Darren Chen is the latest software engineer to join Pixafy, and our first new hire of the year. Darren brings enthusiasm and energy to our team, and has already settled in nicely. Here’s a bit more about him:
Q: How did you discover Pixafy?
I discovered Pixafy through a recruiter. At that time, I didn’t know anything about Pixafy. The only thing I knew was that I would be coding all day. I appreciate my recruiter for sending me to this awesome place.
Q: Where are you originally from? Do you still have family there? Do you have any siblings? If so, what do they do?
I was born in China and moved here with my parent and one sister in 2006. I still have two sisters who live China. My sister, who lives with me, works in a restaurant but she recently gave birth to a baby girl and is taking a break from work. My sisters in China work in a retail store that sells clothing.
Q: How did you get into programming?
I was a gamer, and I once asked myself why I clicked on this button and the system response action sucked. To find the answer, I did some search online and started writing my first small program.
Q: Any mentors/other people who’ve been particularly instrumental in your direction to date?
My previous colleague guided me a lot. He taught me to be patient and careful, because it is very helpful when I am programming.
Q: What is your first impression of Pixafy?
It is an awesome workplace. There have been a lot of challenges and I feel like I’m going to have a lot of fun facing them. These challenges will help me grow and improve.
Q: Hobbies/interests outside of work?
Usually when I go outside, I like to go fishing or skiing. I also like to watch science-fiction movies. When I stay at home, I prefer to play video games.
Q: What kind of music do you listen to?
I listen to both Chinese and English music. I usually prefer listening to pop music for both languages. I enjoy listening to English music more than listening to Chinese music because I feel like listening to more English music can help me improve in the English language.
Q: What is your favorite language to program in?
I have a couple of favorite languages such as JavaScript, Ruby and PHP, etc. Since they are all dynamic languages, it allows me to finish my task in lots of different ways.
Q: What was the toughest programming challenge you’ve faced to date?
It was an online printing system, which allows users to do lots of customization. I had to deal with the speed of performance and the user reliability. The worst thing was printing the engine in Linux and the site the host in Windows Server (C#).
Q: What qualities do you most admire in others?
Those who are smart and like to use his or her knowledge to help others.
Q: What’s your favorite part about being a software engineer?
I can face different challenges every day and I have to keep myself updated to catch up with the latest trends as technology grows.
Q: Any unusual hobbies that we should know about?
I sleep late very often. It is because I am usually working on a project and I feel like I should finish my work or make some good progress before I can rest. I will feel uncomfortable and uneasy in my bed and probably won’t fall asleep.
Q: If you won the proverbial lottery, what would you do with your windfall?
I would like to donate part of it to charity and then travel around the world for vacation. Then, I will open my own software company.
Q: What’s something that no one at Pixafy knows about you (until now)?
I am really good in StarCraft II.
