Tag: Career

Results over Actions


A lot of time, I see engineers promising to boil the Pacific Ocean while climbing Kilimanjaro. I love optimistic engineers however there are also physical limits to what is possible. Another common refrain is "I worked so hard on x but I don't know what happened". Whenever I poke deeper, it's nearly always a case … Continue reading Results over Actions →

Being Deliberate


What would you do in the following scenarios? Presenting radical new ideas to an unreceptive audience Collaborating with parties with opposing interests In all these scenarios, it is expected that stakeholders will push back and might even expose gaps in your plans. How do you increase your chances of buy-in? In the past, I would … Continue reading Being Deliberate →

Three high-impact non-coding tasks for software engineers


There is more to software development than writing code. this post describes three of the most oft-repeated tasks I have been asked over the years. These are not strictly programming tasks but help magnify the impact. 1. Documentation As a grad student in 2012/2013, I set up a continuous delivery pipeline on AWS for my … Continue reading Three high-impact non-coding tasks for software engineers →

What it means to be a Senior Software Engineer


What makes a great senior software engineer? That's the question I always ask managers and senior engineers when I meet with them. This post discusses the traits of the excellent engineers I have had the opportunity to work with over the years. 1. Empathy Simple: do not be a brilliant jerk. No one enjoys working … Continue reading What it means to be a Senior Software Engineer →

Fighting the impostor syndrome


I bet everyone has had thoughts similar to the following go through their minds at one point or the other in their careers: side A: No, you don't know it, in fact you don't know anything... side B: hmm, I think you are just beating yourself too hard, it's a new area and you are … Continue reading Fighting the impostor syndrome →

Maturing as a software engineer


Looking back on my time as a developer, there are a lot of things I would have avoided doing if I had as much knowledge and maturity as I did now. While I am grateful for the experiences and don't regret them; I felt it would be a good idea to share these. These might motivate others … Continue reading Maturing as a software engineer →

Advice for aspiring programmers


I have made a couple of mistakes over the years and wanted to share those pitfalls so upcoming programmers know what to avoid and what works. 1. Focus You can't do everything - I don't think it is possible for one person to simultaneously be a pro at writing high quality code, network engineering, computer hardware and … Continue reading Advice for aspiring programmers →

10 years of programming: Lessons Learnt


I wrote my first program around 2006 or thereabout - it was some toy program for the FORTRAN course at school. Ever since then, I have been given the opportunity to take on more challenging programming tasks. It's been a heck of a journey for me and I am very grateful for the learning, the mentoring … Continue reading 10 years of programming: Lessons Learnt →

Becoming a Professional Programmer


1. Deliver when you commit It is extremely bad for your reputation to fail to meet up to your words; if you can't deliver, please say no or find an alternative way out. How would you feel if an artisan disappoints you for no good reason? I bet you'll probably never do business with them again. … Continue reading Becoming a Professional Programmer →

Job Hunting 101 for Students


Yes, I am still continuing with my posts on Grad School, research and all-of-that. The big question for most of us towards the end of school is 'Whats next?', a lot of us want to get jobs immediately afterwards but realize too late that it's much more difficult than we thought. Here are a couple of … Continue reading Job Hunting 101 for Students →

So you want to become a better programmer


An awesome team of professionals reviewed my code and quickly exposed my mistakes. Yes, it was a great albeit humbling experience :) . It gave me a firsthand glimpse of my code-writing flaws; I appreciate this as it will enable me to improve insha Allaah. Here are a couple of my thoughts on how to become better; maybe … Continue reading So you want to become a better programmer →

Become a better programmer


A lot of people say they want to become programmers and rave and talk about it without ever doing anything. So if you want to become a better programmer you can try these tips. Learn a lot Programming is a rapidly changing field with new innovations, discoveries and concepts coming up daily. Change is constant … Continue reading Become a better programmer →

How it all started


My very first language was FORTRAN; I took a programming course in it in 2006 and was instantly hooked. I didn't have a computer however I worked in a computer centre so I could program whenever I was free. After getting my laptop, I delved into C; however I  was 'advised' to drop C as it wasn't … Continue reading How it all started →