The founder of Jimmy Thakkar, Ashish Thakkar, an expert in website design, artificial intelligence, and search engine optimization, tells Bored Panda that he's been in the business of software development for over 20 years. Currently, his focus has shifted more to AI development to help create AI software for various industries.
Even though Thakkar has successfully worked in this profession for more than two decades, he never imagined he would end up here.
"I started my career as a website designer and then gradually moved towards software development," he shared.
"I started with Java programming and then moved towards Visual Basic, which I learnt under a software developer who worked as a colleague. I had no interest in programming languages or computers in school, so I had never thought that I would end up in this field."
Since he has spent so much time in this industry, we were curious to know more about it, specifically, what the day-to-day of software developers looks like.
"My job involves writing code for software, testing it out thoroughly before compiling and deploying the software," he said.
The schedule of Thakkar's day looks a little bit like this:
- Writing code for software: Half of the time goes to stackoverflow.com and github.com.
- Testing and debugging.
- Reading newsletters and forums.
"You need to keep updating your knowledge on a regular basis, especially since AI is moving at such a fast pace that if you skip out on it for a week, then you feel you’re ancient," he said.
It's no secret that Thakkar's profession to this day is surrounded by stereotypes and misconceptions, so we were curious to know which ones he would like to debunk.
"People always imagine developers as people who burn the midnight oil in front of a black screen, typing lines and lines of code. There is a lot more than that. Communication skills and problem-solving skills are the two most underrated qualities of any software developer," he explained.
Another misconception Thakkar mentions is people believing that all programmers are geeks. "This is not true; some have a gym-toned physique who play semi-competitive football and kick a*s at other contact sports (are also standing 6-foot-1 inch in height and are single)."
