Oleksandr Lenivenko, Senior Software Engineer, EPAM Ukraine, one of the creators of the Android Online Program, tells us why mobile developers should not ignore learning “old school Java”, about the role of motivation in professional growth, and how microcontrollers led him to the development of applications for smartphones.
“I was always interested in programming,” says Oleksandr Lenivenko, “but after graduating from Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute I worked in a completely different industry. I realized that no other sphere gives me the desired professional realization. The first serious obstacle to my development in IT was the complete lack of knowledge of the English language. At school, I studied French, so I had to start learning English from scratch and took specialized courses. Along the way, I improved my knowledge of Java, which we did not study at the university.
Mobile development is about agility, flexibility, and the ability to create applications that can be used by a large number of people. Among other things, I was attracted by the contrast of microcontrollers, which was my specialty at the university. Working with them is a much more narrow-focused task.
I chose Android as the main direction of my development. Unlike iOS, it does not imply big restrictions with the hardware: you can write on any device with Windows or Linux installed.
After the first independent steps in training, I realized that without the help of a mentor it would be very difficult to find a way around a huge variety of resources and approaches, and I began to look for companies that provide training opportunities. This is how my story at EPAM began.
In 2017, I entered the mobile development course, after practicing on educational projects in the pre-production laboratory, and grew to the Junior position. Over the next three years, combining work with ongoing training both independently and on plenty of internal programs of the company, I grew to the Senior position. This is not the only case, but rapid development requires a lot of effort and strong motivation.
Starting at the Middle level, I take part in the company’s educational programs as a lecturer and mentor. Teaching contributes to your professional growth, allows you to develop presentation skills, and improve your soft skills. Having gone all the way from scratch, I clearly understand what exactly students need, what improvements can be implemented to make the training program even more useful and relevant, and working on a real project allows you to track industry trends.
Oleksandr Lenivenko’s recommendations to novice Android developers:
- Learn English. Mobile development technologies are advancing so fast that approaches become obsolete before the translation of the corresponding English-language literature or technical documentation appears. Therefore, read original books.
- Start from the basics, in our case it is Java. Despite the development of Kotlin, Java is still an important element in mobile development. You cannot rewrite many projects, so be prepared to work with both languages within the same project. Our course contains all the necessary topics, but it will be easier for a student with solid basic training to master an intensive program with a lot of homework. The base means knowledge of Java syntax, OOP basics, understanding of working with collections.
- Do not consider the lack of a technical background as a disadvantage. Having specialized education and experience is undoubtedly a plus, but motivation remains the main component of success. Any knowledge gaps can be closed already in the process of project work and communication with more experienced colleagues.
- Work on pet projects. This is extremely important for professional growth since a work project usually uses only one or two technologies, and a good specialist must be confident in different technologies.
- Be ready to constantly update your knowledge, to develop and follow the new products that come out almost constantly. Google annually presents many of its own developments designed to optimize the user experience (and add material for developers to learn). In addition, you need to keep an eye on third-party libraries written by developers like us.
- Love your specialty. When you do what you love, you are happy to devote time to grow in the profession. This is true not only for mobile development.
Resources for learning the basics of Android Development:
- Free courses from Google
- Resources from JetBrains, the company behind Kotlin
