Vivin Paliath

Being a software developer is not just a career choice for me; it's my hobby. I enjoy writing code and solving challenging-problems "for fun" because it gives me an opportunity to learn new things and get exposed to new technologies.

My exposure to programming began when my dad got me a 386SX for my 10th birthday. My first programming language was LOGO and after that I started learning BASIC. I still remember going through the list of programming books in the school library, trying to find any resource I could to learn more.

During my sophomore year of high school, I started teaching myself C. I couldn't do much since I didn't have access to a good compiler at the time (I grew up in Oman and we didn't have the internet until '97). In my junior and senior years of high school I started learning C++. I would still do BASIC on the side (for fun) and ended up writing a few simple games.

I came to the US in 1999 for my Bachelors and I started learning Java. Aside from my standard college-assignments, I would do little hobbyist projects of my own; my very first one in Java was an interpreter for a simple language that I designed. I was exposed to more languages (ADA, Prolog, and LISP) during my Bachelors and I also started teaching myself a few others (Shell Scripting, Perl, and PHP).

I didn't look at my Bachelors degree as something that would just land me a job. For me, it was (and is) more than that. Programming/Software Engineering is a passion for me.

What I don't like is mindless drudgery or repetitive tasks. I understand that sometimes you have to do them, but I prefer them to be the exception rather than the norm. I also do not like working in an environment that is stagnant (i.e., where there is no incentive or push to innovate and explore new technologies) or overly corporate (something Dilbert-esque).

I guess the one point I want to put across is that I love writing code and I'm constantly trying to learn more about it and get better at it.