Andela recently launched in Uganda. This brought its presence on the African continent to 3 countries, namely Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria.
If you don't know what Andela does, it offers Software developers an opportunity to work for its clients - which in this case include some of the top companies in the US and the world - like IBM, Microsoft etc.
Since its inception, it has been able to take on several developers - Ugandans included. We have therefore decided to start a series that will celebrate Ugandan developers working with Andela - a couple of them at a time.
In this very first, we are celebrating as well as getting to know more about two of the Ugandan developers working with Andela.
David Kironde
David, aged 23 years, joined Andela last year on the 20th of November. We asked him a few questions about his experience with Andela. Find the details of the conversation below;
- Area/Course of Study: Bachelor of Business computing
- University: Makerere University Business School
- Field of expertise: Full Stack Developer Python Flask
- Project: Pulse was built with ES6 AngularJs and Node.js running on a micro-service architecture as opposed to monolithic architecture.
1. What prompted you to apply to Andela?
My passion for software development, my desire to learn, grow and build my professional networks. Andela gives me all that. When I learned about Andela, it was the perfect time for me. To me, Andela is an answered prayer.
2. What is the most exciting experience you’ve had at Andela so far?
I built a URL shortener early on when I had minimal programming experience. This gave me such joy and instilled confidence in me that if I believe in myself, the sky is not the limit, it’s only the beginning.
3. Where do you see yourself a year from today and how does being part of Andela help you get there?
A year from today, I will be a Senior Developer at Andela. I desire to innovate and head a company and I believe that Andela will help me achieve that.
Also read: M-Kopa, Jumia Among MIT 50 Smartest Companies of 2017
Christine Ritah Nagadya
Christine, aged 25 years, actually joined Andela this year on the 5th of June. Similarly, we had a quick conversation with her and below are some of the details;
- Area/Course of Study: BSc Electrical Eng & MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- University: Makerere University & Newcastle University
- Project: I'm part of a simulated agile software development team working on a project called Health Checks project. Health Checks is a monitoring system for cron jobs that notifies users about the different status of the jobs i.e. success, warnings (jobs that have not run but are still within the set grace period) and failed jobs. I’m also working on a personal project building a web API for a Bucket List service(personal project).
1. What prompted you to apply to Andela?
I heard about Andela from a friend and did a quick Google search which led me to this article. I got hooked the moment I saw the title (because I’m always up for a challenge) and was convinced that Andela was the place for me.
When I read the rest of the article, I became determined to join because despite enjoying the work I previously did, I’d always wanted more, I wanted to be an excellent software engineer.
2. What is the most exciting thing you've experienced at Andela so far?
Everything! For a person who only had experience in application interface design and development, a shift to work on functionality and logic is extremely exciting. Stuff suddenly makes sense, just like puzzle pieces falling into place.
Additionally, Andelans are beyond awesome. Every single person I have interacted with so far has selflessly supported and challenged me to not just be a better programmer but a better person as well.
3. Where do you see yourself a year from today and how does being part of Andela help you get there?
I can not even begin to imagine where, because Andela has widened my horizons. I thought I would never come close to being referred to as ‘that top notch programmer,' but now it’s just a matter of time. It has just been a month and I've solely built two applications and I am currently working on my third personal and first group project at Andela.