How we pick our developers

As the first step of keeping the level of source-code high at Binpress, developers are recruited via our invitation system. People can apply directly for an invitation or we scout them through their portfolio website – either way, the criteria is the same. We are looking for the following qualities in our developers:

• Professional experience. We are looking for developers with at least several years of professional experience developing in the real world. “Professional” means they built software used by people and (usually) got paid for it. The only outlier is (free) open-source development, but in this case we get to examine the code so it’s easy to determine the level of the developer.
  
• Use of modern methodologies – Object Oriented programming, design-patterns, testing, refactoring, coding style and conventions and other techniques that reduce complexity and increase the quality of code. Ideally, we can examine some code you wrote on your website or in an open-source project you are involved in.
• A personal site – either a blog or a portfolio site that allows us to get some more information about you. As mentioned above, if we can read some code you wrote, either in blog posts or in open-source projects, that would make our decision easier. In many cases we approved developers with no portfolio site that had a diverse profile on open-source repository sites such as Github or Google code, where we could review some code they wrote and make a decision.
• Basic understanding of design and aesthetics is a plus. Though not a must, it bodes well for submission of packages that involve UI elements. Presentation should not be discounted (especially if you intend to sell on Binpress). A well designed portfolio site usually indicates seriousness and dedication on behalf of the developer.

Our approach to prospective buyers includes the quality of our developers, so we aim to keep it high – but we want to invite as many of you as we can, so make it easier for us to determine your credentials. If you are requesting an invitation, please include relevant links to help us determine your credentials. If you link to a site that is not your personal site, please elaborate a little about the site you linked to and what was your part in developing it.

We hope this post makes the process more transparent and help you guys (and gals) get more invitations. If you have any thoughts about the standards and what we could do differently to better cater to our community, we want to hear from you in the comments.