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Sohaib is a senior front-end developer at Computan and a certified night owl. He does his best work at night and rests during the day. In this episode of Behind The Coding, Sohaib discusses why he researched conspiracy theories, the roles seniors play on a team, and the secret ability to talk to animals.
Hi Sohaib! How are you?
Good thanks!
What are the last three things you Googled?
Hi Sajeel. The first thing I Googled was how to translate ‘Conspiracy Theroy’ from English to Urdu.
That’s a new one! Why would you be doing that?
In our daily ‘Chickpeas Call’ (Team members at Computan are broken up into groups of 4 and make a standing improv conversation each day), one of my colleagues was going to discuss conspiracy theories. So, I thought to prepare, I should make sure we both define conspiracy theories similarly.
Way to be prepared.
Yes! I always try to best prepare for those calls.
What else have you been Googling?
The next thing I Googled was ‘When is Memorial Day?’
Trying to find out when your next day off is? Right?
Yes! Exactly. Third Monday each May.
What is the third thing you Googled?
HP Laptops
What for?
I am looking to upgrade! We always use things like Docker for work, and I like to play games in my spare time.
Both take a lot of resources.
Yes! They do.
When did you last work after hours to solve a hard problem?
A few days ago! There was an issue sorting posts. Elementor doesn’t give the functionality to sort posts from the newest to oldest or alphabetically.
That’s right! So how did you solve it?
I got the solution together with my teammates (Hassan Hashmi, Usman Akthar, and Bilal Mahmood). Hassan and Usman, my seniors, told me where to look. Thankfully, they did because I was about to run my head through the wall!
You talk about seniors on the team, and I hear you talk about them a lot. How do they help you?
Seniors are helpful, which is one of the best parts of working on this team. The veterans and leaders of the team are always available for help. Access to seniors, management, or leadership has been blocked or difficult in any other company I've worked with.
That’s encouraging to know Sohaib.
It’s the truth!
Who are three people you'd like to have dinner (dawaat) with simultaneously, and why?
One for sure would be my friend Tanveer.
Can you share more about Tanveer with me?
Tanveer has been a friend since childhood.
Oh wow!
Yeah, we met daily when we lived in the same city. We were young, then young professionals, and would meet every day.
What about now?
Now, it is harder. We no longer live near each other, so we rarely meet.
What does he do for a living?
He’s a marketer.
Ok! Who else would you eat with?
My dad, for sure.
You and your dad are close.
Yeah, we are, and we usually eat at home, but I would like to go out and have dinner with him.
You should do that, Sohaib! Who else would be at your dinner table?
Lionel Messi! He’s my favorite footballer, and I would ask him for tips on how to stay motivated for so long.
That’s a fantastic group of people.
There’s one more person I’d like to invite.
Who?
You, of course!
We’ve already had dinner together a few times, haven’t we, Sohaib?
Yeah! And it’s usually so much fun when you are around—a lot of good energy and positivity.
Wow! That means a lot to me, Sohaib. When was the last time you cried tears of laughter?
A little while ago, Tanveer came to Lahore for a visit for two days. When we are together, we are always laughing.
What kind of stuff do you do together?
We went to the zoo together and had a great time and had a great time! We talked to monkeys.
Hahaha…what do you love about coding?
The one part I love about coding is solving problems. I love it, and I hate it. When a problem is so frustrating that it can’t be solved, it drives me crazy. But then, when you solve it, you start to feel good. I also enjoy troubleshooting. On the topic of your last question, coding gives me tears of sadness and joy.
When was the first time you saw a laptop/computer?
20 years ago! My dad had a Pentium 2, and we got to play around with it.
What apps did you use?
I played Need For Speed 2 and used Microsoft Paint to draw.
What is something your teammates don't know about you?
They know me well because of the events and trips, but I guess they thought I was serious before the trips. Maybe that’s one?
I didn’t know about your ability to talk to monkeys.
That’s it! That’s the one thing they didn’t know about me.
