About myself
They call me a Senior Backend Developer, but real backend engineers don't usually get their hands dirty with hardware and math, while I do. In fact, I've had to do a fair amount of that in some projects.
I've been with the company since March 11, 2019. That's almost five years and nine months if you're counting.
I live on a cat's schedule, and mornings are definitely not my thing. Waking me up early is no small feat, but by the afternoon, I’m ready to go. My most productive hours are during the day and evening, but I truly come alive as the sun sets. Evenings and nights are when I feel my best—whether it’s working, coding, or simply unwinding.
I'm not tied to a strict schedule, and that allows me to work when it's convenient for me and live at my own pace. The people around me are understanding and supportive of this schedule, so I don't have any problems with socialization.
Hobbies and relaxation
I love running. Even though I recently had meniscus surgery, I'm still training on the treadmill – 6 kilometers three times a week. It helps me stay in shape.
Another one of my hobbies is board games, particularly those with collectible cards, like Magic: The Gathering. I have a ton of cards at home and the office. If someone stops by looking for a snack, they’ll likely find cards instead! I play with friends for fun, nothing commercial. I'm not a fan of board game clubs; they tend to focus more on trading than on the actual gameplay, which takes away from the experience for me. Also, I play Eldritch Horror (based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft). Occasionally, I venture into the realm of Dungeons & Dragons, where I switch between roles. Sometimes, I take the reins as a Dungeon Master, organizing and running sessions; other times, I enjoy stepping into the shoes of a character and immersing myself in the adventure.
People around me
My friends and colleagues are a mix of IT professionals, people from my university days, and friends working in completely unexpected fields.
I have a friend who lives in Kyzyl-Asker and is a butcher. He can knock a pig out with a hammer in one blow to the forehead. I also have friends who are geodesists and a concrete worker from a reinforced concrete plant. I don't have any particular biases towards people. The main thing is that they're good people. Communication should be diverse.
At work, most of my communication is with IT people, of course, but I try to make sure that conversations don't revolve exclusively around projects or technologies. A balance is important: a bit of work, a bit of joking, a bit of life. I believe this helps us stay on the same page both within the team and with like-minded people.
By the way, it's hard to find like-minded people, especially in small towns like the one I live in. I was lucky to meet such people at university. Since we studied together and later worked on the same projects.
Sometimes, I manage to inspire someone or encourage them to learn something new to show that there are more interesting and larger-scale tasks than they've seen before. It can happen in a bar on a completely ordinary evening. After a while, these people say "Thank you" when we meet. But I don't consider it my merit; I just showed that there are other possibilities, and then the person makes their own choice.
About the company
What drew me to Mad Devs? The company's reputation. It felt like Mad Devs was a good fit for me.
Before that, I worked at Blastmaker, a company in the mining industry. The job was challenging and far from ordinary. One moment, I'd be in the office, writing software for an onboard computer; the next, I’d be out at a quarry, installing it and troubleshooting bugs on-site.
It wasn't just about programming—it was also about people. For example, knowing how to communicate effectively with a drilling rig master who wasn’t exactly thrilled to see you arrive was an essential skill.
At Mad Devs, the processes are much better organized. They exist, they're clear, and in my opinion, they work great. I like that we don't have any indispensable people. That is, you can remove anyone, and in principle, well, a replacement will be found. This means if you're doing your job good, no one will bother you during your vacation because everything is well-established and won't collapse. It's fantastic.
The project that stands out most in my memory at Mad Devs was in the field of bioinformatics, which is related to drug design. A scientist and I worked on constructing an aptamer for a protein target. The project details are under NDA, though. This was even before the Nobel Prize was awarded this year for research in the field of aptamer discovery, which adds significance to the work. According to the customer, the accuracy, and quality of the solution I proposed were comparable to commercial packages. It was amazing — usually, whole scientific teams work on such tasks, but we managed it with just two people. The project took nine months.
Where and how I learn
Gas riveting, explosive welding, and sober assembly—those are my core technologies. Just kidding. On a serious note, I approach tools from an engineering perspective. I assess the project, identify its needs, and select the right tools for the job. If someone says to code in Rust, give me two weeks, and I'll be coding in Rust—no problem at all.
For me, tools are like a caliper: you learn to measure with it, but knowing what to do with the results is an entirely different challenge. Programming languages and technologies are just additions to solving a problem. As I said, in one of my projects, I worked in the field of bioinformatics. There, the choice of tools primarily influenced the work's speed but not the task's essence. The real challenge was arranging atoms or parts of a molecule correctly and in line with technical specifications.
When I need specialized tools, I often turn to books on discrete mathematics—it's my go-to resource for deeper problem-solving.
So, my main tool is the ability to memorize, analyze, and draw conclusions. From trendy AI technologies, I actively use GPT. I give it a topic and start a conversation, and it generates a mass of useful theses that can be applied in work. Often, these ideas are well remembered and can be useful in the future when they unexpectedly surface.
The company also contributes to learning and throwing in interesting projects. Each new project requires learning new languages or tools. This is a great way to develop.
I also constantly learn for myself: I read books on algorithms and return to materials on graphs that I studied at university almost 20 years ago. I update my knowledge every day.
As for trainings, lectures, and events, no, I don't attend them. Sometimes, I watch Uncle Bob's presentations—he delivers information really well. But overall, there isn’t much high-quality content in my field, so I prefer to rely on texts for information.I can recommend the main sources that I often rely on and that have influenced me the most:
The last textbook is especially good. But be careful. The examples there, of course, correspond more to that time—1953, after all, and they can be skipped. The book is designed for eighth-graders, but the presentation is so good that it's suitable for anyone who wants to understand logic.
