Boris´s Story | Quadient

Boris's Story

"I'm fascinated by the depth and complexity of AI and interference at the edge, and I strive to understand not just the surface, but also how these technologies actually work."

How did you get into development and why did you join Quadient?

My journey into software development started at a very young age, specifically at 12 years old. I started with Basic programming language, then Karel, 6502 assembler and Z81. My first commercial program was for the Atari 130XE and a plotter for drawing pictures. Later I switched to software development for simple accounting, payroll and invoicing, warehouse management.
As for my move to Quadient, it was a complete accident. After graduating from university, I was looking for a programming job in Hradec Kralove and Quadient (then GMC) was just hiring. Shortly after joining, I started working on the next generation of the main product and gradually expanded its capabilities. The company gave me a lot of trust, which allowed me to significantly influence how the product would work. I have remained at Quadient ever since..

What have been your biggest challenges so far and how have you overcome them?

My biggest challenge came when we at Quadient started expanding our services beyond static documents and started working on dynamic and interactive documents, including simple web applications. The goal was to maintain our low code approach, based on components and drag-and-drop design. This came shortly after React was introduced, but React was not optimized for mobile apps and was too big for our needs.

This prompted me to develop a new framework, Bobril. It was a great challenge, but also a very rewarding process. Bobril was designed to address these issues from the start, allowing us to build interactive web and mobile apps efficiently.

How do you stay up-to-date on the latest IT trends? What technology fascinates you the most? Which one do you have the most hope in?

I rely on several sources to stay on the cutting edge of the latest IT trends. Twitter, Hacker News and GitHub are key platforms for me to keep up with the latest updates and innovations in technology.

In terms of specific technologies, I follow developments around frontend, .NET, C#, TypeScript, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, CQRS/ES, and architecture. I've also recently added AI, ChatGPT and inference at the edge to my technology watch list. I'm fascinated by the depth and complexity of these areas and strive to understand not just the surface, but also how these technologies actually work.

The technology I have the most hope in is probably AI. I believe AI and machine learning will have a key impact on what software applications and services will look like in the future.
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What advice would you give to aspiring IT developers who want to excel in their careers?

Keep learning: IT is a field that is constantly changing and evolving. New technologies and tools are emerging almost every day. It's important for developers to always be ready to learn and adapt to new technologies.
Deep Understanding: While it is important to be familiar with a wide range of technologies, it is also crucial to have a deep understanding of a few. This will allow developers to create better and more effective solutions.
Work on real projects: theoretical knowledge is important, but nothing beats the actual experience of working on real projects. Such experiences provide valuable lessons that cannot be learned any other way.

What do you enjoy and motivate you the most about your current projects and where are you heading for further development?

My biggest motivation is working on the development of new HTML output in Inspire Designer. This project is a complex hybrid between pure HTML and dynamic communications, following the "Use Platform" principle. This makes it a great opportunity for innovation and the challenges it brings with it.

As a developer in the world of cloud computing, I am also excited about the possibilities for improving our in-house framework. We are working on ideas on how we can make the best use of it, while also considering how we can effectively implement AI into our systems and processes.

What I'm most excited about is the opportunity to be a part of these breakthrough projects and see how our work delivers real value to our customers and to the team. Our goal for the future is to continue to innovate and improve our products and services, with the integration of new technologies and trends such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence being a key factor.