Meet Abdul Rehman, or AR, for short! AR is an expert at Laravel and coding HubSpot Integrations. In this installment of Behind The Coding AR talks to us about the advantages of custom HubSpot integrations vs native integrations, his interest in politics, and what the secrets are to maintaining a long friendship.
Hi AR! What are the last 3 things you Googled and why?
Hi Sajeel, the first thing I Googled was a Workflow error in HubSpot
So you were solving problems?
Yes absolutely.
What was the problem exactly, AR?
In this task, I have to sync workflows from one HubSpot portal to another HubSpot portal. There was a JSON error, and the workflows weren’t syncing.
So how did you solve it?
I debugged it using Postman. There was a workflow and contact property mismatch.
Ok! What else were you Googling?
I Googled the Imran Khan rally in Lahore and Pakistani politics.
Do you follow a lot of Pakistani politics?
Yeah, quite a lot. I think it’s important to keep updated with what’s happening locally and worldwide.
I agree with you! Knowledge is power, isn’t it?
Yes, it is.
Who are 3 people you'd like to have dinner with simultaneously, and why?
Well, definitely two people would be my parents.
What can you tell me about your mom and dad?
They are huge supporters of my life, and we have a great relationship. My dad works in telecommunications and has for quite a while, and my mom takes care of all the house-related things.
Who else would you have at dinner?
My friend Rizwan Khan.
Can you tell me about Rizwan?
He has been my friend since we were kids. We don’t live near each other, but we are still friends.
That is amazing! How do you maintain a relationship like that for so long? It must take a lot of work.
I don’t really know what the secret is. Sometimes I need him, and sometimes he needs me. It just works.
To have a friend, you must be a friend, as the saying goes.
Yes, something like that. I think that is the key to maintenance!
When did you last work after hours to solve a hard problem?
That is easy. It was when we were doing a HubSpot to QuickBooks integration.
But HubSpot and QuickBooks have a native integration.
Yeah but that doesn’t do the required job in all cases.
What is missing in the HubSpot and QuickBooks integration?
It is very difficult to manage deals, invoice status, paid date, and exchange rates in the native HubSpot and QuickBooks integration. So we had to build a custom middleware app to handle those particular use cases.
And doing that kept you up at night?
Yes! Because the timeline was tight, and the client was a bit frustrated. Those things will usually lead to some late nights.
Agreed! When was the last time you cried tears of laughter?
Very recently, actually. My younger brother recently got married. We shared a lot of funny stories together and with guests. It was a great time and a very memorable time.
I can imagine AR. What do you love about Coding?
Coding is a passion of mine. I love everything about it. Most specifically, I love writing logic and applying that logic in the editor. It feels like I am communicating in another language.
You technically are! You are communicating in PHP
Hahaha. Yes, that is very true.
When is the first time you saw a computer?
I was 15, and my dad brought a computer home. Mostly I played Need for Speed on it and didn’t really do anything productive on it.
You were learning about the computer, though!
Yes, I guess that was the productive part.
What is something your teammates don't know about you?
Most guys think I am a serious guy, but I am not serious all the time.
Really? Yeah, you come across as very serious and shy. At least whenever we talk.
That’s true, but whenever I work with Musa (Musa Nasir – Shopify developer), Adeel (Adeel Haider- Shopify developer), or Usman (Muhammad Usman – mobile app developer0 we are always joking around. Anas (Anas Nawas) is a funny guy too. We have a lot of fun together.