About

I started programming while I was still at school. Back then it was machines like the Korvet — I no longer remember the exact names. Other boys from my class and I often hung out in the computer lab to play computer games. To be honest, the games never really took hold for me, though it was fun now and then to run something like “Klad” or “Klad-2”. What drew me more was working with the machine itself, especially writing programs. Apart from a cut-down BASIC, those computers had little else. Still, I liked making something and watching it work — or fail 😅.

Later, in 1999, I began studying programming at university. The course was built around C++. That was when I understood how interesting programming could be. From then on I have never stopped coding, and I still learn something new every day.

At first I did not become a professional programmer. There were reasons for that — maybe one day I will tell that story in more detail. But I never left the craft, and from time to time I built programs for my own use. Even now there are a few that only I use… Then 2021 arrived. I decided to learn web development. By the end of that year I had joined my first professional team.

I have built interesting products since then, including online stores on Shopify and other platforms. Nostalgia for C++ still shows up, though. So I keep writing in that language as well, even if less often than before. I also keep learning new languages and technologies. There is something interesting in that, and you can always learn something new — though sometimes it can be rather dull.

And that is how I “ended up” here 🙂!

University was something new, and at first I liked it. New friends, a wealth of new information, the first hands-on encounter with a real computer — it was exciting. Until the lectures that seemed dull (at least to me) started kicking in: philosophy, occasionally history — it made little sense why we had to repeat high-school material...

The biggest disappointment was that I and a few other students were assigned to study German instead of English, which is so essential now... and all because English wasn’t my foreign language in school. That was probably the first step downward from that remarkably promising path I had just begun to climb...

Naturally, programming classes were the most engaging part for me, and surprisingly, there were fascinating lectures in calculus, discrete mathematics, and algebra. And then came physics... Yes, it is necessary, but taught with zero connection to programming, it felt painfully dull. So much depends on how someone teaches... Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly lucky with my physics professor, nor with a few others — it mostly came down to intimidating students with tests and exams rather than sparking genuine interest in the subject. So yes — that was the next step down...

I made it through the first few semesters — even on an academic scholarship at first. But over time, the uninspiring subjects and instructors began wearing down my desire to study... Instead of working on assignments for courses that didn’t interest me, I simply kept coding. That naturally took a heavy toll on my academic standing.

Eventually, I took a leave of absence, and later dropped out altogether...

University was not the brightest chapter of my life, though I gained genuinely valuable experience and knowledge that still helps me in my work today. Perhaps if I had been more mature and thoughtful back then, things might have turned out differently... But I see no point in regretting things you cannot change.

A considerable amount of time passed. My life went through an incredible number of changes, which I might share more about later — though maybe not.🫠

I decided to give IT another shot. I realized this was truly what I wanted to do. I began diving into modern technologies and programming languages. In the end, that is how I became a frontend developer.

I wouldn’t say it was easy — far from it. On top of that, my career shift coincided with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That took its own toll. You are solving tasks on a project while missiles fly overhead, and later various drones. Then the state decided I could make decent cannon fodder too...(if you are unfamiliar with the subject, I recommend reading Švejk 😉). And decided to mobilize me.

Yet during that long prior chapter — the one I am not writing about just yet — I fundamentally rethought my outlook on life, the world, and myself. I began seeing many things from a different angle. Because of my convictions, I chose a neutral Christian stance on participating in wars and in the political games of a world headed for destruction.

And although my perspective is quite different from that of most acquaintances, friends, or relatives, I do not compromise on it. This has also guided my choice of projects. For instance, I do not take on work related to military domains, crypto, or questionable projects — even though that could have paid significantly more.

For me, AI is a working tool, not a substitute for a human. It speeds up the rough work: drafts, refactoring, tests, and finding a way through a large codebase. Decisions about architecture, the scope of changes, and quality must always stay with the person.

In my daily work I use Cursor and other assistants. They are valuable when you already know what needs doing and can verify the result. Without that, it is easy to end up with a lot of code and little confidence in how it works.

It is important to me that generated code is readable, passes tests (which is interesting in itself — AI can generate tests that pass without a hitch while problems remain in the main code), and fits the existing codebase.

I also keep personal limits. I do not hand a model a client’s sensitive data without a clear need. I do not ask it to “do everything” where the domain logic has to be exact. And I do not put speed above clarity or responsibility for what ships.

In short: AI helps me move faster when I already know the direction. It does not replace experience, judgment, or ownership of what reaches production.

This site is an example: I used artificial intelligence to generate content, layout, and other pieces. In some places it accounted for as much as 99% of the work. For that kind of task I find it a very useful tool.

Yet I truly enjoy coding by myself, so I use artificial intelligence either 100% for simple, trivial tasks, or for complex problems where it can assist or give a hint. If you rely strictly on AI all the time, you can gradually degrade and lose your skills.

So if what you need is simply a “prompter” who only feeds tasks to agents, then, I’m afraid, I’m not your person 🥺.

That does not mean we cannot agree on how to use artificial intelligence on your project. I just do not see that as the main line of my work.