Love Code and Write Words - Viacheslav Aksenov 2022 Noonies Nominee Writer Interview

Hey Hackers!

I’m Viacheslav Aksenov, and I’m a senior software engineer in fintech. I am glad to announce that I have been nominated for the 2022 Noonies Award.

A huge thanks to the HackerNoon community and staff for considering me worthy of this opportunity. I’ve been nominated in the following categories, and if you like my writing, please do check out these award pages and vote for me:

1. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: HOW-TO
2. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: KOTLIN
3. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: MICROSERVICES
4. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK
5. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: GITHUB
6. HACKERNOON CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR: CLEAN-CODE

As a tech writer, I believe that the most exciting technology at the present is Kotlin and low-level automatization because in our time there are a huge number of things that require settings and configuration. And the more libraries and projects that take care of low-level things, the easier it will be to develop large and interesting systems.

You can learn more about my thoughts and opinions on Kotlin, Spring Boot, and my journey in the tech industry via the interview below.

1. Tell us about your journey. What do you do and what do you love about it?

For the last few years, I have been writing code for financial projects and designing systems. Before that, I had a period of mentoring beginner students for an online programming school. In my free time, I enjoy writing articles and my little pet projects, which you can find on my Github.

2. Tell us more about your work. What do you make/write/manage/build?

Right now, my responsibilities include designing systems responsible for security and finance. This makes it necessary to design interactions in such a way that they are easy to develop, do not allow vulnerabilities, and also build stable systems.

Such interesting tasks can be solved with the help of a competent combination of code style, the purity of the Kotlin language, writing deep tests, and planning how the system will develop in the future.

3. How did you start writing? What made you choose HackerNoon for publishing your work?

For a long time, I have been looking for platforms where I would feel comfortable sharing my thoughts. I have tried a large number of platforms in different languages. In some, it was uncomfortable to edit articles, in others it was not a very comfortable community. But on HackerNoon, all the factors that are important to me coincided - a perfectly convenient editor, an excellent audience, and wonderful moderators.

4. What excites you in tech? Tell us about your favorite technology and why you are passionate about it.

From the very beginning of my acquaintance with technology, I have been insanely fascinated by the fact that you are the master of the code. What you write, what instruction, what script, then the computer, the processor will do.

It was the most wonderful thing to write scripts for Arduino robots and console applications. Because everything works exactly as you wrote and it's fascinating.

5. What were some of the challenges you faced being a tech writer and how did you overcome them?

Every time you start something new, it's a personal challenge. Similarly, in the process of writing content - it was incredibly difficult to come up with your first topic. And after you came up with it, you still need to write and structure the text.

Without experience, it was insanely difficult. I rewrote my first article several times and even now I am not happy with it. But I will not rewrite it - to leave it as a monument to the beginning of my journey in writing.

6. What are you learning/reading currently? Any recommendations for our readers?

The more you are inside development, the better you begin to understand your area of work. And over time, the amount of feeling of the new that you get from the current work decreases. So it is with me, lately, I'm interested in trying a topic in which I know nothing.

At the moment, it is React and web development. I really want to learn how to make beautiful interfaces for my beautiful and neat backend systems. I can advise you not to rush to eat the whole technology pie at once, but also not to stop at the pieces already eaten.

7. What is your biggest achievement so far?

If you think about it, different people can be proud of completely different things - someone can write code very quickly, and someone may like to design huge stable systems. Public things were the most difficult for me. With great difficulty, I managed to take the first step toward public speaking. And that step was to perform at Tech Summit in San Francisco itself, along with industry experts.

8. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

Wow, $10 million is a lot of money. And if they fell into my hands, I would certainly lose it. All the same, I'm a developer, not a financial consultant. To be honest, I would probably invest some of it in my real estate, some in the shares of green companies, and another part I would put aside for a business for the soul.

Own real estate is always pleasant and convenient - you come to any country that you like and you have a house there. Shares of green companies, because this is a global trend. And business is for the soul - because everything needs to be enjoyed.

9. What advice would you give to someone just starting in this field?

I still remember my start in technology. It was a time full of hope and unknown. Since then, many projects and new knowledge have passed, and if I gave advice to beginners, then I would give the most important thing - believe in yourself and do not stop.

There is not a single large-scale thing in life that can be built quickly. It all takes patience and strength. Development and systems thinking are skills that need to be developed and take time. And for this, you need to continue to learn and believe in yourself.

10. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I read a lot of interesting books from extremely smart people. And a lot of useful advice is spinning around us on social media.

But only one really sunk into my soul - learn to listen to yourself and not be afraid to go beyond. For myself, I interpret it as "be honest with yourself and don't do what you don't like", but in what you like "don't stop there and go beyond".

Many thanks to everyone who read to the end of my short interview. I wish each of you to believe in yourself and not be afraid to stop there. I will also be especially glad to hear your voted for me in the nominations.

Sincerely, Viacheslav Aksenov

About HackerNoon’s 2022 Noonie Awards

The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.

The 2022 Noonies are sponsored by: BingX, and .tech domains. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.