‘Sharing your journey online does two things: it solidifies your own learning, and it makes you discoverable to the right people.’ These wise words from Ashish Misal, Software Engineer, Content Creator, and my latest guest on Young & Ambitious, set the stage for an incredible conversation.
We dove deep into the future of software engineering, vital advice for young developers, and why personal branding is absolutely crucial in 2025. Get ready for powerful insights.
1. You’ve worked deeply with the MERN stack and microservices. What’s one tough technical challenge you faced, and what key lesson did you take away from it?
- One challenge that stands out was designing a microservices architecture where multiple services had to communicate reliably without getting tightly coupled. We were scaling a system that handled high traffic, and things started breaking when one service would fail, causing a ripple effect.
- The key realization for me was how important asynchronous communication and fault tolerance are. That’s when we started using Apache Kafka more seriously for decoupling services. It allowed us to buffer requests, retry gracefully, and prevent cascading failures.
- The lesson? Don’t over-engineer early, but always design with failure in mind. Distributed systems will fail; your job is to make sure they fail gracefully.
2. For developers building scalable, future-proof solutions, what are a few non-negotiable skills or mindsets that have been essential in your experience?
- That’s a great question. I’d say first, problem-solving is non-negotiable. Frameworks and tools change, but your ability to break down a complex problem and find a solution? That stays valuable.
- Second, writing clean, maintainable code, because scaling isn’t just about traffic, it’s also about onboarding new devs, maintaining features, and debugging quickly.
- And third, the mindset of curiosity and humility. Tech is constantly evolving. If you can stay curious and open to unlearning, you’ll naturally future-proof your career.
3. With tech like Apache Kafka becoming more common, how do you see app development evolving in the next 5–10 years? What’s one major opportunity this shift creates for young developers?
- I think we’re entering a world where real-time, event-driven systems become the norm. Kafka and similar technologies let us build systems that react instantly to data — think of fraud detection, live analytics, or even personalized experiences on the fly.
- For young devs, the opportunity lies in learning event-driven architecture early. It’s a different way of thinking compared to traditional request-response models, but once you get it, it unlocks a whole new level of scalable design.
- So the message is: don’t just learn how to build apps; learn how to design systems.
4. Jumping from college to real-world software development is a big leap. What learning strategies or habits helped you ramp up quickly and contribute at Suma Soft?
- Absolutely, it was a huge leap. What helped me most was building a habit of learning by doing. I didn’t wait for someone to assign me something; I’d read the codebase, raise questions, and try to replicate modules on my own.
- Also, I kept a personal log; every day I’d write down one thing I learned or struggled with. Over time, it helped me connect dots faster.
- And I can’t stress enough the power of asking smart questions. I was lucky to have mentors who appreciated curiosity, so instead of hiding gaps, I’d expose them and learn faster.
5. You’re building a presence beyond just writing code. How important is it for young devs to share their journey online, and where do you suggest they begin?
- It’s super important, and honestly, underrated. Sharing your journey online does two things: it solidifies your own learning, and it makes you discoverable to the right people — mentors, recruiters, even collaborators.
- I always tell people: you don’t have to be an expert to post. Just start with what you are learning. Share one thing a week — a bug you solved, a concept that clicked, a small project.
- Start on LinkedIn, places where tech conversations are happening. And the key is consistency. Over time, it compounds and opens doors you didn’t even know existed.
This was truly an incredibly insightful conversation! Ashish has made it clear that building a strong personal brand, asking the right questions, and maintaining relentless curiosity are the non-negotiable skills for success in 2025 and beyond.
A huge thank you to Ashish Misal for sharing his expertise and for being so open in this conversation. We wish him all the very best on his impactful journey ahead!
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