"We are all mad here." - 2021 Noonies Nominee

Hey Hackers! I’m Maneesha Indrachapa and I’m a Software Engineer at WSO2.

First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2021 Noonies award!

I’ve been nominated in the below categories, please do check out these award pages and vote:

1. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - JAVA
2. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - MICROSERVICES

As someone in the Software & IT industry, I believe that the most exciting technology of the present is Java because you can do almost everything using JAVA.

Do you want to develop mobile applications? You can use Java. Do you want to develop web applications? You can use Java. Want to create scalable enterprise applications? Java.

1. What do you do and why do you do it? (tell us your story)

As a kid, I was an avid computer gamer. I remember playing GTA Vice City and IGI. While playing, I was also curious about how those games were developed. It was that curiosity that led me to become a Software Engineer.

During an internship early in my career, I got the chance to actually work on a game development project. Then I moved on from game development to other areas of the field such as Identity and Access Management, Big Data analytics, Cloud computing, etc.

Expanding my scope in those areas involved a lot of self-learning. Sharing things that I learn with others helps me understand the concepts more. I find HackerNoon a great platform to share knowledge.

2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!

Currently, I am contributing my coding talents to the WSO2 Identity Server.

There I have created REST APIs for SMS/ Email-OTP generation and validation in the WSO2 Identity Server.

I also do code reviews for the WSO2IS. Apart from that, I like to explore new things. Recently I created a theme for Visual Studio Code that goes by the name Jasmine.

In my free time, I like to write about the things I learn.

3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?

I was passionate about technology and gaming which led me to choose this path as my career and I love every bit about it.

4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?

Right now I am more interested in studying Big Data and its ecosystem because I am currently pursuing my Master’s Degree in Big Data. Every day I learn new things that can do using Big data and related technologies.

5. What tech are you most worried about right now and why?

I am most worried about data privacy.

Right now almost all of the things a person does is known by social media companies, and they use that to manipulate people with advertisements etc. So if we continue at this rate there may be a future where no one in the world will have a protected identity.

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

I would invest the money in starting my own game development company. So I can combine machine learning, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality with games in order to create a reality like in the movie “Ready Player One”.

7. What are you currently learning?

I’m currently learning content related to my MSc. in Big Data analytics where I’m specifically focusing on areas such as natural language processing, pattern recognition, and deep learning. I’m also interested in self-learning Identity access and management technologies because it is relevant to the job I do.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?

“Follow your dreams and do what you are most passionate about !”

I write this advice here because I truly believe in it. I know that you can achieve incredible things when you are actually working to achieve your dreams. After all, we are all mad here. Mad enough to explore and persevere.

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

“Don’t ever think you’ve ever learned enough !”

This is the best advice I received because the Software and IT industry is evolving rapidly and it is important to keep oneself updated.

About HackerNoon’s 2021 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 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.