Make Pat Bair a database maintainer
Background
- GitLab employee on database team for ~9 months
- Database trainee maintainer for ~6 months (database reviewer prior to that): #6359 (closed)
Database Trainee
- Reviewed 55+ merge requests
- Improvements to process by moving storage of migration versions outside
structure.sql: gitlab-org/gitlab!30109 (merged), gitlab-org/gitlab!38645 (merged) - Added cops to reduce errors when adding or removing indexes: gitlab-org/gitlab!39503 (merged), gitlab-org/gitlab!40435 (merged), gitlab-org/gitlab!39864 (merged), and improved documentation: gitlab-org/gitlab!40892 (merged)
- Implementation of almost all of the migration helpers that will enable partitioning (spans too many MRs to list here), and addition of database partitioning guide: gitlab-org/gitlab!42035 (merged)
Of course these accomplishments are a bit easier to achieve since I am working on the database team as my daily job
Becoming a maintainer
It has taken quite a while for me to get used to the style of code review at GitLab, which is more thorough than I've come across before, especially on database. While I still have lots of room for improvement as a reviewer, I feel I'm ready to step into the maintainer role. It's been a great learning experience so far, and I feel I am at a point where I have a good grasp on the challenges facing use of database at the scale of GitLab.com, while still fully supporting self-managed installations.
After reviewing database MRs for ~8 months, I think the trainee role is starting to feel "safe." The best way to continue to develop is to take on the extra responsibility that comes with being a maintainer. This will no doubt present many new challenges that allow me to grow, and help others grow as well.