Table of Contents
In our last article, we introduced our newest initiative, Talk with Software Development Experts, a space where we interview tech experts to get to know more about them, their careers, their experience, and their interests.
In this article, we will continue sharing great interviews with software development experts we had the opportunity to do online. Are you Interested in knowing who were the software development experts we interviewed? Keep reading to discover it!
Talks with Software Development Experts
David Bonilla
If you work in the tech world you’ve probably heard of David Bonilla, or at least of his online newsletter Bonilista, which now counts over 17,000 subscribers! David is the founder of Manfred and has been working in the software industry for over two decades, holding various positions. His expertise lies in getting the best performance out of a team and building remarkable digital assets.
In our online interview, David shared his thoughts on the tech industry. He mentioned that 2020 was a strange year with significant events like the COVID-19 pandemic and layoffs in big tech companies. Despite these challenges, he emphasized that technology continues to advance and grow, and software development remains a crucial field.
Regarding inflation rates and salaries, David discussed two different scenarios. Startups backed by venture capital tend to offer higher salaries based on demand, while service-based companies focus on cost-cutting measures due to economic conditions. He predicted a stabilization of salaries with some minor increases, particularly in startups, but not significant changes overall.
The conversation then shifted to Manfred, a recruiting service founded by David. He described his passion for product management and building scalable products. Manfred aims to provide value to users beyond job hunting by offering insights into career growth and benchmarking salaries. The goal is to create a platform that manages one’s entire professional career, focusing on what individuals want to become rather than their current status.
Looking ahead to 2023, David expressed his interest in improving the development experience. He noticed that his developers were working with cumbersome processes, making deployments and local setups challenging. Thus, he is currently focused on streamlining the development experience, an issue he believes is relevant not just to his team but to the entire industry.
In summary, the interview with David Bonilla covered a range of topics, including his perspective on the tech industry in 2020, insights into Manfred’s direction, the story behind the Bonilista newsletter, and his interest in enhancing the development experience. Watch the full interview to learn more about him!
Carlos Villuendas
Our next Talk with software development experts was with Carlos Villuendas, a lead frontend architect at Domestika. Carlos shared his experience in the software industry, starting as a junior front-end developer and gradually shifting his focus to business logic and pure JavaScript. He emphasized the importance of mentorship and how it transformed his career.
Carlos predicted that 2023 would bring significant advancements in front-end development, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation. He discussed the potential applications of machine learning for performance optimization and adaptive content loading. Furthermore, Carlos highlighted the rising trend of bringing frontend development closer to native code through technologies like WebAssembly (Wasm) and web containers.
Carlos also recommended various resources for learning and staying up-to-date, including books like “Clean Code” and authors such as Alexander Rasmussen and Kyle Simpson. He emphasized the value of community engagement and attending events, not only for gaining practical knowledge but also for networking and drawing inspiration from fellow developers.
Are you interested in learning more about Carlos or other software development experts? Watch his full interview on our YouTube channel!
Viktor Farcic
We also had the great opportunity to interview Viktor Farcic, a Developer Advocate at Upbound, host of DevOps Toolkit, and cohost of the podcast DevOps Paradox. Victor is known for his expertise in DevOps, containers, Kubernetes, microservices, continuous integration, delivery and deployment, and test-driven development. He is also a published author and a frequent speaker at community gatherings and conferences.
Viktor starts his interview by telling us a bit about how he began his journey in this industry and his passion for continuous delivery. Viktor attributed it to his motivation to be lazy. He always aimed to automate tasks to avoid doing repetitive and boring work, allowing him to focus on more interesting aspects of his job.
Talking about his YouTube channel, Victor shared that it was born out of his failure with writing books. Although his books were well-received initially, they became outdated due to the rapidly changing technology landscape. He turned to YouTube because short-form content was more suitable for technology that quickly becomes obsolete and now his channel, DevOps Toolkit, has over 50K subscribers! He also mentioned his podcast, which differs from YouTube in terms of preparation and editing. Podcasts are more casual and spontaneous conversations with guests or random topics.
Victor mentioned that he enjoys smaller events more than large ones. He frequently attends events like DevOps Days and Kubernetes Community Days. As for future events, he expressed a desire to visit countries he hasn’t been to yet, particularly in South America or Africa. He also mentioned upcoming events in Spain, such as Dev BCN and Open Source Summit.
Reflecting on 2022, Victor highlighted the positive aspect of more companies recognizing the productivity of remote work. He enjoys the flexibility it provides in forming teams regardless of location. However, he expressed his dislike for the abundance of online conferences, preferring offline events.
Overall, Victor’s journey and passion for sharing knowledge and helping others have made him an influential figure in the software development community. His dedication to staying up-to-date with technology and his engaging content on YouTube and podcasts have allowed him to connect with fellow developers and enthusiasts worldwide. We strongly suggest you check out the content he creates!
Carlos Blé
Continuing with our Talks with Software Development Experts, we had the pleasure of interviewing Carlos Blé, founder of Lean Mind, software craftsman, writer, and public speaker. We began the interview by discussing Carlos´s background and accomplishments, including writing books on topics like test-driven development and sustainable code.
Carlos’s latest book, “Sustainable Code,” has been well-received in the market and is used as a training manual in his company. He has also launched an online course related to the book and plans to offer training courses in Barcelona, Madrid, San Francisco, and Chicago. Carlos expressed his excitement about speaking at events like the Agile Testing Days in Chicago and the Socrates conference in Tenerife.
The Socrates conference is an unconference focused on coding, sharing ideas, and discussions. Carlos highlighted the inclusive and immersive nature of the event, where everyone is equal and encouraged to share and learn.
During the interview, Carlos mentioned his podcast, which primarily focuses on soft skills related to programming. He shares his experience and tells stories about his 20-year journey in the industry. Carlos also interviews interesting professionals, aiming to promote the work of women in tech.
Carlos expressed his plans to attend several events, including the Commit Conf in Madrid, DeveOpsDays Barcelona, the Agile Open Space Conference in Spain, and the Festival of Consciousness in Barcelona. He also mentioned his intention to write two more books and recommended classic programming books like those by Martin Fowler and Kent Beck.
Interested in learning more about Carlos and his experience in the field? Check out his full interview.
