Behind The Coding: Touqeer Haider – HubSpot Front-end Developer

Hi Touqeer! What are the last three things you Googled? 

Hi Sajeel.  The first thing I Googled was renewing an ID card of mine.  

You needed a new one? 

Yes exactly.  Thankfully, I could do it online! 

OK, what else did you Google? 

Let me see. It looks like I Googled a few validation errors. 

Did you google error messages? 

Yup.  That’s right. 

I know that’s a common practice, but why in this case specifically?   

We are building a new HubSpot theme for the HubSpot theme marketplace.  Some updates were required, and errors needed to be fixed.   

So you Googled the error messages? 

Yes, exactly right. 

OK, what else? 

Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match highlights. 

Who is your favorite IPL cricket team? 

The Chennai Superkings.  No doubt! 

Why do you like them so much? 

Because of the captain – MS Dhoni. 

What makes Dhoni such a great cricket player? 

He wins without even playing.   

Does he win without playing? What do you mean? 

I mean, as a captain, he is an all-rounder and can do a lot of things with his batting and bowling.  But he makes other people better.  In his career, he has helped build the careers of so many of his teammates.  That is what a true leader does. 

So he helps develop and improve other players. 

Yes exactly.  That is the sign of a true leader. 

When did you last work after hours to solve a hard problem? 

It was a little while ago, but I made a HubSpot module, and it was working fine on stage. On the live site, there was a problem that caused a disturbance on the live site when the module was published. 

Oh no… 

Yeah. I went home and got a phone call that there was an issue.  Sajid (Sajid Ali, HubSpot Frontend Team Lead) and Jeremiah   (Jeremiah Amir, HubSpot Frontend Developer) helped me resolve the issue.  I was stuck on it for 4 or 5 hours!   

Who are three people you'd like to have dinner (dawaat) with at the same time, and why 

Three former classmates of mine.  One is Laraib Sandhu – he was my favorite teacher’s son! 

Wow! Nice. Who else? 

Another would be Awais.  He is a childhood classmate.  

And the third? 

Safdar Hussein.  He is my best friend and also a classmate.   

Sounds like you met a lot of good friends throughout your school days! What would you eat? 

Yeah, I did.  We would eat desi food! 

Nice. When was the last time you cried tears of laughter? 

My friend went shopping the night before Eid, and obviously, there was a considerable rush everywhere, like any holiday shopping.  He wanted to buy a nice pair of sandals.  We spent 4-5 hours getting to the sandals, and he got them.   

What is so funny about that, though? 

The funny thing is when he woke up and opened the box, he had two right-sided sandals! 

Oh no! 

Yeah, and then he wore those shoes around during the celebrations.  He walked around with two right-foot sandals. 

Hahahaha! 

He went back to return them after and got the appropriate pair. 

What do you love about coding? 

I love learning new things.  Especially JS.  Without JS, a career in FE is difficult. ReactJS is something I am interested in. 

Definitely! JS knowledge is key for any front-end developer. When was the first time you saw a laptop/computer? 

I was 12, and it was probably in 2007.  I saw one at school and asked my family to get one.  For studying, of course! And maybe some games.   

What games did you play? 

Snow Bros, Need For Speed, and Tekken 3.  

What is something your teammates don't know about you? 

In my previous life, I was an excellent electrician for many years. 

Really? I didn’t know that! 

Yeah, I installed and engineered wiring systems in newly built houses.  

Amazing Touqeer!