Of course a developer's primary job is to produce good code, but there's also a lot they can do to contribute to quality and test their code before it gets to a tester. Code quality techniques help developers write better code, more thoroughly understand their changes, and avoid builds with many easy-to-find problems.

In an attempt to turn birdsong and predator monitoring into data that can help improve pest trapping ability, the Cacophony Project is an open-source conservation project employing technologies such as embedded systems, web applications, backend services, and machine learning pipelines.

Hackathons, where developers meet up to do some collaborative programming, are a great venue for problem-solving and creativity. They give employees the potential to get ideas out there that could pay off big, work the bugs out of new technology, and increase morale—and, best of all, they can be held anywhere.