Developer in Focus: Sumon, our Web Superhero!

Chatting with Sumon is always a delight. He is super positive and fun to be around. Sumon is a web developer here at XAM. He joined our team in 2017 and since then he’s been helping us to bring the best software solutions to our customers.

He is originally from Bangladesh and has plenty of work experience not only back home but also in Malaysia and Australia. Our marketing manager Thalita had a chat with Web Superhero, Sumon about his work, some of the great new things he’s learned recently and his daily struggle to cut the addiction to coffee. Check it out: 

Sumon, what was the first thing you thought when you woke up today in the morning? 

That’s a funny question… I usually have an alarm set for 6.20 am. The problem is that I hit snooze almost every day. So usually my first thought, when I wake up, is: “Oh no! I have to go!”. Based on what time I actually stand up, I decide whether I should have breakfast at home or simply grab something quick on the way to work.   

And what do you usually have for breakfast when you are at home? 

Rice and curry 

Rice and curry for breakfast, Sumon? 

Yes, it’s very common in Bangladesh.  Sometimes I also have bread and eggs. If I am in a rush, I get a Subway or buy a banana bread. I should start eating less rice, though… Too many carbs.  

How does your workday at XAM look like? 

See, here is the funny thing: People usually hate commuting. However, I try to use this time in a productive way.  I usually prepare and write down a few things I need to get done in that day, so I know what to do when I arrive at work. I also try to prioritise tasks and tackle the hard stuff first thing in the morning. When the brain is fresher and rested, we get work done easily, so for me, it’s a good way to start the day. When I get to work, I turn on the computer, get a cup of tea and start working right away.  

Tea? I saw you getting coffee today, Sumon! 

Yeah, I know. It’s difficult to change habits when you are addicted to something. I used to drink a lot of coffee and I realized that it’s not so good for me. So I started drinking tea, but I still reserve myself the right to have a coffee at least once a week. 

Hmm… Ok. And what was the hard task you had to get done today in the morning? 

Today I decided to get things prepared for a meeting with a client on Thursday. I had to extract the data from a CSV file to load into our client’s database, as we will discuss some more details on that during the meeting.

Tell us more about the most exciting project you worked on here at XAM 

That’s a tricky question… All the projects were so different and I’ve had the opportunity to learn so much from them. I’d say that the most challenging one was the web platform for National Home Doctor Service. I built it from scratch based on the sketches the client gave me. It was very interesting because I got to learn a lot about AngularJs and ASP.NET Core.  

But to be honest with you, I learned a lot with all our projects, really.  I also worked together with Jesse for the KAS project last year. He built their mobile app in Xamarin and I acquired more Java skills to create their API. Recently I also got the opportunity to learn more about Amazon Web Services for our client 60 seconds.There has been no project where I didn’t learn something new. That’s the best part of working here.

What are you looking into learning right now? 

I decided to refresh my knowledge of JavaScript since it’s a good base for different types of technologies. In the end, technology is something that evolves fast, and you need to have a decent understanding of everything that can help you bring the best products for the clients. I also feel that here at XAM we have a lot of space for learning. We are constantly encouraged to become better at what we do. 

You have a bachelor in Computer Sciences and a Master degree in Wireless Communications. You worked for different companies in 3 countries. What brought you to XAM? 

I am a full-stack developer and I’ve always had a particular preference for Microsoft technologies. I worked a lot with WPF, which is quite similar to Xamarin, actually. I feel that Microsoft technologies are very user- friendly and they provide developers with all tools they need to do a good job. As you can see, XAM and I are a good fit.  

Absolutely! But it’s enough about work! What do you do in your free time?

I like to spend quality time with my friends and family. I also enjoy listening to music from my home country and watching movies. Except for horror movies…    Otherwise, I won’t sleep at night. 

Tell us something interesting about your home country.  

You know, people usually think of Bangladesh as really poor and as an undeveloped country. But I like to reinforce that we have great minds there too.       There’s a TV show I particularly enjoy which is called “So On”. It features people that are working hard to develop the country. I saw an episode in which a   Bengali man was spotted distributing books to thousands of people. The funny thing is that he was doing it on a bicycle, so he would cycle around the country giving away books that he bought with his own money. I thought this was really interesting. It’s great to hear about those good examples. 

To finalise… One important question: Who’s better at cricket? Bangladesh or Australia? 

Australia is the best but, look, we are really good too.  

What if they play one against the other? 

Hahahaha… Tough question! 

This is the same post from our series “Life at XAM”!  Keep an eye on our blog for more posts on our team, app development trends and tech. 

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