My Journey Through Tech: Navigating Languages & Company Cultures
Hey there! I've been reflecting on my 8-year journey through the tech landscape, moving between different companies and collecting programming languages along the way. It's been quite the experience! 👀
Starting Out: Villa College Days
At Villa College, I started as an IT Officer handling everything from printer troubles to network issues. What most people don't know is that working at an educational institution had its own unique challenges. The doctors (faculty) there had particularly high expectations - make one mistake during a class presentation or while fixing equipment, and you might get scolded right in front of students. Nothing builds character quite like troubleshooting a projector while a professor gives you the death stare!
During this time, I was also building a Movie Renting Software for my diploma project using Visual Basic. The interface wasn't winning any design awards, but I was pretty proud when I got that payment system working without crashing every few minutes.
The Evolution of My Tech Stack
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work with various technologies:
- Visual Basic - My first foray into programming
- Python - Became my go-to language for backend development
- JavaScript & React - Essential for modern web development
- Docker - Game-changer for deployment and development environments
- FastAPI & Laravel - My preferred frameworks for API development
- AWS & Digital Ocean - Cloud platforms that opened up new possibilities
Company Cultures & Learning Experiences
Each company I've worked at has taught me something different:
Educational Institution (Villa College)
- High-pressure environment with zero tolerance for mistakes
- Diverse responsibilities from hardware to software
- Learning to work under scrutiny
Banking Sector (Bank of Maldives)
- Enhanced digital banking infrastructure
- Working with critical financial systems
- Understanding compliance and security requirements
Current Role (SME Development Finance Corporation)
- Developing dashboards and OCR systems
- Focus on fintech solutions for SMEs
- Combining my previous experiences
Reflections on the Journey
The tech industry has taught me that adaptability is everything. Languages and frameworks come and go, but the ability to learn, troubleshoot, and solve problems remains constant. Whether you're debugging a network issue or optimizing a React component, the fundamental approach stays surprisingly similar.
Looking back, those early days of getting scolded while fixing projectors actually prepared me well for code reviews and technical discussions. The pressure of performing under scrutiny built resilience that serves me well in today's fast-paced development environment.
The journey continues, and I'm excited to see what new technologies and challenges await!