, then handles the heavy lifting using a combination of native Splunk tools and some custom magic.
Advice for other Splunk developers: “Think of something and then build it”
We asked Paul for advice he would give to someone just starting to build apps for Splunk, and his answer was: "Think of something – 'wouldn't it be cool if Splunk could do x' – and then build it. Use the tutorials, starter/samples, and Splunk Answers. Download other apps and reference how they're built (don't steal!). If an app has an open-source license, start small. Get a copy of something and make small modifications. Gradually work up to bigger changes. If you're going to do visualizations, learn how to work with Node.js and npm. But above all, have a solid understanding of what a search is in Splunk, how it stores and manipulates data, and how to use the platform in general."
Paul outside of work
When Paul isn't in the development world, you can find him attending big events DJing as a dubstep DJ in Denver. He's also an aspiring producer and enjoys cooking in his free time.
Thank you, Paul! It's been awesome getting to know you and hearing about your journey as an app developer. Stay tuned, readers! There's more to come in this Developer Spotlight series!
