We’re pleased to spread the news that Adam Allidina has joined us here at Zeitspace as a software engineer. And you may have anticipated, as a reader of our blog, that we’re presenting Adam’s answers to our now-standard questions. His answers, of course, aren’t at all standard. Read on!
Why software development?
I’ve been into technology for as long as I can remember; growing up I spent a ton of time with computers. Eventually I got interested in how the technologies I loved to interact and play with were created which led me down the long and winding road of software development. Being able to turn ideas into functional products with just a laptop has always been something that fascinates and excites me.
What kind of development do you like? Mobile? Web? Something else?
Though I’m a generalist at heart, and love to code regardless of platform, I would have to say that web development is what excites me the most. It’s not so much to do with the APIs and tooling (I’ve always been of the opinion that learning the APIs regardless of platform is usually one of the less exciting parts of software development). Instead, what excites me about web development is the immediate reach of the products one is able to create. The amount of devices that can run JavaScript is mind-blowing and the progress that’s been made in evolving JavaScript from a language hacked together within a couple weeks to becoming one of the most popular languages in the world is staggering.
Recommend one thing (maybe a book, movie, album, TV show, physical experience…) Why?
One of my all time favourite authors is Chuck Klosterman, a music journalist turned author who writes fascinating and hilarious pop culture centric essays. I’d recommend any of his essay collections (personally I’m a big fan ofEating the Dinosaur). For fiction, it’s hard to beat Douglas Coupland (JPodandMicroserfsare great).
What’s your favourite new (or old) discovery in Waterloo Region?
I took up long boarding last year and that finally woke me up to Spur Line trail. More broadly speaking I think all the trails in the KW region are awesome and worth incorporating into your commute if you can.
Share a cool thing that folks might like to know about you?
I picked up an old tape deck a few months ago and have been having a blast backing up all my old vinyl and making mixtapes. One of the biggest issues with this (other than the obsolete technology) is that it’s almost impossible to find the higher quality chromium dioxide tapes as the manufacturing of tapes has slowed significantly since their inception.
