Engineering Guide
Building Better Technology
We help agencies build, buy, and share technology that works for the American public through open source, security-first, and user-centered practices.
Core Principles
Open Source By Default
- Create software in the open from day one
- Share code, process, and learnings
- Contribute to open source community
- Prefer open source dependencies
Security First
- Integrate security from the start
- Follow security best practices
- Automate security testing
- Document security measures
User-Centered Engineering
- Build with users, not for them
- Validate technical decisions
- Support accessibility
- Optimize user experience
Implementation
Quality Code
- Clean, maintainable code
- Automated testing
- Code reviews
- Documentation
Cloud Architecture
- Scalable services
- Infrastructure as code
- Automated deployment
- Modular systems
💡 Engineering Tip
Start with user needs and work backwards to the technical solution. Technology should serve people, not the other way around.