Umang joined CodeX in 2019. Since then, he has been involved in the development of several major international projects and has developed several bots and libraries of his own. We talked to Umang in Zoom about his journey, his work, and the team.
Tell us a little about yourself: where do you live and what do you do?
Hi, I am a software geek who can work on anything, which includes programming. So from that, I have experience working on multiple programming languages in my industry, which is developing and maintaining a full-stack solution for industrial machine vision applications. The applications include developing the software for a machine that sorts the defects at a very high speed (100-120 parts per min) with micron accuracy. So It’s all related to a solution that includes a little bit of physics to set industrial cameras and lights, a little bit of mathematics for image processing and reset is the programming skills to control it.
I work at RobroSystems PVT LTD, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India, as a software lead for machine vision systems and my sweet home in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Tell me about the school: was it a maths school or something else? Is there anything interesting about it?
Nope, It wasn’t a math school but, It was a Gujarati language-based school. Fun fact Gujarati is one of 22 well-spoken languages from India.
But it includes math which is around 10% of our curriculum. It also comprises a total of 4 languages which is Marathi (Because I am living in Mumbai), Hindi (Because I am an Indian), English(Because I want to talk with you) and Gujarati (Because I am a Gujarati).
Where did you go after school?
After School in India, we have 10+2, So I completed my next two years pursuing higher education in the science field. Since I was poor at biology, I chose computer science for starting a journey to endless debugging.
How did you come to be interested in computer science?
The story began in 2009. We had a computer which was very low specification from the current one. It had 256 MB RAM with an Intel Pentium processor, so I got interested in it with the first games. So, I lost in games for 2-3 years, then one day I came to know that Oh! A computer can do much more things than games.
I started wondering about the other things on computers, such as how they work using slow internet, but due to my choice of the computer science field, I got much more interested in it. I am still a big lover of games — a lot of time goes to such games as God of War, Tomb Raider game series, Bioshock, and all parts of Call of Duty.
Can you tell me something interesting about your university? Were there any kind of students clubs of software engineering/programming/design?
After two years, I have started my undergraduate in Computer Science from the Govt. College SLIET, Punjab, India.
During my under graduation, there was no club for programming and software engineering. So it’s time for me to create one. So, I became the co-founder of the SLIET software club.
In this club, we mainly discuss algorithm-based problems, try to solve real-life problems using our discussions.
Also, at the same time, I got a little bit of interest in robotics and automation by doing a line follower robot project. So, again in collaboration with seniors, we started the robotics club. Here, we are discussing different guiding algorithms for various robots. Robots like a sneak robot, quadcopter with PID algorithmic controllers, etc., Also we participated in lots of colleges during the tech festival and won lots of prizes with fame.
What do you think about CodeX? How did you find us?
CodeX is a platform for learning new tech in web development as well as it is a platform that requires only your effort to learn something new.
In May 2020, I was working on my project. I need the WYSIWYG library for our website. I found many libraries, but the look and feel of it were not modern. So during a search of the library, I came across Editor.js. It has all the features that I needed with cool-looking WYSIWYG. At that time, I wanted to contribute to an open-source. So, I was communicating with different organizations but did not get a reply.
So, I was working on integrating Editor.js into my application. I found the Telegram link in README.md on Github. So, I DM “Hi, I want to contribute to the Editor.js” at 2 AM IST. From there, all things started and, I found the CodeX team.
How did you find Editor.js? What do you think about it?
As mentioned above, I found the Editor.js at 2 AM and, I started with the bug fixing and, after a few days, I created new features in it and modified it to allow many features.
There is no other tool online that gives such flexibility to a developer as Editor.js. And when Peter asked me implementing the next feature in the Editor.js, I was flattered. So I feel great to be part of Editor.js.
Why did you consider contributing to Editor.js? Are there any other open-source projects you are contributing to?
I am contributing because I love to do programming and, I also love the feedback loop of features asked by the user or problems faced by the user. It helps me to understand a lot about developing more usable software.
No, I am not contributing to any other open-source.
Tell me about joining CodeX. How was it?
Firstly it was about bug solving. But due to that, I started understanding the project more deeply. Then I start the feature development phase. During, that phase it is hard for me to complete my tasks but, the daily meetings and discussions with the group help me a lot. For me, it is a journey That will not end soon.
Why are you still working in the CodeX team? How do you support your passion?
I am learning new things whenever I contribute to the CodeX team. One of the big reasons I am still working is that I learn a lot of things about how to manage such a large amount of code base. Also, in starting I didn’t know much about GitHub at all but due to the CodeX team today I understand this tool better than ever so still it’s a learning curve for me.
How can you rate an experience you got in CodeX? Tell me about a few things you learn here?
You can’t rate the things which you love. So, I will skip the rating thing. I learn GitHub, GraphQL, TypeScript, GitHub CI-CD, Webpack, Babel, code management, frontend development process and microservice architecture with Docker, etc. I may forget to mention but, I am still learning lots of things.
Tell me about your current job. Does the experience you got in CodeX help you in your main job?
I am a software lead of a machine vision system. In my organization, I am responsible for the architecture of the application. I am also accountable for techs we use for software development for getting accuracy as small as micron and speed as fast as 100-200 elements per minute.
From CodeX, I get help in version management of machine vision software with clean source code in the repo. I was motivated by the CodeX CI-CD pipeline. So, I implemented the same for the machine vision system. Also, we are now shifting the desktop application from native to JavaScript-based development. So, what I learn in CodeX help me a lot.
Can you please describe your regular day?
Every day, I have a flexible schedule which is most of the time never work accordingly. So, I wake up around 6 AM and do the usual stuff and get ready for yoga. I do it for half an hour. Then I start the day by making and eating breakfast. After that, I have about an hour before I will go to a job. I read some new programming-related news or decide what task I have to complete that day.
Then I leave for the office. In the office, I spend the first half of a day on meetings, and for the second half, we have to implement some code and play with machines. Then around 6:30 PM, I leave the office and come home. It’s time to make myself fit and after I have lunch. Then I do some tasks of CodeX and, then we have a meeting at midnight. I am bad at dreaming of coding.
Tell me about your hobbies?
Gaming, on Sunday playing outdoor games such as cricket, football, and badminton. Also, I mostly learn about the new things you can control using programming.
What music do you listen to?
I mostly listen to classical Gujarati `Garbas` which, is a traditional Gujarati folk dance. Also, listen to Gujarati movie songs.
I am a big fan of Hindi songs by Adnan Sami, Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, Kishore Kumar and many more.
Also, I am fond of Coldplay, Alan walker, Ed Sheeran, Bebe Rexha, Rihanna, Camila Cabello, Marshmello, Mr Suicesheep.
Gujarati traditional
Top 5 apps/services you are using every day
- Github mobile App
- PhonePay payment Application
- Telegram
- Zoho
What has CodeX given you in life? For example, friends, knowledge, portfolio?
It’s a mix of all the above and that is the best part of the CodeX team.
What do you like most about CodeX?
I mostly like the people of the CodeX team because they are very supportive. For example, Peter initially helped understand the new big project called Hawk from scratch by sharing the diagram and knowledge. For the next three days, he was spending time teaching me every architectural aspect of the Hawk.
What do you dislike about CodeX?
Sometimes, I am unable to attend meetings. Because for me, it’s just before sleeping time. But, Hey! this is an IST problem so, it’s okay.
Got an interesting story relating to CodeX?
It’s another supporting story about getting started with a Hawk. At that, I spend my whole day trying to start Hawk. But at night 1 hour, all guys helped me to start running that application. Also, since I don't know Russian, they starting to do meetings in English for me. Finally, they started the image sharing group where any CodeX member does share pictures. It brought me much closer to the team.
What are your future plans? Do you want to found your own startup or join the FAANG company?
Currently, I am planning to get into the first tier of Software Company. For understanding the management but, eventually, I have to do a startup.
And the last question. If you had an unlimited budget and a team, which startup would you launch?
Most probably a Food-based startup initially, because who doesn’t love food? Then I want to enter the production-based industries. But the first thing I always want to start up with is a small software, which helps my father during their microscopy. So, software that assists the doctors in a decision on which disease is present using AI.
CodeX is a team of digital specialists around the world interested in building high-quality open source products on a global market. We are open to young people who want to constantly improve their skills and grow professionally with experiments in cutting-edge technologies.