Being a nomad isn't easy, but it's what life has given me. I spent most of my childhood in Balikpapan, Borneo island. It was a lively place with beautiful forest and beach 🏖️. Now, I live in South Tangerang. Life here is more urban and fast-paced. Moving around has been challenging, but each place has given me unique memories and experiences.
You can call me Alkahfi, Kahfi or Alfi.
I really enjoy playing with laptop; this simple reason led me to believe that computer science was created for me. During college, I learned a lot of programming fundamentals, but not much in-depth technical practice — I wasn't paying enough attention, though. Programming is like an ocean; you never know how vast it is or where it ends.
In college, I studied programming concepts, languages, databases, problem-solving, tools, software project phase — and, of course, building softwares.
In terms of work, programming roles or professions can be specific. I've worked as a Frontend Developer, a role responsible for developing software on the user interface side — the part you see and interact with, such as the input box where you type an Instagram caption. A contrasting role is the Backend Developer, which focuses on developing the server-side application that supports the frontend, such as supplying or storing data.
Here's another example: if your friend likes your Instagram post, that “like” and your friend's username must be saved so that when you open Instagram, you can see your friend's like on your post.
For the jack-of-all-trades role, many call it
Fullstack Developer or Software Developer
or in corporate environment they are usually called Application Developer or IT Developer.
These roles require both frontend and backend skills — which I believe can solve more problems,
or in another word open more job demands.
There are four well-known types of software: web, mobile, desktop and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. I guess you've used atleast one of them before. Their main difference lies in where the software is installed. As a frontend developer, we often work on web-based software applications that run in a web browser (Google Chrome, Safari, and so on). These can be websites or web applications.
My homepage, the one you're visiting right now, is a website — or rather, a webpage, since it just contains information and no other functionalities. Of course, that doesn't exclude the possibility of building applications that can run across multiple platforms, especially when there isn't a dedicated or "native" developer for a specific platform, such as mobile or desktop.
Programmer, Developer, and Engineer are similar roles, though the last one is not just about coding, it is a comprehensive role who also dealing with system design, design doc and so on. On the other hand, Programming, Development, and Engineering refer to their activity. These terms or jargons might not be universally agreed upon, like developer in corporate company may also need to tackle more than just coding, but I hope you get the idea.
What really matter is their problem-solving ability to help humans solve problems with the help of Information Technology (IT).