Where do I start? I'm Khaled Garbaya, born and raised in a small town in the south of Tunisia. Tunisia, a beautiful country in North Africa, is known for its rich history, diverse culture, and stunning landscapes. Ironically, it wasn't until I secured a job that I gained a deeper understanding of my country, as I could now afford to travel extensively. Don't get me wrong, my parents did their best to show me around, but we would only travel to places where we had relatives, leading to a repetitive experience. It was the only option we could afford, and I appreciate every moment.
Let's move on from that topic. I completed my schooling in my hometown before attending a university located 20 km away in the same state. I did a bachelor degree in computer science. Meanwhile, my passion for programming was growing and growing every day since I discovered GBasic, a programming language on my Atari keyboard console with cartridge. I can't recall the exact brand and model, but if you're old enough, you'll remember it. My first program was `PRINT Khaled`, and guess what? My name was printed. I then began researching loops and other related topics.
The second and probably the biggest motivator was getting introduced to Macromedia Flash, acquired by Adobe later. I was amazed by the possibilities and how it is almost guaranteed that it will work in every browser; back then, Javascript was mostly used to show an alert.
Anyway, after finishing university, I immediately got a job as a flash developer for an agency in the capital Tunis. As a student, I developed a portfolio that included several Flash websites for various businesses and non-profits in my hometown. After a few years, Flash's popularity began to decline due to security issues arising from its use as a virtual machine (VM), with Steve Jobs's open letter likely serving as the final straw. I am deeply grateful for the platform, as it not only covered my expenses for many years but also taught me invaluable Javascript concepts.
After transitioning to Javascript and later Nodejs, I moved to Berlin. I began working on full-stack development and contributed to open-source projects such as Yargs and Gatsby, a process I thoroughly enjoyed. I also experimented with videos, streaming, and writing. I still do this casually.
After spending over a decade coding, I moved to management not because "it's the next natural thing" but more because I really love helping empower people and seeing them succeed. As a result, I transitioned to management, which was initially challenging because it required me to relearn everything about people I had learned as an IC.
As a family man, raising a child has become my new hobby. I love spending time with my small family and try to keep a balance between work and life; after all, work will never end, but time with the people you love will.