~ Interview by Simona Gouraud and Vlad Pintea ~
Dan Pătrașcu-Baba: From Scripture in Logos, to IT courses and scripts in .NET – The Difference Between MENTORSHIP and FREE Tutorials
~ Interview by Simona Gouraud and Vlad Pintea ~
Saturday morning, sun, coffee, and a city still drowsy. I meet with Dan, to write the story of an IT course graduate at Informal School of IT, now a mentor, who himself went through a career change. We have as much time as we need, and the story flows freely and captivatingly.
- Dan, your story has become a recurring one in recent years of career changes into IT, but I'd like you to tell us how it happened in your case. So, how did you move from philosophy and theology to technology, IT courses and programming (still a logos, just a more applied one)?
I studied in Rome and got my bachelor's degree in both fields, philosophy and theology. Then came the logical decision: I wanted to come back to my home country, to work, and to be able to live decently off my work. Having been passionate about computers since childhood, I told myself this would be my path.
I come from a family of modest means, so from an early age I learned to install programs myself on an old computer. I started with MS DOS, and it wasn't until high school that I got a computer, on which I installed Windows. My father learned alongside me, since he was passionate about technology too.
Once I was back in the country, I had to get a job somewhere and start from the bottom, anywhere, as long as it was related to IT. I got an IT Help Desk job at Bosch, where I stayed for two years. That's where I started hearing about and studying various technologies (Exchange Server, Active Directory).
I experimented at home, on an old computer, learning everything I could. I realized, though, that I couldn't progress much further by staying in that job, so I applied for a technical support position for Office 365 at Microsoft.
Also read: What is .NET and why you should know this technology
I made the move from philosophy and theology to IT without any regrets, because I had a passion for my new field. The work environment at Microsoft also encouraged me to keep learning, more and more. I had access to information, to licenses, I used both my work time and my personal time to gather as much information as possible, and I felt it was an extraordinary opportunity to work in such a dynamic, demanding and learning-oriented environment.
I stayed at Microsoft for 6 years, learning about Cloud technologies, then offering consulting to clients, and running online training sessions for them. It was a period of huge professional growth. Little by little, I started automating what I was doing and getting interested in scripts. That's how I moved toward software development, making positive use of the competition with a colleague who was also eager to progress.
I started learning C# on my own, then applying what I'd picked up at Microsoft. I provided consulting on Azure App Services, where I also needed to write code and build demos (these were applications meant for production).
I realized, though, that what I was doing at that point wasn't enough for me anymore, because I'd come to want to build software end-to-end. That was, therefore, the point that marked the end of my career at Microsoft and my move to Amdaris, a company with 26 developers in Timișoara and more than 100 in Chișinău.
And to get back to your question: I believe all sciences derive from philosophy, and the sciences, technology, practically every field, are guided by certain philosophical principles. For me, the move toward technology doesn't mean moving away from philosophy, just a happy complement to it.
Everything we learn shapes our thinking. I didn't excel at math, but that doesn't stop me from being a good programmer.
2. Do you feel your theoretical background acts as a compensating tool in the IT world, or more like something irrelevant, which neither hurts nor helps much in your day-to-day job?
I don't think we should draw such clear-cut distinctions and box everything into categories. Everything a person learns throughout their life helps them, both professionally and personally, because it gives them different ways of seeing the world, logical thinking applied to reality, new skills.
Maybe what we pick up in related fields doesn't help us directly, but we surely benefit, on an unconscious level, from what we've studied along our path: our thinking is shaped in a certain way, and we gain ease in working with concepts.
To be honest, I didn't excel at math in school, but that doesn't stop me from being a good programmer. I do speak 4 foreign languages fluently (German, English, Italian and French), which has certainly shaped my thinking in a certain way (a kind of learning algorithm, probably, that helps me in programming too).
3. What advice would you start with for an outsider who doesn't know where to begin breaking into IT?
To those who haven't had any contact with the field at all, I'd recommend first doing their own research, understanding what this field is, and knowing what they'd want to do (sysadmin, programming, consulting, support, research).
Information is available everywhere now (through conversations with people working in the field, on the Internet, YouTube). Only after that should they make a decision. But whatever they choose, I'd recommend they ask themselves whether they have a passion for the field, whether they're curious to discover things and motivated to keep learning.
If they can go home from work with their mind intrigued by some technical element and feel like they can't wait to find the solution, then yes, this field is for them. Passion can make up for almost anything and comes before everything else (even before technical knowledge). Otherwise, once the excitement of the new wears off, you'll give up, because the effort will be great and you won't feel the joy of discovering, of searching for solutions. Programming without passion is a job like any other.
Those who choose to learn in an alternative system surely have a passion for IT. Those in the traditional education system sometimes choose the field at their family's urging and know for sure they'll be hired by big companies after graduating. Some of them may not have the passion I'm talking about, but those who train at an alternative school, going through a career change, are probably more captivated by technology.
Once you discover your passion, you still need to search a bit, to find your path, the common thread. This is where having a mentor to help you comes in handy, otherwise you'll waste too much time looking for what you want to do, what you like. A mentor can recommend where to start, what comes next, what steps to follow.
Also read other success stories:
"There's no age limit for dreams." A graduate's message for you
How do you become a programmer? Interview with a Software Developer
4. What opportunities does knowing .NET offer a young person who decides to invest in training along this path? Why would they choose .NET over any other OOP environment (Java, for example)?
.NET, today's Microsoft ecosystem, is very, very different from what it was 5 years ago, for example. I think that, first of all, Microsoft's relationship with developers has changed. The company is now very open to open-source technologies, to platforms like .NET CORE.
The advantage is that you can build .NET applications for any operating system (Windows, Linux) and for any platform (desktop, mobile, Xbox). The main advantage of .NET, compared to any other platform or programming language, is that you aren't restricted to building applications for a limited number of platforms or operating systems. This is partly possible in Java too, with the note that, for example, in .NET you can also write native iOS applications (such as XMarine).
On the other hand, specifically when it comes to building desktop applications, .NET is a framework naturally built into the Windows operating system, the most widespread operating system, as we know. For web applications, you can write an ASP.NET CORE application and run it directly on either Windows or Linux. Without being an expert outside .NET, I'd say this isn't possible in Java, for instance, with the same level of simplicity.
The fundamental point is that it's very easy to write applications in .NET, while in Java it's harder to configure. At the programming language level, Java and C# are absolutely comparable.
5. So, what future do you foresee for .NET technologies?
.NET has developed a great deal compared to 5 years ago. That's our starting point. All the statistics show us substantial growth of .NET technologies in software development, and this trend will continue.
This is happening because Microsoft is increasingly betting on open-source and on the ability to run .NET applications on any platform and any operating system.
6. Why should our readers choose Informal School of IT instead of going for free tutorials, which are all over the internet?
When I started learning, Informal School of IT didn't exist. I built up my own experience, I went with free tutorials. Still, fundamentally you need someone competent to guide you. When it comes to free tutorials: you have no guarantee you're learning from someone competent, and they don't help you get from point A to point B.
You learn something, but you don't integrate it into a system. Likewise, you don't know exactly which tutorial is good and which isn't. There's a risk you'll learn something wrong and won't be able to unlearn it (or only with much greater effort).
At school, you have someone constantly guiding you, who has hands-on experience in the field, you get explanations, the mentor answers your questions, you cement your understanding, you do homework, you get feedback. When you learn from a tutorial, you don't get the chance to build applications.
7. How do Informal School of IT's courses differ from training in traditional education/university?
The essential difference is that alternative education emphasizes hands-on practice, building applications. It mostly cuts out the theory, especially the useless kind, and you get the chance to learn only what you choose. Learning, in turn, is fast and short.
Also read: What Lifelong Learning, or continuous learning, means
8. You're also a speaker. What's your favorite topic, and what do you think the local IT scene should focus on to raise its level of competitiveness compared to world-class players?
I don't have one favorite topic, but all my talks share Cloud technologies as a common thread, because that's where all IT innovation comes from.
Romania's IT scene is very competitive in terms of skill set, comparable to any other market in the world. The biggest problem I see in the Romanian IT scene is at the level of attitude. Here, the IT field grew through multinational companies, and that has lowered the entrepreneurial spirit of people in the system.
Also, the field's growth in our country happened through outsourcing, which also holds back the entrepreneurial spirit. Globally, it's precisely the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven, and still drives, progress in IT.
Maybe these ideas don't sound great coming from someone who's worked in multinationals and in outsourcing, but I'm now trying to do everything I can to change these things. I have a bunch of ideas that I can't wait to put into practice.
9. Do you have "sleepless nights" over technological progress, or are you an unreservedly optimistic person? Or maybe you have a ranking of the most likely risks lurking ahead.
I'm an unreservedly optimistic person. I'm not afraid robots will take over the world. Throughout history, technology has moved humanity forward, and IT is a part of technology that will keep things moving.
IT is a tool that can be used for good purposes or less good ones, it's entirely up to us what we want to do with this tool. What seems inconceivable to us now will be something ordinary and within reach 50 years from now.
10. Finally, tell us why you chose to become a mentor?
I think it's the natural path for me, especially after I became a software developer. Knowing all the obstacles I went through, wanting to give back to people what I received, wanting to teach them to go through these stages more efficiently and more easily, to help them discover their potential and motivation, I immediately said yes to the invitation to become a mentor at Informal School of IT in Timișoara. At the same time, I also have a blog where I write regularly, precisely to promote the IT field and .NET technology in particular.
Coffee turned into lunch, and the 11 pages of notes barely managed to capture my several-hour conversation with Dan. I think the story will continue, because I saw the spark in his eyes. I've also seen Dan in the classroom. He explains things simply, clearly, with concrete examples (not from Aristotle). I warmly recommend his courses, a model of shared passion!
Why take courses at Informal School of IT and become a .NET developer?
Informal School of IT offers a curriculum adapted to the current needs of the job market, combining theory with practical application. The courses are guided by experienced mentors, who not only share theoretical knowledge but also provide real examples from the workplace. This hands-on approach lets students gain relevant skills, essential for a successful career in IT.
By becoming a .NET developer, you get the opportunity to work with a robust and versatile platform, used by many organizations to build web, desktop and mobile applications.
Demand for .NET developers is constant, giving you a stable and well-paid professional future. .NET offers a vast ecosystem that enables fast and efficient development, and the large developer community provides ongoing support and useful resources.
The skills you gain as a .NET developer are also transferable, letting you explore other technologies and programming languages as well.
.NET Development – back-end programming courses. Enroll now!
