I’m Adam Freisinger, the founder of CodeBerry
Join us on a backstage journey in the newest episode of “Coder Interviews” to find out what it’s like to be a developer. Get inspired by the stories of successful IT experts and learn what they do and how much they earn.
Adam Freisinger finished his studies as a Pharmacist and Health Care Manager, but ended up working as a web developer. Since then he has founded two IT companies. One of them being CodeBerry, a programming school that teaches web development online in [English].
Tune in to read more about adventure games written in BASIC, winding copper wires for RAM cores and artificial intelligence. Along with that, we’ll also discuss the entrepreneur lifestyle of Adam Freisinger.
Intro:
I live in Budapest, Hungary.
I work wherever my laptop is.
I work with my iPhone, MacBook Air and Sublime Text.
I have an efficient work style.
What do you do for a living?
I help people learn to code.
Tell me more about what you do regarding programming?
I improve lesson content so they are easier to teach and more comprehensible. This involves less coding and more creative thinking.
In my free time, I fiddle with my hobby projects, that are normally tools for things I’m interested in. Recently I built the following three things:
- A social playlist for Spotify,
- A Chrome extension, that quotes famous books on a new tab,
- Software that allows me to organize my projects as well as my CodeBerry goals.
How does your workspace look like?
I feel best in a minimalistic environment, so my desk only contains things I use:
When, where and how did you learn to code?
I got a computer when I was in elementary school and my parents thought I needed to know how to use it. So, every week a friend would come over and teach me the fundamentals. I really enjoyed writing my first run-around adventure game in BASIC.
I continued with things I found interesting, like writing a DC++ chatbot or building a website for my father. When they published the new version of Meteor framework I couldn’t resist building a web application with it.
Most of my knowledge comes from searching the internet. I would browse a larger topic, then dig deeper into puzzling details.
What are the job opportunities for web developers? On average, how much time did you spend looking for a job?
Due to the fact that I graduated as a Pharmacist and Health Care Manager, I never looked for jobs in programming. I took on some small tasks that found me and lead to bigger tasks. Now, I’m working in my own company taking on several roles, whatever’s needed.
Seeing that people regularly contact me on LinkedIn and Upwork, even with very little information available, this is a demanding job.
What is your schedule like?
I like to get up early because it’s still quiet both inside and out. I plan my day, drink some fruit juice and start working after breakfast. I also go over special events that happened on the previous day.
During a business week, the first one and a half days are dedicated to strategy and Friday is for reviews. Between the two I have time to work without distractions.
I like reviewing my personal life too, my partner and I write down each week things we enjoyed and others that need changing.
Twice a week I try to meet somebody for lunch that I haven’t seen for a while.
My weeks, months and years are similar to my days. I like to plan at the beginning of each period and look back at the end to attempt to learn from it. Every month, I collect the photos I have taken from the previous month. I also complete the YearCompass every year.
Is there something you know that would surprise everyday people?
Programming is not magic. It mostly involves internet research. :)
Who do you work with?
I work with my friends that I have worked with for eight years.
What are typical career paths in your profession?
As a Pharmacist, I could have walked a well-defined life path, but I left that certainty behind. Right now, my task is to do things within the company that requires me to reach beyond the limits of what is known. This gives me the opportunity to constantly learn something new and improve myself. I don’t have a certain path before me now and it makes me feel like I can become anything I want.
What are your plans, how do you wish to continue?
The expression “jack of all trades, master of none” describes my path best. I would like to experience as many things as I can and learn a little about each of them. I am much like a duck wanting to both fly and swim, however, not mastering either of them. I hope to find a winding path between “some trades” and “all trades.”
What other profession would you choose if you had to change? Could you change?
I wouldn’t want to change.
What skills do great developers, IT experts require? Who do you not recommend this profession to?
There are a few skills that don’t hurt:
- Strong analytical thinking,
- An experimenting spirit,
- Attention to details.
What’s your favorite part?
I enjoy seeing fast results. I can change the world by simply editing a code. I would probably be a terrible nuclear power plant designer, who plans something with all their heart then, if lucky, sees the steps of their design begin several years later.
What grinds your gears most? What are the difficulties and dangers of your profession?
You no longer need to know how to build RAM modules to browse websites. Similarly, there are plenty of pre-written programs that stop you from seeing things further.
It makes me mad when I have to rewrite a login module, instead of taking advantage of pre-defined elements. There are too many different solutions for the same problem, we’re being inefficient this way.
How stable is your job? How much time does one spend working for the same company?
Right now, I’m pretty sure I would find a job.
I feel lucky because I can afford to work somewhere as long as I can focus on my tasks, improve and learn new things. If this changed, I would want to quit.
If you had to ask for one thing in the name of all developers, what would it be?
Please don’t write the same code twice. :)
How much can one earn in this profession (as a newbie, experienced and veteran)?
Thanks to the years spent saving some money, I now have the opportunity to work for my own business. I hope we can afford some paychecks soon, as now only my enthusiasm pushes me forward.
What do you think is the best way to learn to code?
One answer doesn’t fit all, everyone has to learn the way they can do best. For me, it’s easiest via real projects. Whenever I’m stuck I just seek help.
What makes code worth learning?
Firstly, programming is like a foreign language; it helps understand other cultures and change your entire life if you want it to. Secondly, it’s a profession that surely won’t disappear in the next decades (or until artificial intelligence takes over).
Disclaimer: CodeBerry Blog is published by CodeBerry Programming School, co-founded by Adam.
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