CityJSConf 2021 talks to Gleb Bahmutov
Gleb Bahmutov is a JavaScript ninja, image processing expert, and software quality fanatic. During the day Gleb is making the web a better place as a Distinguished Engineer at Cypress,io. At night he is fighting software bugs and blogs about it here. We caught up with him briefly in the run-up to the 2021 CityJSConf.
Is TypeScript the future of JavaScript? And why?
Maybe. Right now it is too early to tell.
Are you aware of new tools like Deno, Svelte or any other libraries you would like to share? Tell us what new JS stuff is coming and how you feel about those?
Have you heard about this front-end library called React? I think it has some potential!
What was your first programming language? And how long have you been using JavaScript?
Turbo Pascal, but JavaScript is better. I switched to JS after a long journey from C and C++ through Java and C# via CoffeeScript. Probably 10 years now.
What advice do you have for junior devs starting out in JavaScript in 2021?
Grab a bunch of free online books and type out exercises as you read them. You can even use your browser’s DevTools console as you read the book in the browser!
What are you working on right now in your job? And what are you using to do this?
I am working on features, fixes, and documentation for Cypress and all adjacent projects. And mostly I am writing full tutorials and blog posts…about Cypress.
How has Covid-19 affected the way you work?
Even before Covid I worked remotely. But now I have two new coworkers within a 20-minute walk, and we still have not met face to face!
How has your journey as a conference speaker been affected by Covid-19 over the past year?
You know, I miss the physical events, but there is a positive side: now any meetup or online conference can invite me — and I do it! There is no time to spend traveling, no jet lag — just focused preparation and delivery.
What would be your ideal online conference set-up?
One large screen for my slides during the talk and another large screen with video avatars of the audience, I love seeing when people get what I am talking about.
How is the Covid-19 situation where you are?
I’m in Boston, USA. Ughh, it is a race between infections and vaccinations.
How do you relax and de-stress?
Watching the Great British Baking show :)
Have you made a bucket list for the end of lockdown and restrictions? If so, what will you be doing?
We will definitely go to Montreal as a family, we love Canada.