What we’re about
Welcome to the O(1) Software Network meetup group in Houston!
Our group is a community of software developers and tech enthusiasts who are passionate about community, collaboration, open-source, and building real-world projects on real teams.
Whether you are a beginner looking to learn more about software development or an experienced coder wanting to share your knowledge, this is the place for you. Join us for networking events, discussions, and workshops focused on all things software.
Let's connect, learn and grow together in our shared interest in optimizing software performance!
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Network event3 attendees from 3 groups hostingJoin a Real Dev Team: Build & Deploy a Web App Using Laravel (PHP) and SQLLink visible for attendees
🎉 Welcome to the Team! 🎉
This isn't a boot camp. It's not a course.
Join us in the "🏢│Software Engineering" channel of our Discord server for an ongoing, real-world web development project – You're invited to join the team!
Ever wonder what it's like to join an existing software development team and jump into real code? Now is your chance. This isn't just a tutorial. It's a real project – already in motion – and you're joining the team!
✅ You'll join a real, ongoing project
✅ You'll work in a team environment
✅ You'll learn modern tools (Git, GitHub, Figma, Jira, etc.)
✅ You'll build with PHP (Laravel), SQL, and real-world APIs
✅ You'll grow based on the tier you join🛠 What You'll Be Doing
We're building a collaborative education platform where aspiring software engineers can meet, learn, and build projects together through real-time pair programming. Users input their availability, and the platform coordinates meetings using the Zoom API — automatically creating Zoom meetings based on matched availability.
And here’s where it gets powerful:
We’re integrating the GitHub API directly into the platform, giving users built-in access to project boards, issues, pull requests, and contribution tracking — without leaving the app. This lets participants experience real-world project management as they collaborate.
But that's just the start.
The platform is gamified:
- Teams can pick from a growing library of projects – from beginner buttons to full-stack systems
- Members can earn badges, rewards, and achievements
- Teams can compete, track progress, and grow their skills
- All while collaborating, coding, and learning in a true-to-life dev environment
We're using:
- PHP with Laravel for routing, logic, models, and middleware
- SQL for structured data, scheduling, rewards, and progress tracking
- Zoom API to coordinate pair programming sessions in real time
- GitHub API to manage pull requests, issues, and tasks inside the platform
- Blade templates and optional AlpineJS for interactivity
- Clean, SOLID-based architecture for scalable and testable features
Together, we'll be:
- Designing and building real-time scheduling and matchmaking logic
- Integrating the Zoom API to handle automated meeting creation
- Creating team dashboards, project boards, and user profiles
- Using the GitHub API to sync issues, track progress, and manage code
- Developing gamified systems (badges, leveling, achievements)
- Writing secure, scalable, and maintainable Laravel code
- Collaborating with others using modern GitHub workflows
🖼 Why This is Different
Most events are tutorials. This is a real, evolving project where your code matters. You’ll step into a professional codebase and experience real team collaboration, paired with modern dev tools and full-stack project structure.
👥 Who Should Join
- Aspiring Software Engineers
- PHP developers who want real Laravel experience
- Backend-focused engineers ready to work with APIs
- Gamification and education-tech enthusiasts
- Devs excited about Zoom, GitHub, and community tools
- Anyone wanting to simulate real project-based learning and teamwork
🎁 Benefits (Based on Your Tier)
👀 Observer (FREE Tier)- Join live sessions
- Watch a real team work in real time
- Join our community of engineers
👩💻 Apprentice Engineer (Premium Tier)
- Access live sessions with mic/video
- Ask questions and get real-time answers
- Learn Git and GitHub workflows
- Participate in weekly standups and retros
- Join pair programming sessions via Live Share
- Contribute code through pull requests
🎨 Front-end Engineer (Premium Tier)
- All Apprentice benefits, plus:
- Work with Laravel Blade/AlpineJS
- Build interactive features (UI for availability, scheduling, badges)
- Collaborate in Figma for component design
- Improve accessibility and mobile responsiveness
🌐 Full-stack Engineer (Premium Tier)
- Everything from Frontend + Apprentice, plus:
- Dive deep into Laravel's backend structure
- Integrate Zoom API and GitHub API
- Manage SQL database schema for scheduling, rewards, and user progress
- Work on queue jobs, notifications, middleware, and API handling
- Design real GitHub-integrated workflows within the app
- Build scalable architecture that supports thousands of users
🎓 What You'll Learn
- Laravel MVC best practices and scalable architecture
- SQL schema design for scheduling, gaming, and team coordination
- Zoom API integration for automated live collaboration
- GitHub API for issue tracking, pull request management, and team productivity
- GitHub workflows, branching strategies, and contribution tracking
- Agile teamwork with async collaboration
- Live deployment and production-level workflows
- SO MUCH MORE!
If you're interested in getting hands-on experience building real-world projects on a real team, sign up for a free trial on Patreon or just join the session as an observer to see what we're all about!
- Network event12 attendees from 3 groups hostingJoin a Real Dev Team: Build & Deploy a Web App Using Python, Django and SQLLink visible for attendees
🎉 Welcome to the Team! 🎉
This isn't a boot camp. It's not a course.
Join us in the "🏢│Software Engineering" channel of our Discord server for an ongoing, real-world web development project – You're invited to join the team!
Ever wonder what it's like to join an existing software development team and jump into real code? Now is your chance. This isn't just a tutorial. It's a real project – already in motion – and you're joining the team!
✅ You'll join a real, ongoing project
✅ You'll work in a team environment
✅ You'll learn modern tools (Git, GitHub, Figma, Jira, etc.)
✅ You'll build with Python, Django, SQL – and AI
✅ You'll grow based on the tier you join🛠 What You'll Be Doing
We're building a voting application that empowers everyday Americans to understand and engage with legislation on the national, state, and local level. Bills are often dense and difficult to read — so we're using the OpenAI API to help automatically summarize complex legislative text into clear, digestible language for the public.
Users will then be able to:
- View simplified versions of real bills
- Highlight each statement with green (agree), red (disagree), or grey (neutral)
- Generate a nuanced analysis based on their input
- Contribute to a collective public opinion profile that reflects what real citizens think
We're using:
- Python with the Django framework for our backend
- SQL for relational data and analysis tracking
- OpenAI API to summarize legislative text and extract key ideas
- HTML/CSS/JS for interactivity and user engagement
- Clean, accessible UI to make voting feel personal and easy to use
Together, we'll be:
- Building data models for bills, summaries, user responses, and AI output
- Integrating the OpenAI API to generate real-time summaries
- Designing intuitive interfaces for user voting and highlighting
- Creating logic to transform user input into readable public sentiment insights
- Managing permissions, user roles, and security best practices
- Deploying improvements in real-time and reviewing each other's code
🖼 Why This is Different
Most events are tutorials. This one is a real project that you can jump into and shape. You'll experience how it feels to collaborate, contribute to a live codebase, and see your work go live — while building a civic tech tool with real impact.
👥 Who Should Join
- Python beginners who want to apply their skills to a real Django app
- Developers curious about using AI tools like the OpenAI API
- Full-stack devs who want to contribute to a democracy-enhancing platform
- Anyone passionate about making legislation more accessible and inclusive
🎁 Benefits (Based on Your Tier)
👀 Observer (FREE Tier)- Join live sessions
- Watch and listen to a real development team coding in real-time
- Join a growing community of software developers
👩💻 Apprentice Engineer (Premium Tier)
- Join live sessions with mic/video access
- Ask questions and receive answers in real-time
- Learn Git and GitHub workflows
- Join Pair Programming sessions via Live Share
- Contribute to code via pull requests
- Participate in weekly planning, retrospectives, and development syncs
🎨 Front-end Engineer (Premium Tier)
- All Apprentice benefits plus:
- Build intuitive user interfaces for highlighting and voting
- Work on design systems and visual feedback mechanisms
- Collaborate with designers in Figma and bring designs to life
- Ensure accessibility and responsiveness
🌐 Full-stack Engineer (Premium Tier)
- Everything in Frontend + Apprentice plus:
- Full access to Django views, models, serializers, and routing
- Work with SQL databases and custom queries
- Integrate and manage the OpenAI API for summarization
- Help build sentiment aggregation systems
- Learn secure handling of user input and data privacy best practices
- Manage deployment, testing, and project architecture
🎓 What You'll Learn
- Python and Django real-world application design
- SQL for modeling structured legislative data and responses
- Integrating AI with the OpenAI API
- Git, GitHub, pull requests, and collaborative development
- API design and secure backend development
- UI/UX for civic technology
- Real deployment strategies and live feature shipping
- SO MUCH MORE!
If you're interested in getting hands-on experience building real-world projects on a real team, sign up for a free trial on Patreon or just join the session as an observer to see what we're all about!
Past events (20)
See all- Network event4 attendees from 3 groups hostingJoin a Real Dev Team: Build & Deploy a Web App Using Ruby on Rails and SQLiteThis event has passed