What can you learn from a fast moving tech career?
It’s been almost a decade, since I entered into the world of software development.
In college I made several toy apps for Android and, then popular, Windows Phone. The real world apps, I found, after I joined the software workforce, are quite different than the toy examples in aspects of robustness, user experience, extra frameworks like live app debugging, hot-patching, analytics, release cycle etc. I only learned all this when I was working in the industry.
Although, I have lately been more inclined towards working in the machine learning field and my recent projects are also in the same. Here are the professional softwares/apps I have worked on as a software developer since I started journey.
1. MyKaarma Dashboard & iPad App
MyKaarma software powers many of the Dealerships in the US. The main job of the software is to facilitate a smooth connect between the car owners and the service stations / dealerships in the US. I was one of the first 20 developers in the company, placed from an on campus placement session.
I worked on the Web Dashboard written in Google Web Toolkit (GWT), Mysql Database, Deployment with Linux in initial stages, later with Jenkins, cronjobs for reporting emails etc.
Because of the fast moving startup nature of the organization, I got a chance to get into iOS development. I worked on the iPad app that was used by the Service Advisors for making a digital job card when the vehicles visited the service center. I also integrated an iPad attachable credit card swiper accessory into the app.
2. Koleshop Android App
In September 2015, I cofounded a startup called Koleshop. It was hyperlocal grocery shopping application for consumers and shopkeepers. It was Uber for Grocery. We owned no logistics, only the network and the software platform. I got a chance to interview the potential users of the app, work on the feature shortlisting, designing the app, developing Java backend with Google Cloud infrastructure as well as frontend native android app using Java.
Building the product, although was a great learning experience me and the other team members, it couldn’t find the product market fit before our funds ran out. We had to shut the operations due to financial issues. Probably good for the open source community as the source code is now available on Github.
3. Dogether iOS App
While working on Koleshop, to cover the finances, I took up a part time job as an iOS developer with Dogether. I was a new kind of experimental social media app. I worked on the local storage module, Core Data of iOS as well on the push notifications.
4. Paytm Android App
Working on the Paytm android app was my first time working on an app with so many users. A new app version was released every 15 days and a long list of new features was always on everyone’s plate. I learned so much about team work and team spirit while at Paytm.
I worked on the offline to online module of the app, which included movie, event, travel booking. I also got a chance to revamp the Help Center of the app. The team was always receptive of new ideas, so allowed me to introduce, then new, shimmer animations as well as Kotlin language module into the app. After the inclusion of the module, one was able to write the app in a hybrid manner, using Kotlin or Java or both for the apps code. We decided to keep writing the majority of code in Java, however many of us in the Android team had now started writing utility classes in Kotlin, saving a loads of time. I also worked on the app-wide assets optimizations.
5. Clix Loan Platform using Angular
Working in Clix, first time, I had a chance to work on a single page web app in Angular. Although in the start, javascript, to me seemed like a very loosly typed language with a lot of chances of mistakes. I soon caught on the technology as started to understand the depth of such a wide language and its frameworks.
I made modular forms UI for the loan agents, the data from which could directly be inflated to json with a simple get method, compatible with the Java Backend. The UI was dynamic and responsive. Additionally, I also worked a little bit on the Java Springboot backend and a Google Dialog Flow based chatbot.
So, this was my professional journey in the software development world, and my contributions to it. I have came a long way from where I started and maybe it’s the same for everyone.
What I learned
I think that a full stack software development career like mine doesn’t just teach one the hard skills like iOS, Android & Web development. I has taught me much more.
I has taught me the ability to see the technology as a whole instead of the parts. It also taught me that what’s made possible with the tech is more important than the tech itself.
And more importantly, it has taught me to adapt to the current world, where technology is changing faster than ever.
Thanks for reading.
