Me on Microsoft Days
I didn't believe I would've ever said that, but on March I attended the Microsoft Days 2012 here in Sofia. Read my thoughts on the lectures, but bare in mind that they are strongly affected by my web personality.
So what is this all about?
Welcome to my place on the net, where I write about and showcase various things I consider interesting for me, mainly related to front-end web development. You can look at my HTML5 Landscape presentation (a custom made HTML5 application that I used to present the topic in front of my former colleagues), browse the list of articles that I've published (or subscribe to the RSS feed), use the CSS3 examples as a reference (at least I use them from time to time, although they are far from the best resources on the net), play some old school games written by me long time ago, or just drop me a line.
Why web? Why front-end? Why JavaScript?
Why I've chosen front-end web development as my prime occupation considering the fact that I've been a Java and PHP developer before and I have the skills and education to make applications way beyond UI and web is a topic I can discuss all night long. In the end of the day, it all comes down to personality.
However, if we put the personal preferences aside for a moment:
- JavaScript is a way more challenging programming language than Java. I learn it since 2003 and still there are things that come up every day. A different perspective or a new way to use its capabilities. This is not the case with other languages.
- Web is a way more challenging environment than any other with the concepts of progressive enhancement, polyfills, accessibility..., and this variety of devices.
- HTML5 is the present and the future. This is not a buzzword. You will even build desktop applications in HTML5 one day.
- JavaScript has no alternative in the web. Flash is not a serious option and is slowly dying, except for "enterprise solutions". Neighter is any other plug-in technology.
- You know front-end technologies - you can build modern web applications. You know Java, PHP, .NET only - it is most likely that your web applications will be highly unusable, unaccessible, unmaintainable...
- In Java (and many other languages) there is only one way to write your code. Strict conventions. A single undesputable OOP concept. Many limitations. This is good from many perspectives. In JavaScript - sky is the limit. This is good for me.
- Isn't it amazing that Google, Microsoft, Apple, Mozilla and many other corporations are united in one organization that aims to push the web forward, for the good of developers, vendors and users? Can you imagine Microsoft, Oracle and IBM joining forces and moving the databases forward, for example?
Why is this argumentation necessary?
I have met a lot of different programmers at the corporations I have worked for, as well as during my university years. A lot of them have very poor knowledge about what web and/or front-end development is, but are the first to proclaim that this is not as serious as their prefered job/language/environment.
Who am I?
I am a front-end developer who builds a modern web application for a small company located in Sofia, Bulgaria. My previous experience includes working for large organizations, which has its benefits - meeting very different people with very different life perspectives.
Front-end development was my first job in 2007, but since then I decided to move on to become a "real programmer". Five years later and after many technologies changed, I closed the circle and returned to the place I belong.
I was born and grew in Plovdiv, one of the oldest cities in the world. One of the things I enjoy doing besides my job is meeting people I like in places I like.