At Cosmic Development, our employees are at the core of everything we do. We believe that the people-first approach is the foundation of a client-centric organization. We foster a culture of trust, confidence, and commitment and take the responsibility of creating the conditions that allow our employees to thrive.
Our “Employee Spotlight” series highlights our talented employees who bring ideas to light and make this company incredible. Next on our list is Bojan Angjelkovski. Bojan is a senior front-end developer and Angular specialist who adds to our fantastic team of developers, and we are very lucky to have him. Read on to discover more about Bojan and our software development team.
You are one of the newest additions to the Cosmic Development team. Could you tell us how your Cosmic journey began?
I embarked on my career journey with Cosmic Development about a year and a half. It all started on LinkedIn. The conversation there led to a video interview, and the whole process resulted in me getting hired as a senior software developer.
I like my Cosmic journey so far, and most of all, I enjoy the freedom and flexibility the company offers. I’ve got a lot of support from the team, and I can’t wait to meet everyone in person soon.
We would like to know why you opted for software development and why Angular exactly?
Software development is not always easy, but it is rewarding, fun, and engaging. Building software is more than writing code – it is providing solutions for users’ problems, and therefore it requires creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills.
I like the feeling of achievement when I come up with solutions, and I am never bored when I work. Also, I love the potential of teamwork in software development. Being a part of a team and combining different points of view, experiences and skills lead to practical solutions to problems. We learn a lot from each other. I’ve learned a lot through indie development, where you go on your own, build something, and sell it to the world. So, I guess the vast potential for creative expression, sharing ideas, and collaboration with other developers, and above all, the passion I have for development, were essential to why I chose software development as a career.
And to answer the question about Angular. There are many reasons behind choosing Angular for web development. It offers a variety of features, programming styles, good documentation, google maintenance, package ecosystem, developer tooling, fast performance, stability and compatibility, and a learning curve.
What were the biggest challenges that you faced as a software developer?
We are working in a highly complex, vast, and dynamic industry, and software development is an essential part of that industry. Several factors are determining it, including growing complexities, market conditions, changing technology trends, and expanding software development challenges.
Of course, the challenges may vary. For example, most of the projects are now increasingly ruled by the “build once, deploy everywhere” paradigm, which means that a single application can run across multiple platforms. Integrating different programs and maintaining support complicates this issue even further.
However, for me personally, being up to date and not becoming obsolete is the most important thing to do in order to rise up to the challenges the industry brings.
What are the crucial things a software developer shall do to stay ahead of their game?
One shall face all obstacles without giving up. Persistence, positive mental attitude, and passion distinguish good from great software developers. Having endurance keeps your discipline, optimism and helps you persevere through difficult situations and challenges. Also, you have to be naturally curious, love to learn new things, and work hard. I believe that self-learners make the best programmers. Other vital traits I would mention are attention to detail and accepting feedback. Positive criticism is essential for growing, learning, and improving.
While we are discussing staying ahead of your game, can you tell us what your favorite books or podcasts on software development are?
I will start with books, and my first choice would be Eloquent JavaScript by Marjin Haverbeke. Eloquent JavaScript is a book that really stands out in a market saturated with programming content for developers. Having said that, I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners. It has some specific parts that require a few years of coding background to understand.
Next, I would list JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford. This one helped me “think in JavaScript” and helped me understand how to use the best parts of JS and bypass the bad parts.
For podcasts, I will mention JavaScript Jabber – one of the best-established JavaScript podcasts. And one of the must-see episodes is the interview with Brendan Eich, the man behind the JavaScript programming language.
You recently represented Cosmic Development at the DIGIT event organized by the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering in Skopje. Can you tell us a bit more about that experience?
Yes, I was part of this year’s DIGIT- Angular 2021. It was a fresh experience for me, and it is a great idea. However, I believe there is much room for improvement, and the best way to do so is through getting constructive feedback from all sides.
Generally, it is an excellent way for the students to gain a realistic idea of what it is like to work on real projects and share ideas and solutions to a given problem, of course, with our help, as mentors. There should be more such events.