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Insights
We did an interview with a guy who knows how to rule the chaos. Yes, we are thinking about the chaos caused by programming. 🙃He is 27 and he works in our Ukraine team. His name is Ivan and he is PHP addicted.
- How did you decide to become a developer?„That was plan B if I don't succeed as a Sound Engineer. Programming was pretty easy for me, and university teachers said that I`m pretty talented. I’ve read a lot of material, learn how to develop in my free time, and in the last year of study, I found a great opportunity to start a programming career.”
- Do you know or would you like to learn any other programming language?„It would be better to learn some additional technologies that could help me in the working process. I'm a PHP evangelist, so for me, there are a lot of great languages, but PHP is a leader of web development and kind of compromise over different language approaches.”
- What motivates you the most at work?„When I see that my job brings results - the happiness to clients, money to the company, and developers.”
- What do you like the most about working in Quantox? „I am free to choose hours, and there are a lot of experienced colleagues to help me with troubleshooting.”
- If you need help you go to (which colleague)? „Ivan Karanjac supports me all the time, and for the “developers discussions” I have Movsar.”
- Laravel or Symfony?„Symfony.”
- Work from home or from the office?„Office - like it a lot!”
- What are your impressions of the conference?„That was my first experience with conferences as a speaker, also the first time I was speaking in a non-native language. But I did it well because I prepared in time.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„Yeah, sure! Next time will grab more time for speech.”
- Did you have stage fright?„Not a lot of, but got a little shivering. 😅 I have a lot of experience in public communications, but not related to developer stuff.”
Damjan is a developer, animal lover, horse rider, MTB biker, scuba diver, tennis player (veterans league), and the pilot of ultralight planes. Besides all this, he is part of our fantastic Macedonian team for the past 9 months. Read more about him below, and watch his lecture at Quantox Virtual Conf here.
- How did you decide to work with Android Security?„During my career, I had the option to work in a security area. It was an amazing experience and a really big challenge for me. Also, I learned a lot of new interesting things and increased my skills. It's a really big plus in my career.”
- Do you know or would you like to learn any other programming language?„I'm working with PHP and Python (including DBs, REST API, microservices, servers, payments, etc). My next goal is to learn Machine Learning. I passed the intro course and I hope that I will have an opportunity to become more advanced in the ML area.”
- What do you like the most about your job?„Quiet environment with great benefits like flexible working hours, working from different places, and solving the problems as a team.”
- Why did you choose Quantox?„Q had the best offer on the market compared to other companies.”
- What do you like the most about working in Quantox?„First and foremost I would like to highlight that I meet great colleagues. I would also mention the opportunity to work on interesting projects.”
- If you need help you go to (which colleague)?„Vladyslav Skliarenko & Anton Homutenko.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?„I like the option of working from home and/or working from any of Quantox's offices.”
- If you weren’t a programmer what would you do?„Most likely a farmer.” 🙂
- What are your impressions of the conference?„The conference was a good idea in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. A great opportunity to learn something new (especially for the new guys/ beginner developers), an opportunity to check your skills, to investigate something, to spend your time quality instead to sit in front of the desk, and to do nothing.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„I had a huge stage fight. Every time when I need to do something in public, in my head I'm doing it the worst possible. Maybe it is because I didn’t have much experience. But one is for sure, I would do it again only if I have a very good reason.” 🙂
Petar is a passionate coffee lover and a master at preparing it. So it is with programming. He uses various technologies - Front End, Back End, DevOps. He loves hackathons - he was in the winning team twice. Peter also likes to participate in meetups and conferences, he is the organizer of NišJS meetup.Besides that, he was one of the organizers of our Quantox Virtual Conf and his lecture is available here.
- What did your development path in Quantox look like?„When I started, I only did Angular (Front End) but I learned fast and I started getting involved in BackEnd tasks. After only half a year, I became team lead. More projects and dynamic business has led to more engagement. Then we started working on our big project Review Network and after that, I was a CINO.”
- What motivates you the most at work?„The feeling when you have a problem and you solve it. And when you imagine something and then you do it in reality. That is a great satisfaction.”
- Do you have a secret source of creativity?„Cool ideas for the applications often come up from the daily chat with Hamato.”
- When did you realize you wanted to be a programmer?„As a very young child because my dad is a programmer. From a young age, I watched him do something and then I would try it too, so it would irritate me if I didn't know how, and that's why I was determined to learn.”
- If you weren't a programmer would you do?„I would work in a coffee shop.”
- What attracted you to work at Quantox?„The dynamic atmosphere, cool people, plenty of room to progress. I immediately liked the fact that I didn't feel like I was at work, but like I came to enjoy, hang out and do something useful.”
- Tabs or Spaces?„Spaces all the way!”
- What are your impressions of the conference?„I think it was great because everything went spontaneously and since it was our first, it went well. There were no major omissions and there were a lot of people making me happy. I also had fun making a conference site.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„Yeah, I'm always satisfied when I prepare something in one day and it comes out to be good. We had some changes in the schedule and I had to "hoop-in" at the last minute, but I didn't mind.”
- How did you gain experience as a lecturer?„I have always loved to share what I know and to teach others so I have always been happy to participate as a lecturer at meetups. But I did not enjoy preparing the lecture but the improvisation itself. So when you do that a lot of times it becomes a habit.”
- Do you still have stage fright?„I have, but it's not the same anxiety as before, because when you have a public appearance several times, you know that nothing bad can happen, and even if it does, it's not a big deal.”
Igor Stamenković comes from Niš. He is part of our HR team and works as a recruiter, and was also a lecturer at our recent conference. He says he has always wanted to be involved in programming and software development. His father was involved in programming and design too, so that love for computers was born at a very young age. He graduated from the high school "Bora Stanković" in the field of informatics, but he realized that it was not his calling and then he decided to enroll at the Faculty of Philosophy - Department of Psychology. His fields of interest are social psychology and learning theory. Quantox was the company that gave him the opportunity to unite his two loves.
- Is the job of a recruiter difficult?
„My feelings for work are mixed. I think that it is not emotionally difficult because working with people and the desire to contribute to their success is noble and that is what fulfills me. We, recruiters, are fighting for a better future for people because we give them the opportunity for a new, better job and at the same time for the benefit of the company and the general growth of the IT community in Serbia. But I must admit that it can be hard when the workload is increased.”
- What is the hardest thing when it comes to working with people?
„As I mature, I think that cynicism and passive aggression are the hardest for me. When people are not honest in communication and conceal their motives and thoughts. This makes every conversation quite difficult, not only in the professional sphere.”
- Have you ever regretted your choice to become a recruiter?
„I haven't had a chance yet and I hope it will stay that way in the future. Every job has ups and downs, so, sometimes I think I made a mistake but these are brief moments of reconsideration.”
- What prejudices did you have about IT people before you started working with them?
„The truth is, I had prejudices. I thought that everyone had to be university educated and that they necessarily had to learn more about engineering, but as I became more and more involved in IT, I realized that it was not necessary.”
- Recruitment or HR?
„Both because it is ideal to do tasks for both. It gives me the impression of how we function and on the other hand it brings dynamism to the business and prevents monotony.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
„It used to be remote but now it is not a benefit but a necessity. I liked the attitude of the company, that the health of the employees is in the first place, so with the first signs of the Covid19, the team was sent to work from home. In Nis, we were one of the first companies to decide to take that step.”
- What are your impressions of the conference?
„Mixed but definitely positive. I really liked the idea as well as the range of topics. The lecturers were qualified and professional to talk about their topics.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?
„Yes, I am. There are things I can improve but overall it was good. I wish I had a live audience.”
- Have you had any experience before?
„I had experiences when I lectured to college students. I like to have performances and to address people.”
- Which other lecture did you like the most?
„Although I've watched almost all the lectures, I can't decide on one. Džavrić had a very nice lecture and I also liked Vojo's, which was concise and specific. Uroš explained everything thoroughly and impartially. Petar's lecture was also honest and interesting. They were all great and quality.”
This time, our interlocutor is Vojislav Branović. Vojo is 31 years old and lives in Čačak. He has been working at Quantox for almost 8 years and he has started as a content writer. Two years ago, he decided to study for QA and officially changed his position (and job) a year ago. In his free time, he plays basketball, likes hiking, and reading books.He was also part of our recently held Quantox Virtual Conf and you can see his lecture here.
- How did you decide to embark on an adventure and re-qualify?
“At one point in my career as a content writer in the BPO sector, I reached a level where there was no room for advancement and then I realized that I wanted and needed to learn something new in order to improve. and increase earnings, and the company met my needs.”
- Was it hard?
“It was not difficult, it was very interesting for me and I would do it again.”
- Who helped you the most in your studies?
“Mentor on the course I attended. I learned the rest myself, from the internet, and the material I got from school.”
- Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about retraining?
“Learn something new every day because in that way you can advance in your career and avoid the monotony of working in the same job forever.”
- What are the biggest challenges in working with clients?
“To understand what they want because they are generally not precise enough when setting tasks.”
- The favorite anecdote with colleagues
“It's hard to say because things that happen spontaneously and remain as a fond memory for us might not be interesting or funny to others, but I'm happy that I work in a company where situations like that occur on a daily basis.”
- Can you recommend some books?
“Yes, "Dark Tower" by Stephen King, "Kosingas" - Aleksandar Tesic, and "The Shack" - William P. Young”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
“Friends.” 🙂
- Are you satisfied with your lecture at the conference?
“Considering that I have never given a lecture before, I think that I was solid. I would love to do the same again.”
- Did you have stage fright?
“I would be lying if I said that I was not, but I learned in sports to turn it into a positive stage fright that better affects my performance.”
Our colleague Uroš Anđelić from Belgrade took a few minutes and chatted with us. He revealed to us that he has been working as a programmer for 3 and a half years and that he is self-taught. He first learned Java and then PHP, Python, and JavaScript. He also shared his knowledge and experience on Quantox Virtual Conf, and anyone who hasn’t watched it can do so on our Youtube channel.
- Which programming language would you like to learn?
“I try to keep up with new technologies. At the moment, Node is interesting to me, I would like to learn GoLang as well.”
- How did you decide on Java?
“I wanted to make Android apps so Java seemed like a good first and generic language. But by chance, I started doing backend with PHP and I stayed on it.”
- Do you have ambitions to become a full-stack?
“I would like to have my own start-up one day, and in order to be able to do that, I need to know how to do "everything". So, yeah, I do think in that direction.”
- Recommend a book or tutorial that you used while learning?
“The book “You don’t know JS” is one very handy source. There is no single author, but a group of professionals is constantly updating it in accordance with the development. It's free and available on GitHub.”
- What misconceptions do people have when it comes to learning programming languages?
“You need to pay for a course and give money to learn to program. Plenty of quality content is available online and for free.”
- What was the best project in Quantox you worked on so far?
“I bring the best experience from one short project. It was made from scratch and with the latest technologies like Laravel and React. It is in my opinion a kind of ideal project.”
- Laravel or Symphony?
“Laravel.”
- Angular or React?
“React.”
- Tabs or spaces?
“Spaces but by pressing the tab.”
- Are you satisfied with your lecture at Quantox Virtual Conf?
“I am. This was my first experience of this type, and I would definitely try again as a lecturer.”
Marko Manojlović is our colleague from Kragujevac. He has been living and working in Belgrade for 7 years, and he has been a part of the Quantox team for two years now. His love for programming is confirmed by the fact that he is a Full Stack programmer. He mostly uses JavaScript and React, but he is always willing to learn something new. Hence his interest in "Deno" and his desire to share his knowledge with us. You can watch his lecture at Quantox Virtual Confhere.
- Have you ever regretted your choice to become a programmer?
“No, I haven't. I find this job very demanding and challenging but it is equally exciting.”
- What attracted you to work at Quantox?
“Marketing. (laughs) I worked in the previous company for 5 years and I was engaged not only in programming but also in organizational and leadership activities, after which I wanted to fully dedicate myself only to programming and further development of technical skills. Quantox made it possible for me.”
- Would you like to pursue programming throughout your entire career?
“Generally yes, but under different conditions. I need to be motivated by the job and it needs to fit in with the client's requirements. Also, to always follow new technologies and enter new areas such as AI and machine learning.”
- What is the most absurd prejudice about developers and IT people?
“That they are not social types of people, ie that they are not inclined to socialize with people. And the other is that developers sit and code all the time. That is not true at all. Programming is only one part of the job and there is also planning, software design, and constant learning.”
- Best work experience at Quantox so far?
“Business trips to Germany and Romania. Business trips are always interesting because we get to know the business culture of other countries and we also meet clients in person with whom we usually communicate online on a daily basis.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
“Flexible working hours. Quantox has shown that it can really work, especially at the time of the Covid19. I like the fact that I have the opportunity to organize my own working hours.”
- Deno or Node?
“Currently Node.”
- What are your impressions of the conference?
“Positive. I was surprised that so many people signed up. But of course, there is always room for improvement in terms of organization and tools.”
- Have you had any experience before?
“I was giving a lecture at Quantox and I was also at an Oracle conference, so yeah, I had papers from before.”
- Would you try again to be in the role of a lecturer?
“Of course. In general, I think it's great that the conference is organized because people are interested in online learning and podcasts. During the quarantine, people realized that there was quality content on online platforms.”
Today we introduce you to Aleksandar Džavrić, our colleague from Kragujevac. Some of you may have already “met” him during Quantox Virtual Conf. He was the one who opened our conference with his lecture on the development path of programmers and very useful tips. You can watch the lecture here, and get to know Dzavra a little better below.
- Which programming language would you like to learn?"That would definitely be GoLang."
- If you could choose a supernatural power to help you in your work, what would it be?"Maybe levitation. To reduce the pressure on the spine. All of us who sit a lot need it."
- What would be the best project for you?"An internal project of the company which would work with new technologies and which would have a large budget, and whose purpose would be to help children become or stay healthy."
- A favorite anecdote from work?"Every “tavern salary” is a favorite anecdote. Every month on salary day, I go to a tavern with my colleagues from the Kragujevac office. We have a favorite tavern, which is our most common choice, but we do not hesitate to explore new places."
- Early bird or a late owl?"Early bird. I wake up every morning before 6 o'clock… but I don't even go to bed very early." (laughter)
- What are your impressions of the conference?"Positive. I think it's an interesting way to learn something new with the help of people who are experts in their fields."
- Are you satisfied with your performance?"I am, considering that this was my first conference lecture."
- Did you have stage fright?"No. Maybe only when it's all over." (laughter)
- Have you had any experience before?"Yes, I gave lectures at Quantox's internal workshops and at the Faculty of Science in Kragujevac."
- Would you try again in the role of a lecturer?"Yes, I think it's a good experience and also important for the career of us as programmers and future managers/architects."
Last week we organized the Quantox Virtual Conf; pandemic born, first of its name, breaker of quarantines, freer of knowledge sharers....and we’re happy to say - it exceeded our expectations!
- Lasted for 4 days
- Hosted by 11 lecturers
- Viewed by 1183 visitors
- The total duration of all lectures combined was 483 minutes,
- The longest lecture lasted 84 minutes,
- 22 states were watching
- The audience consisted of 54% men and 46% women, mostly the younger population
A desire to share the knowledge inspired us to organize even more similar events that could possibly become a tradition in the upcoming period.
"Although we organized everything in a short period of time, we are very pleased with the final outcome. We can't wait to share some of the speakers' impressions, who themselves also enjoyed overcoming new challenges.We’re looking forward to having new opportunities to socialize and exchange knowledge and experience."
If you were not able to follow the conference live, we will soon share the presentations as videos. Follow our Youtube channel and don't miss the opportunity to learn something new.
Meet Sascha Mitscherlich, our colleague from Frankfurt. He will help us in the mission to establish our brand on the European market. With only 36 years of age and vast experience in marketing and sales, he is a perfect choice for our brand new Sales Manager in Germany. Sascha likes sport, nature, and he is very creative and has big plans for Quantox.
- Why did you choose Quantox?
"Before I accept a new job-offer I make proper research to get all information about the company history and its reputation. On each platform, I checked the ratings and opinions about Quantox and I was stunned about the number of recommendations of happy customers, users, and employees, which is not self-evident especially in the IT-industry.After a couple of very nice and interesting chats with Filip and Vuk, it was not a question anymore to join Quantox, only when!"
- What do you like the most about us?
"Besides a very good reputation, I would choose the projects Quantox already successfully finished and its impressive customer base. This will definitely help to gain a foothold in Germany.I also like social media appearance. It is a good mix of business and work-life content. I can’t wait to see more of it. Many companies ignore that."
- How do you think Quantox will be positioned on the German market next year?
"The long-term target is to be a market leader for web development in Germany, no question. For this and next year, I focus on our awareness and pipeline building in Germany. That means we will have a strong focus on marketing activities and to find partners which can leverage our sales force. The target is to become the challenger in the German market and to have the first regional partners until the end of the year. We definitely have what it takes to play on the top."
- What are your expectations from cooperation with us?
"One important process already started: the knowledge transfer.That’s a point where all my new colleagues can help me with. You think it is interesting for me or it can help me or my prospects? Share it with me, please!Another point is to get in touch with the different departments to get a better understanding of the responsibilities and the internal processes are essential. I expect support and excellent cooperation with everyone, especially with the Marketing team."
- What are your expectations from Quantox in Germany?
"We have established a legal entity in Germany including a well-located office in the Frankfurt Area with modern infrastructure to have a place to meet customers and prospects. An organically growing team of German-speaking professionals for various positions will be needed for that tough but very exciting challenge.I would like to work with clean CRM and structured processes because I live by the motto: ”What’s not written in the CRM, never happened.”And of course, I would like to get introduced to our existing customers in Germany and our internal project owners."
- How do you see the development in Germany at this moment?
"We have a lot of innovative and global companies in Germany. Everyone is trying to remain competitive, especially in the age of digitalization, where start-ups are springing up like mushrooms and both, start-ups and global companies, are desperately trying to get the few available professionals on the market. The “Fachkräftemangel” (in German) is a problem for all companies looking for IT professionals. The German Government and the German industry are trying for years to attract more IT professionals and experts from other countries but even with those measures, the demand isn’t served at all.Currently, there are no real big names or market leaders when it comes to web development companies in Germany. But we can already see companies intensifying their activities in Germany to get a part of the big cake and of course, now, one of them is Quantox."
- Do you have any special strategy on your mind?
"The key to success in Germany is awareness, credibility, and trust. To become a well-known company for web development in Germany, we need to invest in marketing, selective ads, establishing a recommendation- and partner network, intensifying the social media content and activities in German, and much more. We will focus on all business sizes, from start-ups up to global enterprises therefore our German headquarter will be near the global business hub of Frankfurt/Main. The location will have a positive influence on many points. Be it the accessibility, the good infrastructure, a larger range of potential employees due to the size and popularity of Frankfurt, many trade fairs, or the short distance to future major customers. Once we have a reputation in Germany and we fulfill the requirements, Quantox Germany will participate in public tenders which would further accelerate our growth and awareness in the German market."
- Are there any innovations that you would like to implement in Quantox’s business culture?
"From what I saw, the business culture is already great at Quantox and I’m sure the Quantox team shares the same values as I do. Be honest and transparent everything else will definitely hurt the reputation of the company, always treat customers and colleagues with respect, be punctual/keep deadlines and keep your promises, work more focused and cleaner than quick and dirty, structure your day as good as you can but stay agile and don’t forget the fun besides all the work." 😊
- What are the advantages of Quantox over the competition in Germany?
"It is a combination of our good reputation, our long history of successfully finished projects of all sizes and focal points, our references, the skills of our highly qualified employees (many of whom have been with us for a very long time), the team spirit, the very well experienced management team and of course our competitive offering."
We present to you Djordje Sosic. Djole is our colleague from Cacak and he has been part of the team for more than four years. He deals with web design and today we will get to know him a little better through seven short questions. So, let's begin:
- Which programming language would you like to learn?
"I would like to learn "all" programming languages. Imagine what the salaries are when you are a full-stack programmer." (laughs)
- What would be the best project for you?
"It has to be as interesting and as complicated as possible, to be a challenge for me."
- What are the biggest challenges in working with clients?
"I think the biggest challenges are to understand what the clients really want, what is behind their demands in order to reach a solution that will satisfy the client as soon as possible."
- Have you ever regretted your choice to become a designer?
"Actually, yeah, when I saw other members of the design team. I realized that dealing with design can destroy you both mentally and physically." (laughs) "I’m just kidding, of course, I didn’t regret it. The job of a designer is creative and dynamic so I recommend it to everyone."
- Recommend a book you've read or a documentary you've watched lately.
"I recently read the book "Animal Farm" written by George Orwell, and the documentary I would recommend is "The Last Dance" about Michael Jordan."
- Photoshop or Illustrator?
"Photoshop."
- Work from home or from the office?
"From home. I got used to it, although I miss the crowd and colleagues more and more. I hope that soon all this about the virus will pass and that we will get back together."
Although physically separated, we found a way to show love to our employees. We celebrated Labor Day together! 💚
For the weekend of April 4 and 5, a Humanitarian Counter-Strike tournament was organized for all domestic IT companies in Serbia, which aimed to raise funds for organizations and institutions that help the most vulnerable groups of people affected by the Covid-19 virus pandemic.
In addition to raising funds for organizations that help health workers and other most vulnerable groups of people in our society, the goal of the competition was to maintain contact with colleagues from our company, contact and community between all domestic companies, an exercise in quarantine as well as focus and fun at a time that is stressful for many of us.
70 teams from domestic IT companies participated in the tournament, and the initial fund of 1,000,000 dinars increased daily and 3,242,000 dinars were collected.
After the successful realization of the tournament, it was decided that the funds will be directed as follows:
50% of the budget - 1,621,000.00 dinars to the Clinical Center in Nis
30% of the budget - 972,600.00 dinars to the Republic Health Insurance Fund for assistance to medical staff
20% of the budget - 648,400.00 dinars to UNICEF for the purchase of equipment
You can find more about the tournament on the official website: https://hitturnir.com/
Due to the great interest and positive impressions of the actors in this event, the epilogue of this humane story is that the IT league was formed in cooperation with other organizations.
The greatest satisfaction of us, as a company that was in the role of organizers, is that all participants as well as companies from the community enjoyed and came out of the event with extremely positive impressions.
We are transmitting some of them to you
"Great fun. And of course, very happy to win the tournament :) We would participate again" winning team
"First of all, a very positive surprise since the whole IT community organized very quickly and the number of registered companies was much larger than I expected. It is difficult to describe in words the moment where due to the given circumstances and difficulties in economic and social terms there is such a large number of people, organized in a short period of time around the humanitarian action. In addition, I accepted this activity as an online team building where we had a lot of fun and laughter :). Also, in addition to games and fun, we had the opportunity to discuss various topics with colleagues and share experiences and opinions, which is, of course, another positive result "
"Really nice and pleasant experience. An interesting goal of the tournament was set, so everything got an interesting note :-D"
"Great! The team had fun, hung out, reminded of the times when Counter was played much more actively ... :)"
JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages available. It is a lightweight, interpreted, or just-in-time compiled programming language with first-class functions (your functions can be arguments and returned values as much as any variable, or any literal). While it is mostly known as the scripting language for web pages, many non-browser environments also use it, such as Node.js, Apache CouchDB and Adobe Acrobat. It is dynamic and event-driven - uses an event-loop in a single thread, which reduces concurrent programming complexity a lot. It is also prototype-oriented (rather than class-oriented like Java or C++)JavaScript is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm, dynamic language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and declarative (e.g. functional programming) styles. It represents the de-facto programming language for client code running in the browser.The biggest thing to me about JavaScript is how light it is to write code. It is easy to learn and easy to use, except when it’s not. There are many “gotchas” that can trip you up. Sadly, this design is what gives JavaScript a lot of bad parts or how I like to call them "the dark side".Let’s cover them.
Types
Sadly, and probably the worst choice ever made about JS, is that it’s weakly typed. Variables are untyped, only values are, and what types are they? It’s either Object, Symbol, String, Number, Boolean, Null (yeah), and Undefined (yeah, undefined is a type of his own). What’s even kind of ridiculous is that when you test that your variable is an object, you have to do this :if (typeof myObject === "object" && myObject !== null)Because your object can be of type Object, and still be null you know.It is easy to write code with a dynamically typed language, but it is also easy to create errors. That’s where people started using TypeScript and Flow.
It Can't Do Arithmetic
Numbers in JavaScript are double-precision floating points. Which means you have no integer type. What’s the problem with it? At a high level, it's because JavaScript used the IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic0.1 + 0.2 = 0.30000000000000004
Coercion
The most painful topic about JS is coercion. This is what all should be aware of.Recall that JS has native types (Number, String… etc) and that variables are not typed, values are. When you do:typeof myVar === "number"You are actually looking to know if the type of the value myVar is pointing to is a number. It’s important to understand that.Now, what happens when you want to do an operation with two variables, whose values are different types?let a = 10;let b = "10";let c = a + b; // ???A decimal 10 is represented differently than a string 10. For example, the number 10 could be represented in 8 bits as 00001010. The string 10, is encoded using two ASCII characters *: 00110000 (48) and 00110001 (49).To do a proper calculation, the JavaScript Engine must ensure both operands are of the same type. And JS tries to do the best for you, so in this case, it will assume you just want to concatenate a decimal 10 to a string 10, and returns a string value of “1010”.You have to be very careful. And you know where this might hurt you the most? Here are some coercion examples:[] + [] → "" // Empty string? These are arrays![] + {} → [object object]{} + [] → 0 // Why isn't the operation commutative???{} + {} → NaN // ???16 == [16] → true // Array converted into string, then into number16 == [1,6] → false // But what is array converted into?"1,6" == [1,6] → true
CallBack Hell
Callbacks are just the name of a convention for using JavaScript functions. There isn't a special thing called a 'callback' in the JavaScript language, it's just a convention. Instead of immediately returning some result like most functions, functions that use callbacks take some time to produce a result. The word 'asynchronous', aka 'async', just means 'takes some time' or 'happens in the future, not right now'. Usually, callbacks are only used when doing I/O, e.g. downloading things, reading files, talking to databases, etc.Nesting callbacks (function calls) will create an issue for you without knowing what function and when will be executed (callback-hell)Solution for this is using promises, generators, async-await.
Global Variables
Why are global variables wrong?That’s some space allocated you’ll never get back until you nullify them explicitly by callingwindow.x = nullIt induces sides effects in your functions that are going to use that, which makes the code way more complex to understandOther people could as well have used this variable for a library or something (which isn’t rare for browser UI libs). Worst than that, one could inject malicious code in that global that would make your code crash or worst, leak pieces of information.It’s hard to test global variables because they are global, and their usage is hard to determine.There’s tons of way to get away without using global variables (such as closures and IIFE). Always use let and const when you declare a variable, and if you’re not confident, use strict.
Scope Inconsistencies
Developer should be aware of using scopes. Especially when "this" comes in question. Every function, every object create their own scope, and some variables or other functions might not be available at some parts of the code. Therefore you need to be careful about inner and outer scope of some object/functionTalking about this keyword, developers often make mistakes using this in arrow functions.const foo = () => {let a = 10;console.log(this)}foo() -> // this will refer to global (outer scope).The reason why is this happening is that arrow functions do not have this.
Support for Other ES versions
There are a lot of bugs covered in new ES versions of the language. But to have support for older libraries and scripts, browsers support older versions, and therefore all older sites could "live".The advice and solution for this is using the newest versions like ES6+ with 'use strict' directive on top of your code or top of function body that you write.When it is located at the top of a script, the whole script works the “modern” way. The "use strict" directive switches the engine to the “modern” mode, changing the behavior of some built-in features. Several language features, like “classes” and “modules”, enable strict mode automatically. Strict mode is supported by all modern browsers. Without "use strict", everything still works, but some features behave in the old-fashion, “compatible” way. We’d generally prefer modern behavior.I love JavaScript and use it daily. But that doesn't mean that there aren't some really awful errors in the language. I think I didn’t even closely cover every bad thing in JS and how to avoid them, but I want this list to be updated as much as possible, so please don’t hesitate to give some feedback, and subjects that I should cover.
Quantox has a Jedi Mind!
JavaScript is far from perfect, but Quantox JavaScript developers love what they do and they know how to avoid the snares and traps of this programming language. Thanks to the years of experience and vast knowledge, they've mastered the art of JavaScript development and are ready to build perfect apps despite the imperfections. Partner up with Quantox to build your dream app using JavaScript. Let's Talk!
Becoming a Programmer...
In the introduction of this text, I would like to convey my experience, offer a few tips for technologies and how to use them, write a short guide through the languages that I myself have passed and how, by learning, I became a Front-end developer.
The first thing you should ask yourself and be real with the answer - "Why do I want to become a programmer?"
The "Why" question is an important part because it deals with specific motivation. Working in a programming company, cool things, salary, the possibility of attaining new knowledge, hanging out with colleagues and remote work are some good sides of working in a developer environment.
Why is it most important to deal with this issue? Precisely because programming and work in IT companies besides cool things, good earnings, frequent organizations of meetups, socializing, excursions, remote work, there is another side - which is great responsibility, dedication, renunciation for the advancement and learning of new technologies , all in order to track new trends in a time where technology has taken great power and is rapidly advancing.
The basic and first precondition for fast and easy mastering of technologies is the knowledge of English. All tutorials, all books are in English. Every communication is done on the same, and every problem or solution you are searching is also in English.
Important things to keep in mind when entering the world of computers, programming, or some other IT job:
Everything has to start from the basics and that should apply to every programming language. For example, if you are far off with your knowledge in Java, you would have to start from the basics if you had to learn C#.
Do not compare yourself with other developers, not everyone progresses at the same tempo, it is important to be persistent because persistence is everything, however hard it may be. You should be able to get out of the comfort zone because programming demands it, every problem is solvable, but each problem is unique and needs to be approached in a unique way.
Also, competing with others can have a negative effect on you, because you will see that you will not be moving fast enough in order to reach someone. This is not a solution. I am saying this from my own experience, right from the start you need to dive into research about programming and languages as such, you need to decide in which direction you want to improve, learn and ultimately what to do.
Programming is a very broad concept that comes through a lot of spheres over the web, programs or games to robotics, science, and so on. You need to learn how to allocate time both in learning and working on projects, it's important to get work habits as well as the habit of coding.
Set small goals for the beginning, not because you care about your progress, but because you care for that progress. Make a list of things you want to end on that day, at least if it's just one page of reading or watching a video tutorial or writing 20 lines of code.
Make a git account and commit a significant change every day, so you'll keep up with your progress.
Programming Languages Overview
So, we have basic divisions (directions), such as Operating Systems, Applications for Phones, Web Applications and the Web Generally, VR, AR, MR, Game Development, Robotics, Networks, System Administrators, DevOps, IoT.
Popular Programming Languages
Java, C, C#, C++, Objective-C, Swift, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby
As we have said, it is best to decide for one direction and to stick with it. Nobody says it will be easy and fast. You should skip tutorials and books that offer to learn in 21 days, 10 days and so on. It is best to choose one language to stick to the basics, rules, understand the structure of the data, the variable, the command, the syntax of the language itself and, of course, after the theory comes to practice, practice, practice.
After that comes the higher level, which is work on the project. My first project was a personal portfolio site. In short, I will walk you through some programming languages and what they are used for.
Java
It is mostly used for applications on phones, android. We also have a great application in IoT.
Java is a very portable, cross-platform, (JVM) Java virtual machine. Otherwise, it is a statically-typed language, which means that the code is checked before the application is built. It is designed to be similar to C++. Java is an (OOP) object-oriented programming language.
Its most famous framework is Spring.
A lot of popular tools have been written in Java, most notably: Eclipse, Hadoop, Android, Android App ...
* Statically typed languages are faster than dynamically typed languages.
Python
Very versatile language, applicable almost everywhere, powerful and easy to learn. It is recommended for beginners because it develops a good programming logic. Its power and diversity is seen in the fact that it can be good for web applications (backend framework Django) and is also good for data analysis, AI, scientific analysis. Most developers use python to create some tool or mini-game for raspberry pi or Arduino.
Python is a dynamically typed language, however, it is quite fast.
Things that are written in python:
Atom, Eclipse, Sublime Text, PyCharm, Blender, BitTorrent, part of Ubuntu, Civilization VI uses python for most tasks, Overwatch.
PHP
A programming language specifically designed for the web. Its focus is on the back-end, programming web applications on the server side.
A very popular and sought-after language because, as with JS, a large part of the web works on PHP.
PHP is dynamically typed.
The most famous web application written in PHP is only Facebook.
C, C++, C#
Similar to each other, all come from the C language. Except C#, which is Microsoft's product, C and C++ are very difficult to learn. If you go into the adventure with these languages, keep in mind that you will not only learn the language as such but also how the computer actually works, what is happening on low-level programming processes, because C is the closest to machine language.
- C# developed by Microsoft is also used to create applications for making games through the Unity Game engine.
- C# is a statically typed language.
- .NET is the framework that goes with C# and is used for the web.
- C++, known to be a very powerful language, allows you to control computer resources - processor, memory.
- Used in the game industry, game engines, desktop programs. Many AAA video games are made in this language. It is a very complex, statically typed language of incredible speed. Simply put, created for all and any platform.
- In C/C++ code that is written is primarily for operating systems. C is a great language for writing OS drivers, as well as writing the OS kernel. This power gives him precisely what is low-level language.
- The most popular applications/programs which are written in this language are Winamp, Sublime TEXT.
JavaScript
JS allows us to build interactive websites. As the main programming language used on the web at the front of the web, it is popular with a number of frameworks and libraries, such as ReactJS, VueJS, Angular, Ember, jQuery. Application in JS or its frameworks can be found in the back-end, nodeJS, and also with Electron, you can make a cross-platform desktop application.
As a dynamically typed language, JS is slow in creating desktop applications but it is used and is getting better at it.
JS, as well as PHP, are responsible for the entire web, so it makes no sense to list what is written in JS.
Swift
If you want to be exclusively engaged in the development of native iOS and MacOS applications, then Swift is just for you.
Swift is a statically typed language, xCode (its IDE) will check everything before the application goes out.
The language is very young, but also very popular, has the tendency to replace Objective-C, which also serves for writing anything that is under the Apple brand.
For the purpose of enumeration in Swift, Firefox is written for iOS, Flappy bird, HN Reader.
Ruby
Ruby's popularity is the first in its syntax, which is almost like writing something in English. Ruby on Rails is a framework that is, in fact, a full stack web framework. Designed to make programming easier and more fun, it has been used in web development, as well as in making games.
Ruby is a dynamically typed language.
After all this, I hope that you have a little clearer picture of the way the programming works. So if you decide to learn to programme, regardless of the language you decide to use, it's important to investigate it thoroughly. Learning programming is best through college or some licensed course, but it is important to learn by yourself throughout the entire school. Good books, internet, and good tutorials are all you need.
If you are a gamer, make tic-tac-toe, sudoku or flappy bird. It does not have to look the same for the same logic of the application itself.
If you want to better understand front-end development, make your own website.
If you want to create a full product web application, start by making an online bookstore, blog, using google maps API for your personal web navigation.
Several sites for beginners, basics.
https://www.w3schools.com W3Schools
https://www.codecademy.com CodeCademy
https://www.udemy.com Udemy
http://webnstudy.com/ WebnStudy
https://www.webprogramiranje.org WebProgramiranje
https://enki.com/enkiapp EnkiApp
http://www.bestprogramminglanguagefor.me BestProgrammingLanguageForMe
Understanding Your ''Why'' With Quantox!
For over 12 years, Quantox has been known as a leading IT company in the region that's also dedicated to its team and with a clear goal of encouraging and helping one another toward career growth and mutual success. Every one of us was once a 'beginner', but through support and guidance, we were able to create an environment that is familiar, welcoming, and motivating. Today, our people are known as the experts in the industry, using the best technology as they combine tech, creativity, and data analytics to create what we believe in the most- creating innovations and getting advanced results. Is our team the perfect one for your projects? Let's Talk!
How to connect artificial intelligence and shooting stars?
Well, you can find the answers to these questions from our Dušan Pavlović, Data Scientist in Quantox Technology, who will give a lecture PER DATA AD ASTRA on 23th of March at the Geekstone Meet-Up Event.
Dušan will demonstrate such a connection and talk about how computer vision, deep learning, and research on meteors - shooting stars - overlap.
One of the topics is how relatively easily you can apply your knowledge of neural networks to solve the problem of automatic detection of meteors in astronomic data made by radio detectors. This problem is one of the most complex ones in this field and our understanding of different problems in the Solar System depends on it.
As someone who studied astrophysics, being an author and the host of the science podcast "Radio Galaxy '' while engaged in the physics of meteors and meteorite astronomy for years, Dušan will show one of the examples of how to apply Data Science to scientific data!
The lecture will be held in Serbian and the entrance is free!
Thursday, March 23, 2023
6:00 - 8.00 PM
Science and Technology Park
Fruškogorska 1, Novi Sad
Save the date and welcome to the World of Data!
Register at the link
https://www.meetup.com/geekstone/events/292131441/?isFirstPublish=true
The traditional spring CS:GO tournament is upon us!
Serbian IT companies will gather from the 3rd to the 6th of April at the CS:GO Vol.4 charity tournament.
Motivated by the important topic and achieved results from the previous year,
we decided to stay with the same goal - in 2023 the IT community will be playing for Serbian maternity hospitals and better conditions for the youngest and their mothers!
Companies can register up to 3 teams and donate the financial funds to the common fund. As in previous years, the start for one million dinars is provided by Quantox.
After the closing of applications, by public voting and filling out an anonymous survey, we will together decide which maternity hospital we are helping this year!
We hope that the HIT CS:GO crew will expand this year with new companies and teams that will compete, have a great time and show that the greatest victory is humanity.
Register your team by the 31st of March.
Link for team registration and more information: https://hitturnir.com/
It's time to play even harder!
Meet us on 29 - 30 March
We are looking for an exchange of experience and ideas that improve the digital world and shape our future!
Gathering together Haufe experts and IT companies, partners, and clients, the Haufe X360 Summit takes place at the Kameha Grand Hotel in Bonn from the 29th to the 30th of March.
Lecturers from Haufe and Acumatica - the platform on which Haufe is based- will discuss planned system innovations and software improvements.
We are looking forward to hearing from great people, meeting other Haufe partners, and sharing experiences and ideas.
The Quantox Crew will be there!
- Dušan Milojević / Head of Managed Services
- Thomas Priemel / ERP Consultant
- Darko Šarenac / Partnership and Business Development Manager
You can meet our people and find out more about our services, advanced digital solutions, and models of cooperation. We are happy to have a chance to network with new potential clients and all new partners ahead!
Summit Agenda and more info can be found at the link
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Petar Slović, Chief Innovation Officer @ Quantox Technology, will give a lecture at a workshop organized by DaFED at the Rectorate of the University of Novi Sad on March 1, starting at 6 p.m.
At Peter's workshop "Simplifying Full Stack Serverless Development with tRPC in NextJS" visitors will have the opportunity to learn how to use the power of the T3 stack and tRPC to create scalable full-stack serverless applications.
DaFED is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating educational workshops and networking events for designers, developers, and all tech and innovation enthusiasts.
Discover the benefits of using tRPC in NextJS and learn how tRPC can facilitate the creation of secure and efficient serverless APIs without burdensome infrastructure management.
The workshop is free, and you can find more information, registration, and a link to the live stream at https://dafed.org/
Propel Your Business and Find Your New Team Of Developers @TES Affiliate Conference
Lisbon | February 22-25, 2023
Are your software projects delayed due to a lack of developers?
Are you finding it hard to hire and retain good developers?
Are you trying to reduce costs and increase the flexibility to scale your project?
Are you looking for a partner you can trust?
Quantox Technology is coming to Lisbon with 50 developers available right now!
Complete software development from scratch and all-round IT support services.
Pinpoints!
- 16+ years of experience
- 550+ experts in the diverse technology stack
- 13 offices & 7 countries
- 250+ successful projects
- Super-quick scaling
- ISO 9001 and 27001
Boost Your Business!
- Thorough understanding and approach
- Flexibility & adaptability to each client and change
- Managed team & scaling resources to your project
- Efficiency, excellence, and trust
See You @ TES Affiliate Conference!
3 days, 2000+ participants , 75+ speakers, 200+ exhibitors, 80+ countries
The Oitavos Hotel, Cascais/Lisbon, Portugal
Quantox Booth Location: MMT6
And Meet Our People!
Schedule a Meeting
Alek
If you are looking for a man who will answer your questions about potential partnership opportunities, look no further. Alek is our CDO with solid skills in leading teams and running projects developed over the years. Do you have projects that need reinforcement, and engineering support or do you need a partner for brand-new software solutions? Talk to Alek and find out more.
Schedule a Meeting
Dan
He is your guy if you have a major project planned or ongoing but don't know quite yet how to ensure your software development is running smoothly. As our COO, with more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry, Dan can understand you and optimize your software development process.
Schedule a Meeting
Welcome where ideas are made possible!
A new milestone in the IT world! Building the future with strong partnerships!
Quantox Technology and Sandberg Capital have signed a partnership for the further expanding growth of the company, bringing it to a higher level! A €20 million investment is aimed at making a significant leap for Quantox’s future sustainable development, talent acquisition, and strategic global expansion.
Sandberg Capital is a Slovak private equity company established in 2014 with an AUM exceeding €340 million. It focuses on investments in small and medium businesses in the Slovak Republic and the region of Central and Eastern Europe, including among investors institutional ones, such as the European Investment Fund.
This partnership is one of the top 5 investments in the region so far, signed with companies from Serbia.
With Sandberg’s support, Quantox Technology plans to make successful breakthroughs in new markets, building even stronger client relationships with greater freedom and creativity in creating new software solutions.
“By entering into a partnership, we want to broaden our expertise and further strengthen our position as a leading IT employer in the region. Also, this investment will enable us to have a greater presence in the European and US markets, which will mean a lot to our clients by increasing the range of services in delivering high-end digital solutions and providing comprehensive IT support”
Vuk Popović, founder of Quantox Technology
The company’s focus remains the same – discovering new perspectives and empowering the Q team. The partnership is an additional lift that will bring Quantox even closer to long-term growth, sustainability and stability.
“Given Sandberg’s multiple investments in the IT sector, we see an increasingly strong push for digitalization across the economy. At the same time, we perceive a severe shortage of IT professionals that may be preventing companies from growing and achieving their strategic goals. The investment in Quantox reflects our long-term strategy of partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs in sectors that directly or indirectly help with the digital transformation of the economy,”
Michal Rybovič, Partner at Sandberg Capital.
Matej Klenovsky, Investment manager at Sandberg Capital, believes that Quantox and Sandberg share a similar growth mindset and have the same ambitions and perspectives for future achievements.
“Quantox, in addition to employing a large number of IT professionals and having a great ability to attract clients from various industries, is truly committed to the development of the local IT community. We believe that this company is more than ready for the next step and we are eager to follow them along the way, giving support through our experience, knowledge, and capital.“
Matej Klenovsky, Investment manager at Sandberg Capital
Both partners will be focused on strengthening Quantox’s business – establishing a local presence, expanding the spectrum of services to respond to clients’ demands from all parts of the world, and improving internal processes and organizational structure.
“We are extremely grateful for the trust and support of our new partners – this is a kind of confirmation for everything we have done so far, as well as the opportunity to be even better and grow together. Following the shared vision for Quantox, we strive for global expansion and adoption of new knowledge, skills, and experiences while preserving the values and culture of the company itself”
Vuk Popović, founder of Quantox Technology
With 16 years of experience, Quantox is recognized as a reliable partner in the world of digital technologies. After three successful acquisitions in the last year, this is an important step and kind of “wind at our back” that will lead us closer to our vision – to grow in expertise, nurture people as the priority value and become one of the most trusted and efficient partners in the digital world.
Quantox was advised by Grubišič & Partners – Corporate Finance as financial advisor and Four Legal as legal advisor and Sandberg Capital was advised by ESFA as financial advisor, EY as financial & tax due diligence advisors, and BDK Advokati as their legal support.
A new digital era is at our doorstep. By supporting clients worldwide and developing IT potential in our region – we continue making ideas and vision possible!
Proud to announce that our team has received another reinforcement! We are introducing Marko Nikolić – the New Head of Finance at Quantox.
With many years of experience in various senior positions and expertise in the financial sector, Marko brings a unique set of skills. He is highly creative, innovative, and well-versed in the latest financial trends and strategies.
His passion for finance and enthusiasm for achieving results and high goals make him the perfect person for this position at Quantox. With his expertise in the financial sector, Marko will bring fresh ideas that will help the company develop and grow even more.
What are the expectations, and what is the biggest challenge in working in an international IT company like Quantox?
My primary expectation is to grow professionally together with the company. The biggest challenge of working in a large company like Quantox is coordinating activities with many colleagues from several countries.
In what way will your experience contribute to Quantox in further business?
My experience is complementary to colleagues from the finance sector. I expect that it will contribute to the realization of new initiatives, such as, for example, the implementation of the new budget.
The events of the last few years have led to sudden turbulence in the global market. We see them even today, and they are, to some extent, the cause of changes in how many IT companies work. In your opinion, which strategies of financial adaptation to such changes have given good results, and which could be applied in Quantox – bearing in mind the spread of the company over seven markets?
Quantox has a concrete and straightforward business model, and we should stick to it – “back to basics”!
This can be a competitive advantage in the current global financial trends and can be used in both cases – to expand in the markets where Quantox already operates and to win new ones.
How do digitization and accelerated development of technology affect the role and work of the financial sectors? Do methods and approaches change, and how?
In the Finance and Accounting sector, a sudden jump in the application of Business Intelligence tools for reporting to management and investors was noticeable in the previous years. As a result, CFO-s and their teams had to adapt and improve their reporting. Modern platforms and programs help them in these endeavors; technology is progressing and taking an important place, so constant adjustments are also needed in this sector.
Many factors influence decision-making, especially now. What are the biggest risks, and what are the biggest opportunities you currently see for Quantox’s business?
I believe that the current global situation on the market is simultaneously the biggest risk – it can lead to a decrease in demand for our services – but also the biggest opportunity to expand into new markets under more favorable conditions than before.
What is your main motivation and inspiration in business – what drives you again and again?
I like to innovate, propose and create new things, and constantly look for ways to improve and upgrade that creation.
New Head of Managed IT Services opening new paths and opportunities for Quantox
Quantox is dedicated toward providing organizations with a solution for system monitoring and management that will help dispose of the break-fix approach. As a managed IT services provider, we aim to simplify IT management for other companies efficiently and affordably.
Dušan Milojević has the expertise and experience to make Quantox a leading managed IT services vendor in Europe, implement new IT technologies and build worldwide-applicable solutions with his team.
From Microsoft to Quantox – can you describe your career journey and what does it mean for you to further develop your expertise at Quantox?
I started from the university and Microsoft Academy, and then went through the positions of Consultant, Developer and Analyst. Right now my official role means leading three different teams for the implementation of various products. The biggest challenge for me to get the company as a leading vendor for managed services as Quantox is for custom development.
What are the goals of the managed IT services department and what do those goals bring to the overall business process of Quantox Technology?
The goals of the managed IT services department are to accumulate as much expertise and projects from various vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, even IBM, and Oracle. The people in our department and their work are very strongly connected, no matter which team they depend on.
In the future, Quantox will expand its business areas and build solutions that can be implemented worldwide. So, the power this department gives to the company is being able to cover all needs that come from one customer. Custom development and managed services have a great tendency to work well together and bring new opportunities to each other.
After the first month at Quantox, what are your impressions?
I’m thrilled to be a part of Quantox. At the moment, I’m still trying to get all procedures lined up and getting to know the on-boarding team members while working with other colleagues on our first potential projects.
Why would a company need managed IT services and what parts of its environment would Quantox’s managed IT services department look after?
Companies in some sectors, like Fintech and Telco, use more than fifty systems in their daily business. All of those need to be integrated into one place, and that’s where we come in – we can fully cover all these processes with our team. Having a corporation as a client is a great opportunity that can lead us to long-term partnerships.
The IT industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving and at the moment we have many new technologies present at the scene. In your opinion, can those new technologies be implemented in the processes and what benefits would that bring?
Of course, we need to follow all new approaches and technologies. From the last conference in Munich, I’ve realized that we can integrate PowerApp with Business Central as an app that can be the solution for warehouse management with fewer costs instead of building the app by itself from scratch. We also plan to get RPA (robot process automation) part of the integration team and start working with machine learning. Quantox’s managed service department is pretty good at keeping up with the latest technology trends.
What do you think is the most interesting part of your job, and what are some of the biggest challenges Quantox managed IT services department may be faced with?
The most interesting things about working in Managed Services will be the projects and the possibility of having a proven team working for one of the biggest customers in their branches globally. However, the biggest challenge will be to put Quantox on the managed services market for this part of Europe which is our goal for the next two years.
What is your main drive, motivation, and inspiration in business – what drives you over and over again?
What drives me forward is having new opportunities on a daily level – new employees, technologies, countries, projects, and approaches. I also firmly believe that people can improve their skills only if they step out of their comfort zone, which is what my team and I are doing right now.
QLab is Born!
Having ideas is great - getting know-how is a step to another level!
QLab Accelerator aim is to support fresh ideas, build strong teams and make innovative startups possible. And we are starting from our own house!
Quantox launched an internal call for Quantox people with the most promising start-up ideas with a goal to support it and transform it into marketable digital solutions.
From professional guidance and mentoring support, specialized business & start-up knowledge, through networking and funding opportunities - QLab is designed to give major support during the idea development from scratch.
By joining the contest and submitting their ideas, our people have a chance to get an opportunity for a 3 months educational program this summer, specially designed to turn their brainchild into a successful product, and get a chance for funding.
The most promising concepts and teams will be chosen for the program to gain essential business, expert, technical knowledge, and guidance from experienced mentors from all core fields, needed to kick off their start-up idea. Furthermore, the best idea on the final pitch will get a grant of 10.000 EUR to provide a smooth start and push for further development.
Lead by the mission to be a generator of internal knowledge, skills, and ideas to create value and make a leap in the digitalization era, and create an environment that encourages quality and innovative approaches to digital challenges, Quantox decided to start QLab Accelerator as an innovative tech nest for all those who aim to go further.
It is possible to turn ideas into reality with proper support and experienced people behind you. We believe in the ideas and knowledge that make a difference!
We truly believe in the potential of this program to discover remarkable solutions from our people and we are thrilled about the possibility to expand it beyond the internal hub in the future.
It’s not just about ideas.
It’s about MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN!
Dare to innovate, we are here to support you!
written by KIM NOVAK
Wouldn’t it be great if all of the code we work with was written in a way that it’s completely clear what it does? And that we could easily make changes without breaking it? Sounds good, but it’s not that easy to do so. To get to that level we need to change our mindset a bit.
React apps grow very fast. The project gets more and more components, the codebase grows, and just when you think you are done with a component and forget about it, there are change requirements for it. You analyse the code of that component, try to understand what the author had in mind, even if the author is you, and you stumble upon a condition that you have no idea why the author put it there. You start trying to understand why that condition is there and which use-case can trigger that path and that takes some time. Could all of that be escaped? Yes, at least partially. As a React developer, with or without experience we encounter these situations on a daily basis. What can we do to improve code quality and make our components reusable and maintainable?
Improve Naming
You can improve naming by analyzing how the libraries you use named and designed the API you are consuming. Sometimes we tend to use names that are too descriptive, and you (most likely) won’t see such cases in the libraries you use. When naming functions or variables I ask myself these questions:
- What would the most intuitive (instead of the most descriptive) name for this be?
- Is there a standard? If everyone names the variable ‘i’, if I name it ‘x’ it might be confusing
- Is it clear what it represents?
- How much information can I get out of the context that my variable is in? If it’s clear that the variable is related to the context it’s in, there is no need to repeat that information in the variable name. (User.id instead of User.userId)
- Keeping names simple and intuitive makes the code more readable. Easy to read code is easier to understand and thus easier to maintain.
Examples: - filterWhenTimeUpdates() → filter()
When a time update is an event that we will respond to by calling the filter function. In code it could be something like this: - useEffect(filter, [time]); Which makes it clear that we will trigger the filter whenever the time is updated
- shouldFetchNewData → shouldFetch
You most likely won't have a case where you would fetch old data - hourOfDay → hour
We would automatically put an hour in the context of the day
allComments → comments - It is used with the same meaning in mind as just comments. Usually, when the arrays are filtered, we don't mutate the array.
useLayout({ useLayout({
columns, columns,
rows, → rows,
spacing spacing
}); }, [columns, spacing]);
We can borrow the idea from built-in React hooks and design our hooks in the same way. We can pass a list of dependencies to our custom hook as a separate parameter. This way, in one component we can have this hook triggered onMount only, while in the other component it can be triggered whenever column or rows data changes. Since we are passing the list of dependencies as a separate parameter the same way that built-in hooks do, it will be intuitive to React developers what our intention was.
Don’t Put (a lot of) Logic Inside of the JSX
The Component will be easier to maintain if the JSX part or the Presentational part of the component contains as little logic as possible. If we had the need to refactor or modify the component for some reason, we could do it a lot faster if most of the logic comes from non-JSX parts of the app.
Reuse Selector Pattern Idea
If you have worked with Redux you’ve probably heard of the Selector pattern. This pattern lowers the amount of effort we have to put in when the data structure changes. A selector is a simple function that receives some data and returns only a (selected) piece of that data.
Data structures tend to change in the early days of development. When that happens, if we are using the selector instead of accessing the data directly in our components, we only have to make a single change. That change would be inside of the selector. If we didn’t use the selector we would have to make changes at each place the data was directly accessed.
What if we were to do something similar everywhere in our components?
If we don’t depend on the data structure or the source where that data came from, every change that occurs will be easy to implement. The goal is having to make changes in a single place only.
How can we achieve this?
We could write selectors and/or use object and array destructing. Note that this takes up more memory, but the code becomes easier to maintain.
Comment Your Code
You probably read that comments are bad and that code should be self-documenting. My opinion is that code can’t say everything. I have been in so many situations where I had no idea WHY the programmer wrote some piece of code. Not to be confused with WHAT the code does because that we can read and understand. What we cannot know is which use-cases the developer had in mind when the code was written. Maybe we will break something if we modify that code. There could be some business rules that cannot be explained with code or at least the person who wrote the code didn’t manage to do so. If the author of the code had left comments on why that piece of code is there, it would have saved our time. The problem with comments is that they usually aren’t maintained. People modify the code and not the comment. So the comment ends up having false statements. Thus, maintaining comments would be another tip. A stale comment could be worse than no comment if it misleads you.
Extract
When the component has more than a couple of hundred lines of code it gets harder to read (I prefer to keep it under 300 lines of code). More often than it happens in smaller components, the order of defining things gets easily messed up. It’s easier to maintain logical units when the component is fairly small. From my experience the bigger the component gets, the messier the code will become.
How can you ensure that your components stay small? By extracting! You can extract utility functions, custom hooks, new components, constants, type declarations and/or mock data to separate files.
Organize
Establish rules when it comes to organizing code. Make sure each directory and each file are organized the same way. Strive for consistency. Organized and consistent code will boost your performance because you won’t have to scroll through the whole file to find something, you will know exactly where to look first.
We can always apply these tips inside our React components and make them easier to maintain and reuse.
Our Developers Know How To React!
Using React to it's fullest potential is not an easy task, but Quantox React developers are up to the task. Their goal is to improve the code quality and make the components reusable and maintainable, and create strong React apps and solutions for our clients. Do you want to build a React app? Let's Talk!
written by N. Stevanović
What is Grid?
Grid is a very useful CSS tool. It is a two-dimensional system for website layout organisation and it helps a lot to present and place elements on it. It can be compared to flexbox which is a one-dimensional system. The one-dimensional layout has elements in one row or column, and in a two-dimensional system elements have to be arranged in various columns or rows. Otherwise, both systems are better than the old ways of arranging layouts. The old way involved the use of float and in-line block options, within which the appearance of a website was often very uncertain. By using the Grid tool, you can solve layout problems and develop your website more efficiently.
When Do We Use It?
In most cases, Grid is combined with a flexbox tool. This combination can improve the whole layout organisation through the website development process.
Example
- In the picture below we have one container with container class and child elements (elements contained in a container) called item.
- We need to adjust the CSS by setting display: grid
- After container making, the next step would be to put sizes for columns and rows by using grid-template-columns and grid-template-rows options. Please note that here the sizes in pixels are given arbitrarily, while in a specific code you have to enter the exact pixel size for each row and column so that the layout turns out as you imagined.
- Setup of child elements by using grid-column and grid-row would look like this:
This completes the initial creation of the container with the grid elements and you get a nicely planned layout of the site. As with flexbox, the way grid elements are arranged is not crucial because CSS itself allows their reallocation. This is why creating a mobile layout application is much easier, because, through just a few lines of code in CSS, a grid layout made for a desktop can be adapted to a mobile one.
When Can it Be Difficult to Use Grid?
Problems can occur if older versions of browsers that don’t support Grid are used. Fortunately, there is a Can I use website so that can be easily checked. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced programmer, you should carefully study the documentation before using this tool to avoid making any room for possible errors.
Quantox- Using CSS Grid for Better Results!
Quantox has the best way of implementing complex design layouts with CSS Grid. Masters of all trades, we know what to use and when to use it for incredible web development results that will promote and boost your business. No web design is to complicated for Quantox. Let's Talk!
As the title itself says, Ivan is a man with many talents. Besides coding, his passion is also fishing. He is a former amateur actor but also a painter, so when inspiration knocks on the door, it often means that his family will soon enjoy one more beautiful canvas.For the past 5 years, he has been part of our team in Čačak. In his opinion, colleagues would probably characterize him as a strenuous man, but just so you know - when we asked our designer to do graphics for Ivan’s interview, her instant reaction was - Đorđević? The best team lead ever :)Thank you for your commitment. We congratulate you and can not wait to spend many more years working with you.
- Do you remember your first day at work?
Absolutely. It was much more relaxed compared to previous jobs.
- Who or what influenced you the most to become a programmer?
A friend from college who I tried to overcome, but without success :)
- What is that people mostly do not know about you?
I suppose a lot of things, especially because I am an introverted person.
- What would you never give up?
Coffee.
- Which of your professional qualities you consider to be most valuable?
Stubbornness always helps me to push till the end and not to give up even when it seems that I will not make it.
- How would your colleagues describe you?
Probably as a ‘strenuous’ or ‘hard’ man.
- How do you start your day at work?
Like most of us - with a cup of coffee.
- We know that you have a lot of talents. Tell us about the hidden ones :)
Acting and writing were things that I did a long time ago, and they are part of the past. Nowadays, when I’m not in the best mood, painting is sometimes a choice. When partying with friends is on the menu, me singing on the mike is definitely part of the night (even though I’m not a good singer at all, but others think that is not true :))
- The weekend is your time for?
Family, nature, fishing, a good movie.
- If you were not a programmer, you would be?
Probably doing some work related to cybersecurity or working in a department of high-tech crime :)
Initial recruitment steps in a fast-growing IT industry can be really challenging. The range of technologies and activities that developers use is really wide, and every day we have additional frameworks or language that show up and promise to put PHP out of use and charm developers, at least temporarily. Our job, as IT recruiters, is to recognize, approach and show interest in a certain profile of the candidate (often in a short time). It is important that we know what the company needs in the first place and that we base our search on that. What makes this process a lot easier is a large number of widely available tools. This time our focus will be on the LinkedIn Premium feature of Smart Search.
Why Premium profile?
Although it increases the initial cost of the recruitment process, it is really helpful to overcome many challenges that this process has. Advanced search and suggestions supported by artificial intelligence are very useful. There is a possibility for the direct contact of candidates without the need for connection and if a larger team uses paid services there is a possibility of organizing and tracking candidates in one place. This way, paid services to facilitate coordination and efficiency.
Advanced search advantages
As with regular search, we use Boolean syntax during the advanced search because it makes it easier to search and target specific profiles. Quotation marks, parentheses, NOT, AND, and OR operators still have significant application.
For example, we will start with the maximum qualifications for the position itself, and use the NOT operator for systematic filtering and finally finish with the minimum qualification. Eg: A,B,C - desired qualification D,E - must have the qualification and finally F - implicitly desired qualification.
Beside Boolean, what else can be used?
Filters are something that a regular LinkedIn account doesn’t allow, at least not to the extent that is available within a Recruiter account. Filters are very useful in narrowing the criteria because we can target specific experience, skills, companies, schools/institutions, years of experience….
Example
We received a request for a new React position. It is stated that knowledge of JavaScript, React, Redux and MaterialUI is mandatory. It is desirable that the candidate knows and understands the Java language (because the Backend project was written in Java), and we want to target candidates from the Serbian market. Since the position is directed towards the medior level, we don’t want to go too much wide in our search, but to determine the years of experience in the industry. In that case, our filters will look something like this:
Advantages of LinkedIn Premium
LinkedIn Premium enables:
- Better and more relevant search results
- Creating a database of candidates for certain positions
- InMail contacts
- No limits for the searched number of profiles
When not to use a Premium profile?
If it is available to you, there is no reason why not to use its filters and all other advantages. However, it is a totally independent question whether the scope and specificity of the position you aim to fill justify investing in Premium features.These are just examples of the possibilities offered by Boolean and Premium filters. We encourage you to experiment, add, subtract and modify search parameters. The result will be closer to what you need if you can define what you are looking for. Happy hunting! Igor S & Igor S
At the beginning of this year, we set out a new business venture. After expanding to the foreign market, we are opening another office, the jubilee tenth in a row.We have been advocates of IT decentralization for many years. By opening another office in Serbia, in Ćuprija, we prove that we adhere to our ideology and we continue the trend of developing the potential of young people in local communities.
Why Ćuprija? The reason is simple. Many years ago, an idea was born right there - an idea that would be realized a few years later and become Quantox Technology.With 15 years of experience and a team of over 300 employees, the developers from Ćuprija will have full support in their work and further progress.In the last few years, we have had cooperation with the Gymnasium in Ćuprija.
We reward the best students with scholarships, and we also contributed to the development of the IT department in that school.Students' interest in the new program is great, which is reflected in the growing number of those who attend the new course. That is why we decided to give knowledge as a gift to Ćurpija- we will organize an internship program so that all those who sailed into IT waters have the opportunity to upgrade, expand and learn everything they will need for independent work tomorrow. Our experts from all offices in Serbia will be in charge of implementing the practice in the best possible way.
We invite you to join us. Take the opportunity to improve your skills by working on huge and challenging projects.
As part of the Quantox team, you will also be able to take advantage of the benefits we have provided. Our offices are equipped with special care so that the work runs smoothly and we have many years of experience in mentoring.Do you want to do the job you love in your city, among friends and family? Information about open positions in our company you can find HERE!
We are waiting for you. Join us!
What Are Live Templates?
Live templates are predefined functionalities in almost all JetBrains IDE programs.
When Can We Use Live Templates?
They are recommended if you want to increase your productivity by placing the code line that you would probably use the most into the Live template. It will save your time in further coding. Most people that are working in IT are looking for ways to cut time spent in development so they could do other stuff. Like working on some personal projects, or, in my case, playing darts with my colleagues. This is one example of achieving that.
How Can We Implement Live Templates?
My advice is, whenever you come across a block of code that most likely will be used occasionally in a short period of time, take a few minutes to add it inside Live templates in order to save time by calling it with a small change.
- Dialogue with live templates can be found inside Preferences -> Editor -> Live Templates and it looks like this:
Even when you install PHPStorm, you can find some predefined templates which can be a good base for you to learn how to create a structure for new ones.
- You can also choose the way you want to call templates. It can be ‘Tab’, ‘Space’, or any other key combination.
- Let's go through an example of adding one template for Laravel Framework. One of the ideas is to use it as relations inside models. The first step is to click on `+` and choose `Live template`.
- Next, you need to fill out a new template.
-Abbreviations (text that you will type in order to call the template)
-Description (description popup)
-Template text (template body)
-Context (the context in which the template applies)
-Edit variables (dynamic part of the template)
-Expand (button to call the template)
- After adding the template, next thing is to continue with editing the dynamic part of the template by clicking on `Edit Variables`. Save all progress and go back to the Editor.
- Let's see what happens if you open Post model class and you add-relation with User class.
By typing template abbreviation that you`ve just created, you will get a popup with a suggestion.
- Use the `Tab` button to fill out the block code on places where the cursor is and places you have chosen to enter manually. Every next Tab press will lead you to the next place until they are all filled out.
The final look of block code would look like this.
When Using Live Templates is Not Recommended?
If you are a beginner and want to go through the complete learning process step by step, then it would be better not to use this functionality. Later, when you need to be faster, use Live templates and save your time.
4What's Behind the Efficiency of Quantox Developers?
Using Live Templates is just one way how Quantox developers can expedite the software development process. We know how to use IDE programs to increase our productivity, while keeping the code readable, reusable and secure. If you need an IT solutions fast, we have ways of cutting the development process time. Let's Talk!
When we asked how his colleagues would describe him, the answer was simple - Liverpool. Besides being a huge and passionate fan of this club, Sladjan has been part of our team for 5 years, and our Joker - at the masquerade. :) He is working in our office in Čačak as a Backend programmer and he has a lot of experience and achieved results. Hanging and working with Sladjan is a great pleasure, we congratulate him for 5 fantastic years and say a well-known quote - With us, you’ll never walk alone!
- What advice would you give to yourself 5 years ago?
Don’t be afraid and have more confidence in yourself.
- Do you remember your first day at work?
Yes, I was extremely nervous.
- Tell us something that people don’t know about you.
I’m afraid of public speaking.
- What would you never give up?
My family.
- Which moment was the most impressive for you?
First New Year’s celebration with the company and getting know people in the right way :)
- The weekend is your time for?
Rest. And some beer if the situation with covid allows.
- Something that you did and wouldn't do it again?
Trying absinth. That green fairy is definitely not for everyone. :)
- What is the weirdest food that you ever tasted?
Bear prosciutto
- What would you be if you weren't a programmer?
Definitely some other job that involves working on a computer.
Today, you will see a valuable member of our team in front of you - Miloš. He has been training karate for many years, he loves chess, music, movies and besides all that, he says that his favorite hobby is work. He also participated in our conference and you can see his lecture here.
- Is it necessary to have an artistic spirit to be a designer?„Yes, but practice and the will to work and study mean a lot more.”
- What else does it take to be good at your job?„First of all, you must regularly follow the trends and always keep up with them. Important factors are perseverance, motivation, and inspiration.”
- How did you learn?„My interest in design arose fifteen years ago while I was working in printing houses. First I learned graphic and then web design (along with HTML and CSS) which I still do today.”
- What’s the most interesting thing you’ve done so far?„I participated and won international competitions, and as the most interesting thing I would single out the fact that I designed a can for Heineken beer for domestic markets and won first place in the Carlsberg regional competition.”
- Would you like to learn a programming language?„Yes, PHP and Java. And I would also like to perfect the HTML and CSS I learned at the beginning of my career.”
- What attracted you to work at Quantox?„The fact that the company is serious and the team is great. Before I started working, I received recommendations from colleagues, first hand. I also liked that the company works with strong clients and that there is room for improvement.”
- What would be the best project for you?„My best projects are those where I have no restrictions, ie. I have complete freedom.”
- What are your impressions of the conference?„I would have preferred if the conference was live, but now the situation has dictated that it must be held online. That would be a bigger challenge for me.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„It's weird when you hear yourself teaching. It helped me see some things about myself, and to know which segment I need to progress. Certainly a very big and nice new experience.”
- Did you have stage fright?„Yes, for the first half-hour of the lecture and not for the last 10 minutes. 😁 I realized I knew what I was talking about and that there was no need to be nervous.”
We did an interview with a guy who knows how to rule the chaos. Yes, we are thinking about the chaos caused by programming. 🙃He is 27 and he works in our Ukraine team. His name is Ivan and he is PHP addicted.
- How did you decide to become a developer?„That was plan B if I don't succeed as a Sound Engineer. Programming was pretty easy for me, and university teachers said that I`m pretty talented. I’ve read a lot of material, learn how to develop in my free time, and in the last year of study, I found a great opportunity to start a programming career.”
- Do you know or would you like to learn any other programming language?„It would be better to learn some additional technologies that could help me in the working process. I'm a PHP evangelist, so for me, there are a lot of great languages, but PHP is a leader of web development and kind of compromise over different language approaches.”
- What motivates you the most at work?„When I see that my job brings results - the happiness to clients, money to the company, and developers.”
- What do you like the most about working in Quantox? „I am free to choose hours, and there are a lot of experienced colleagues to help me with troubleshooting.”
- If you need help you go to (which colleague)? „Ivan Karanjac supports me all the time, and for the “developers discussions” I have Movsar.”
- Laravel or Symfony?„Symfony.”
- Work from home or from the office?„Office - like it a lot!”
- What are your impressions of the conference?„That was my first experience with conferences as a speaker, also the first time I was speaking in a non-native language. But I did it well because I prepared in time.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„Yeah, sure! Next time will grab more time for speech.”
- Did you have stage fright?„Not a lot of, but got a little shivering. 😅 I have a lot of experience in public communications, but not related to developer stuff.”
Damjan is a developer, animal lover, horse rider, MTB biker, scuba diver, tennis player (veterans league), and the pilot of ultralight planes. Besides all this, he is part of our fantastic Macedonian team for the past 9 months. Read more about him below, and watch his lecture at Quantox Virtual Conf here.
- How did you decide to work with Android Security?„During my career, I had the option to work in a security area. It was an amazing experience and a really big challenge for me. Also, I learned a lot of new interesting things and increased my skills. It's a really big plus in my career.”
- Do you know or would you like to learn any other programming language?„I'm working with PHP and Python (including DBs, REST API, microservices, servers, payments, etc). My next goal is to learn Machine Learning. I passed the intro course and I hope that I will have an opportunity to become more advanced in the ML area.”
- What do you like the most about your job?„Quiet environment with great benefits like flexible working hours, working from different places, and solving the problems as a team.”
- Why did you choose Quantox?„Q had the best offer on the market compared to other companies.”
- What do you like the most about working in Quantox?„First and foremost I would like to highlight that I meet great colleagues. I would also mention the opportunity to work on interesting projects.”
- If you need help you go to (which colleague)?„Vladyslav Skliarenko & Anton Homutenko.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?„I like the option of working from home and/or working from any of Quantox's offices.”
- If you weren’t a programmer what would you do?„Most likely a farmer.” 🙂
- What are your impressions of the conference?„The conference was a good idea in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. A great opportunity to learn something new (especially for the new guys/ beginner developers), an opportunity to check your skills, to investigate something, to spend your time quality instead to sit in front of the desk, and to do nothing.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„I had a huge stage fight. Every time when I need to do something in public, in my head I'm doing it the worst possible. Maybe it is because I didn’t have much experience. But one is for sure, I would do it again only if I have a very good reason.” 🙂
Petar is a passionate coffee lover and a master at preparing it. So it is with programming. He uses various technologies - Front End, Back End, DevOps. He loves hackathons - he was in the winning team twice. Peter also likes to participate in meetups and conferences, he is the organizer of NišJS meetup.Besides that, he was one of the organizers of our Quantox Virtual Conf and his lecture is available here.
- What did your development path in Quantox look like?„When I started, I only did Angular (Front End) but I learned fast and I started getting involved in BackEnd tasks. After only half a year, I became team lead. More projects and dynamic business has led to more engagement. Then we started working on our big project Review Network and after that, I was a CINO.”
- What motivates you the most at work?„The feeling when you have a problem and you solve it. And when you imagine something and then you do it in reality. That is a great satisfaction.”
- Do you have a secret source of creativity?„Cool ideas for the applications often come up from the daily chat with Hamato.”
- When did you realize you wanted to be a programmer?„As a very young child because my dad is a programmer. From a young age, I watched him do something and then I would try it too, so it would irritate me if I didn't know how, and that's why I was determined to learn.”
- If you weren't a programmer would you do?„I would work in a coffee shop.”
- What attracted you to work at Quantox?„The dynamic atmosphere, cool people, plenty of room to progress. I immediately liked the fact that I didn't feel like I was at work, but like I came to enjoy, hang out and do something useful.”
- Tabs or Spaces?„Spaces all the way!”
- What are your impressions of the conference?„I think it was great because everything went spontaneously and since it was our first, it went well. There were no major omissions and there were a lot of people making me happy. I also had fun making a conference site.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?„Yeah, I'm always satisfied when I prepare something in one day and it comes out to be good. We had some changes in the schedule and I had to "hoop-in" at the last minute, but I didn't mind.”
- How did you gain experience as a lecturer?„I have always loved to share what I know and to teach others so I have always been happy to participate as a lecturer at meetups. But I did not enjoy preparing the lecture but the improvisation itself. So when you do that a lot of times it becomes a habit.”
- Do you still have stage fright?„I have, but it's not the same anxiety as before, because when you have a public appearance several times, you know that nothing bad can happen, and even if it does, it's not a big deal.”
Igor Stamenković comes from Niš. He is part of our HR team and works as a recruiter, and was also a lecturer at our recent conference. He says he has always wanted to be involved in programming and software development. His father was involved in programming and design too, so that love for computers was born at a very young age. He graduated from the high school "Bora Stanković" in the field of informatics, but he realized that it was not his calling and then he decided to enroll at the Faculty of Philosophy - Department of Psychology. His fields of interest are social psychology and learning theory. Quantox was the company that gave him the opportunity to unite his two loves.
- Is the job of a recruiter difficult?
„My feelings for work are mixed. I think that it is not emotionally difficult because working with people and the desire to contribute to their success is noble and that is what fulfills me. We, recruiters, are fighting for a better future for people because we give them the opportunity for a new, better job and at the same time for the benefit of the company and the general growth of the IT community in Serbia. But I must admit that it can be hard when the workload is increased.”
- What is the hardest thing when it comes to working with people?
„As I mature, I think that cynicism and passive aggression are the hardest for me. When people are not honest in communication and conceal their motives and thoughts. This makes every conversation quite difficult, not only in the professional sphere.”
- Have you ever regretted your choice to become a recruiter?
„I haven't had a chance yet and I hope it will stay that way in the future. Every job has ups and downs, so, sometimes I think I made a mistake but these are brief moments of reconsideration.”
- What prejudices did you have about IT people before you started working with them?
„The truth is, I had prejudices. I thought that everyone had to be university educated and that they necessarily had to learn more about engineering, but as I became more and more involved in IT, I realized that it was not necessary.”
- Recruitment or HR?
„Both because it is ideal to do tasks for both. It gives me the impression of how we function and on the other hand it brings dynamism to the business and prevents monotony.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
„It used to be remote but now it is not a benefit but a necessity. I liked the attitude of the company, that the health of the employees is in the first place, so with the first signs of the Covid19, the team was sent to work from home. In Nis, we were one of the first companies to decide to take that step.”
- What are your impressions of the conference?
„Mixed but definitely positive. I really liked the idea as well as the range of topics. The lecturers were qualified and professional to talk about their topics.”
- Are you satisfied with your performance?
„Yes, I am. There are things I can improve but overall it was good. I wish I had a live audience.”
- Have you had any experience before?
„I had experiences when I lectured to college students. I like to have performances and to address people.”
- Which other lecture did you like the most?
„Although I've watched almost all the lectures, I can't decide on one. Džavrić had a very nice lecture and I also liked Vojo's, which was concise and specific. Uroš explained everything thoroughly and impartially. Petar's lecture was also honest and interesting. They were all great and quality.”
This time, our interlocutor is Vojislav Branović. Vojo is 31 years old and lives in Čačak. He has been working at Quantox for almost 8 years and he has started as a content writer. Two years ago, he decided to study for QA and officially changed his position (and job) a year ago. In his free time, he plays basketball, likes hiking, and reading books.He was also part of our recently held Quantox Virtual Conf and you can see his lecture here.
- How did you decide to embark on an adventure and re-qualify?
“At one point in my career as a content writer in the BPO sector, I reached a level where there was no room for advancement and then I realized that I wanted and needed to learn something new in order to improve. and increase earnings, and the company met my needs.”
- Was it hard?
“It was not difficult, it was very interesting for me and I would do it again.”
- Who helped you the most in your studies?
“Mentor on the course I attended. I learned the rest myself, from the internet, and the material I got from school.”
- Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about retraining?
“Learn something new every day because in that way you can advance in your career and avoid the monotony of working in the same job forever.”
- What are the biggest challenges in working with clients?
“To understand what they want because they are generally not precise enough when setting tasks.”
- The favorite anecdote with colleagues
“It's hard to say because things that happen spontaneously and remain as a fond memory for us might not be interesting or funny to others, but I'm happy that I work in a company where situations like that occur on a daily basis.”
- Can you recommend some books?
“Yes, "Dark Tower" by Stephen King, "Kosingas" - Aleksandar Tesic, and "The Shack" - William P. Young”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
“Friends.” 🙂
- Are you satisfied with your lecture at the conference?
“Considering that I have never given a lecture before, I think that I was solid. I would love to do the same again.”
- Did you have stage fright?
“I would be lying if I said that I was not, but I learned in sports to turn it into a positive stage fright that better affects my performance.”
Our colleague Uroš Anđelić from Belgrade took a few minutes and chatted with us. He revealed to us that he has been working as a programmer for 3 and a half years and that he is self-taught. He first learned Java and then PHP, Python, and JavaScript. He also shared his knowledge and experience on Quantox Virtual Conf, and anyone who hasn’t watched it can do so on our Youtube channel.
- Which programming language would you like to learn?
“I try to keep up with new technologies. At the moment, Node is interesting to me, I would like to learn GoLang as well.”
- How did you decide on Java?
“I wanted to make Android apps so Java seemed like a good first and generic language. But by chance, I started doing backend with PHP and I stayed on it.”
- Do you have ambitions to become a full-stack?
“I would like to have my own start-up one day, and in order to be able to do that, I need to know how to do "everything". So, yeah, I do think in that direction.”
- Recommend a book or tutorial that you used while learning?
“The book “You don’t know JS” is one very handy source. There is no single author, but a group of professionals is constantly updating it in accordance with the development. It's free and available on GitHub.”
- What misconceptions do people have when it comes to learning programming languages?
“You need to pay for a course and give money to learn to program. Plenty of quality content is available online and for free.”
- What was the best project in Quantox you worked on so far?
“I bring the best experience from one short project. It was made from scratch and with the latest technologies like Laravel and React. It is in my opinion a kind of ideal project.”
- Laravel or Symphony?
“Laravel.”
- Angular or React?
“React.”
- Tabs or spaces?
“Spaces but by pressing the tab.”
- Are you satisfied with your lecture at Quantox Virtual Conf?
“I am. This was my first experience of this type, and I would definitely try again as a lecturer.”
Marko Manojlović is our colleague from Kragujevac. He has been living and working in Belgrade for 7 years, and he has been a part of the Quantox team for two years now. His love for programming is confirmed by the fact that he is a Full Stack programmer. He mostly uses JavaScript and React, but he is always willing to learn something new. Hence his interest in "Deno" and his desire to share his knowledge with us. You can watch his lecture at Quantox Virtual Confhere.
- Have you ever regretted your choice to become a programmer?
“No, I haven't. I find this job very demanding and challenging but it is equally exciting.”
- What attracted you to work at Quantox?
“Marketing. (laughs) I worked in the previous company for 5 years and I was engaged not only in programming but also in organizational and leadership activities, after which I wanted to fully dedicate myself only to programming and further development of technical skills. Quantox made it possible for me.”
- Would you like to pursue programming throughout your entire career?
“Generally yes, but under different conditions. I need to be motivated by the job and it needs to fit in with the client's requirements. Also, to always follow new technologies and enter new areas such as AI and machine learning.”
- What is the most absurd prejudice about developers and IT people?
“That they are not social types of people, ie that they are not inclined to socialize with people. And the other is that developers sit and code all the time. That is not true at all. Programming is only one part of the job and there is also planning, software design, and constant learning.”
- Best work experience at Quantox so far?
“Business trips to Germany and Romania. Business trips are always interesting because we get to know the business culture of other countries and we also meet clients in person with whom we usually communicate online on a daily basis.”
- Favorite Quantox benefit?
“Flexible working hours. Quantox has shown that it can really work, especially at the time of the Covid19. I like the fact that I have the opportunity to organize my own working hours.”
- Deno or Node?
“Currently Node.”
- What are your impressions of the conference?
“Positive. I was surprised that so many people signed up. But of course, there is always room for improvement in terms of organization and tools.”
- Have you had any experience before?
“I was giving a lecture at Quantox and I was also at an Oracle conference, so yeah, I had papers from before.”
- Would you try again to be in the role of a lecturer?
“Of course. In general, I think it's great that the conference is organized because people are interested in online learning and podcasts. During the quarantine, people realized that there was quality content on online platforms.”
