Prachanda’s journey at Gurzu began in 2019 as a boot camp participant. His aptitude for mobile development made him a standout and he has been with Gurzu ever since. Today, Prachanda works as a senior engineer, and a team lead.
In this edition of Gurzu Insights, we had a conversation with Prachanda about his journey, interesting projects he has done, and the lessons he has learned along the way. He also shared his insights on the future of mobile development and advice for aspiring developers.
Tell us a bit about your career path. How and when did you start as a mobile engineer?
After my graduation, I was looking for a backend developer role in Java. But unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as I thought to find a work opportunity as a fresher.
I was selected for Gurzu Bootcamp in 2019 where I got to learn Ruby, Rails and React. This tech stack was new to me, but after weeks of intense bootcamp, I was one of the few who got selected to work at Gurzu.
My first project was a React Native project and since then I have been working and learning new technologies. Now, I am particularly good at React, React Native, and Swift for native iOS development. Other than that I am expanding my horizon in backend development using Node.js
What does your normal work day look like?
As a Team Lead and Mobile Engineer, my day starts with reviewing our project management dashboard to track progress and identify bottlenecks. This is followed by a daily stand-up meeting with my team where each team member updates on their progress, plans, and obstacles. After this meeting, I allocate time for deep work, where I aim to solve complex problems or code critical components of our application.
As a team lead, I am also regularly involved in technical discussions with the client. Besides that, I regularly take part in mentoring junior developers, reviewing our code to ensure it meets our quality standards, collaborating with other teams such as UI/UX, backend, and product management.
This routine helps balance my responsibilities as a developer, and a team leader, ensuring both the team’s growth and project’s success.
Can you share one of your most memorable or challenging projects as a mobile developer? What did you learn from it?
Last year, we worked on a project involving an IoT solution that integrated contactless payment via NFC, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communications with a fitness tracking device.
The project was aimed at enhancing user convenience by enabling seamless payment and fitness tracking on a single platform.
It was a challenging yet rewarding project.
The NFC component allowed users to make secure, contactless payments directly from their mobile devices. We implemented advanced encryption methods to ensure the security of the payment information, which required a deep dive into cryptographic protocols and security best practices.
This project helped me grow professionally. I learned leadership skills and cross-disciplinary teamwork as we had to work closely with wearable payment service providers.
Engineering wise, I think this project pushed the boundaries of what we could achieve with mobile and IoT technologies, so it was a growth for the Gurzu mobile engineering team as well.
Are there some unique challenges in working at Gurzu? The good parts?
Handling diverse client requirements, and tight deadlines is a challenge.
But that means you are exposed to a variety of projects, your learning is accelerated, and you learn a diverse set of skills so that’s the silver lining.
Can you tell us more about some new practices that you have implemented / things you have learnt at Gurzu?
I’ve had the opportunity to adopt several innovative practices that have substantially enhanced our development process and product quality.
For example: adopting agile methodology and implementing CI/CD pipelines which allowed us to automate our testing and deployment process. These are just a few of many practices.
What makes your life easier as a mobile engineer? Are there some tools, or processes you use to make your work efficient?
Efficiency as a mobile developer comes from not just knowing how to code, but how to manage the code.
Utilizing Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines has been a game-changer.
Tools like Fastlane for automation of builds and releases, and adopting rigorous code review processes, help maintain high code quality and streamline the release process.
What are your best practices for writing clean and maintainable mobile code?
- Keep the code modular which makes it easier to manage and test
- Maintain consistent coding standards
- Proper documentation and comments are essential for maintaining the code, especially in team environments.
- Continuously refactor your code as the application grows.
Any emerging technologies in mobile development that you’re particularly excited about?
The future of mobile development is promising with emerging technologies like AR/VR, AI, and more pervasive use of IoT.
React Native’s ongoing updates and the evolution of Swift into a more powerful tool with SwiftUI are exciting.
Flutter is also one of the cross platform frameworks that is clearly on the rise.
Kotlin Multiplatform is the latest cross-platform technology I’m pretty excited about since just recently Google has officially announced to support it.
What is your major advice to upcoming engineers and mobile developers?
Mobile development is not just about writing code but solving problems. You need proficiency in debugging, an understanding of design patterns, and skills in performance optimization.
I see many juniors overlooking the importance of understanding the basics of underlying platforms (iOS and Android) which can be a major career mistake. If you are thinking of getting into mobile development, focus first on mastering the fundamentals of software engineering and gaining mobile-specific knowledge.
My advice to junior devs is to keep up with industry trends, be open to learning new technologies and actively participate in the developer community. This will help you have an enriching career.
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Previous editions of Gurzu Insights:
Gurzu Insights with Kshtitiz Maskey
Gurzu Insights with Sony Tuladhar
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