I started to write software since my university days when I discovered that it takes only a few seconds for a computer to calculate a balance sheet, while by hand I was able to calculate it in 2 hours. That was the moment I realized that learning to program a computer will make my work a lot easier.
I discovered MS Access, I learned relational database concepts and I started to create a small application to keep track of the clients and the insurance policies expiration dates.
A few years later, when MS Access was not powerful enough to host big data and multiple users, I discovered SQL Server. I started learning SQL Server from the help. At that time, Google did not exist. I still remember that it took me 2 days to discover that SQL Server does not have any tool to create user forms. I used MS Access and SQL Server together to create more and more complex applications.
Again a few years later, when MS Access was not flexible enough to create custom user controls and forms, I discovered .NET Framework. I started learning VB.NET and later C#.NET. This time Google was there and I learned a lot faster. I used them together with SQL Server to create even more complex applications.
While still using .NET Framework and SQL Sever to create applications I also discovered that PHP, Java, Objective C, Javascript, C++ are also good programming languages and I did a few small applications using these technologies.
Forced by the situation, I had to play around with Linux. I chose CentOS at that time. After I managed to get used again to the command line, I discovered that this OS just works. Web, ftp, email, 5 years later still works without any issues. I’m dreaming about the day when I will have time to read the LFS book.
Three years ago, I discovered the amazing Angular and combining it with Go, I created a few small applications.
When the time came and I had to move one of the servers to cloud, I tested all providers and I chose GCP. This is because it just works. I started to learn more and more about the platform and how to build and deploy applications for cloud.
One of my targets for the year 2019 was to become Google Cloud Certified - Professional Cloud Developer and I did it. It was a very interesting experience because I did not want to use any specialized courses on one of the many training platforms. I just wanted to do it by following the exam guide, the reference documentation and a lot of Qwiklabs. As a result of that, this blog is published automatically on every commit using Cloud Build. I continued the certification program and now I am a Professional Cloud Architect, Professional Data Engineer.
Currently I’m administering a couple GCP accounts, I’m opening pull request and issues to some of the open source projects and when I find some free time I’m working on my own personal projects and writing blog posts.