The Trip of a Software Engineer(and Two Architects)

Last week, I took sabbatical from Google for the rest of 2015. I’m embarking on a trip with two architects to decode the architectural patterns in ancient buildings in Central Asia and build an open source software library.

I don’t know much about architecture. I don’t know if we will be successful. But I have a feeling this can be done.

When I was a little kid, I had a Commodore 64 computer. I loved that computer. I loved it because of the games. But also, I was inspired that someone just wrote some code and made those games. Only if I knew how to code, I could make my own games.

I learned how to code. I learned that with code, not only I could make games, but I could also make programs to solve problems. I could help my friends. I could help people. I could have real impact. I felt like I had a purpose in life: the sky was the limit, with code I could make anything happen.

Since then, I worked for many projects. I worked for my dream company. I learned a lot. I contributed to solving hard problems. It took time, and hard work. But it felt great.

Now, I’m embarking on a trip in the spirit of the true software crusader, following my childhood dream. It is time to take the challenge head on. The world has changed. Software has become more relevant.

It is time to get the coding hands dirty with unknown.

Baris Yuksel is a software engineer at Google. His interests include machine learning, algorithms, and helping humanity. He met the two architects, Lauren and Alexis in New York and since then, they have been talking about collaborating.