Programmer's Day: Interview with mowomo programmers

Today is the day of the architects of our new digital worldThey have their own languages ​​and make our lives easier. Without them this website, this blog, this entry would not exist. Internet would not be the same, that's why today is celebrated the programmers day.

I'm talking about computer programmers, who undoubtedly deserve to have their day for all those hours they spend in front of a computer. Many hours searching and creating solutions through code, with which other mortals can enjoy many of the technologies we know today.

Why September 13?

No, it's not a random day. Please, it's him Programmer's DayDo you think that one of them hit the keyboard and some random number came out? Although those of us who do not understand code think that they are using an invented language with random characters, these professionals they leave nothing to chance.

The idea for this day came from a young Russian named Valentine Balt, who at the time was working for the web design company in Parallel Technologies. In 2002, he collected signatures to present a formal petition to the Russian government, he wanted the official programmers' day to be recognized as the September 13.

He chose this particular date because it is the 256th day of the year. This figure is the maximum amount of numbers that can be represented with 8 bits, a number well known to programmers. In addition, 256 ( 2⁸ ) is the largest power of 2 that can be expressed within the limit of 365, which are the days of the year.

Yes, yes, you've been left in check. I already told you that it was not a randomly chosen day.

As of September 11, 2009, this date officially became the Programmer's Day by authorization of the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev. And to this day.

Interview with mowomo programmers

mowomo as such it would not exist without the incredible programmers that are part of our teamWe are lucky to have great professionals, really. And since I did not want to let this day go by as if nothing had happened, I have seen fit to spend a few minutes to listen to them and thus learn a little more about the programming world.

Let's start the interview with mowomo programmers. They are Mercedes, Victor y Pedro. Let's see what they tell us...

1. How did you learn to program?

Mercedes: A thousand years ago, in the third course in Vocational Training in Administration, we had the option of choosing between two branches: one of computer science, and the other of office automation. I chose the first one and started with BASIC Programming. Imagine, with green phosphor screens and putting code in abundance, all to move a little ball from one side of the screen to the other. Once I finished the course, I left it for a few years, but as soon as I was able to buy a computer, I continued with my “Self-taught” training 🙂 How old I am :O

Victor: My first steps in programming were taken on an old computer that had the Debian operating system installed. I did research on how I could create files that would open in the browser, thus displaying things like gifs, images, and so on. After that, I learned to really program from various teachers at the institute and later at the university.

Pedro: The first time I programmed was in the second year of high school, in an ICT (Information and Communication Technology) class. I wanted to be a physicist, but that course changed my life. I saw in the code an outlet for my creativity that, through words and signs, I could create tools that would make life easier for other people. Although at that time I was just trying to pass the course.

When I finished high school, I spent three years studying Computer Engineering at the University, and then two in a higher degree in Multiplatform Application Development. In these five years I realized one thing, I learned much more self-taught than in front of a teacher. I would challenge myself and try to meet them at all costs, putting myself under scrutiny, and I discovered that under pressure was how I really learned.

Now I work at mowomo, developing custom blocks and plugins for customers. The pressure is greater than ever, but receiving an email from the client thanking the good work and having learned new things, is the most satisfying thing in the world.

2. Is it necessary to know a lot of mathematics to be a programmer?

Mercedes: The truth is that my mathematics is regular, my best friend is the calculator that I have on the table. It's a shame, because I was very good at math in high school, but the truth is that with the passage of time I'm getting worse and worse 🙁

Victor: Advanced math concepts are not necessary to learn to program, but they do help a lot to better understand the flow of code. In addition, they become super important when we carry out more complex programming.

Peter: Depending on what is being developed. Normally, working with WordPress, I don't need to do a lot of math, because I don't usually have clients request jobs that require mathematical calculations. But from time to time requests come in that do require more complicated internal accounts. It is also true that rather than making logarithms or integrals, you have to order the information very well, as if they were mathematical functions, thinking about the maximum possible optimization of the code based on certain algorithms.

3. What is the most important skill that you think a programmer should have?

Mercedes: The resolution of problems posed by the code that you have to implement. Although from the outside it looks like the code is boring and always the same, the code is quite a daily challenge. It seems that our work has little creativity, but it is not true, the imagination that we have to develop to reach a solution sometimes surprises me. On the other hand, it's something I love.

Victor: Ability to adapt, both to changing times, to new projects and also to new teammates.

Peter: The self-criticism It is, for me, the most important thing, since without it I would not be able to constantly improve. In the world of programming, one must be constantly updating oneself, you cannot stay for a single moment, in two days the new programming languages ​​or the new updates of libraries that you use are already on your heels.

4. ¿What tools could you not live without?

Mercedes: Well, I'll tell you, I've been through many code editors, operating systems and programming languages. Let's go by parts:

Text editors and code ID: When I started, there was what there was, notepad and little else. Then I moved to Notepack, something better than the plain text of notepad. And later I discovered an impressive universe with Adobe Dreamweaver. When I realized that I wasn't coding, but Dreamweaver was giving it all done for me, I searched for information on various options and came up with Sublime text. It made my job a lot easier because of the code prediction, but over time I went one step further, and today I use Atom, much more pro 🙂

Operating systems: I started with Windows and now I use MAC, which I prefer. But what I really like is LINUX. My next work tool will be a computer with LINUX, that's clear to me, but while the time comes, I feel comfortable with MAC.

Programming languages: I went through several, Ruby, Python... But in the end, since what I do is development with WordPress, well, I get it with PHP and JavaScript 🙂

Victor: Today without my Linux I feel uncomfortable 😛

Peter: I couldn't live without my favorite code editor: Visual Studio Code. For me it is the best there is to program. It has an incredible community behind it, which does not stop updating both the system itself and the addons that you can add to it. Likewise, I couldn't without Postman, a tool that allows me to communicate wonderfully with the APIs I use on a daily basis.

5. What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who wants to get into programming?

Mercedes: Never stop training, you learn something new every day, whether it's solving a problem or because you want to learn a new language, you have to retrain yourself because if not, you'll be left behind.

Victor: Learn to learn.

Peter: The best advice I can give you is to prepare coffee to spend more than one night fixing bugs.

I hope you enjoyed the interview and that you learned something new. Yes, you, who are reading this, are starting and want to become a great programmer, Don't worry. Very soon we will launch mowomo school with very varied courses and at different levels. Don't hesitate any longer and sign up to find out about the launch before anyone else 😉