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Following is an article that was published in The Hindu about Binny, a cochin based Freelancer

Twenty five-year-old Binny V.A. from Kochi is a youngster who takes pride in revealing that he is a college dropout. Soon after he flipped through the syllabus for Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) course, a few years back, Binny realised that he was already way too ahead of the course material. Today, Binny is one of the most successful freelance Web developers in Kerala. “I started dabbling in IT tools right from my Plus One days. When I completed Plus Two and joined college, I found that the college syllabus was totally outdated. It did not take long for me to realise that I would be wasting my time if I pursued the course,” said Binny on the sidelines of BarCamp Kerala here on Sunday. Binny’s presentation at the BarCamp on ‘Development – What they don’t teach you in college (Everything Important)’ was an instant hit. The session covered topics on the latest tools and languages used in Web development. “These are typically things that will never be taught in a college classroom but that companies teach during the recruits’ training period. The IT field is developing so fast, by the time a university decides on a syllabus and prints books, they will be outdated,” said the whacky Web developer. With a steady clientele and enough projects to keep him busy, Binny is more than satisfied with his freelancing career so far. Although forming a company could improve his scope and reach, he only sees it as a possibility for now. “Today, companies come seeking my service. If I form a Web development company, it might help me scale up my career. But as of now, I am only viewing it as a possibility,” said Binny.

• The Hindu

Geex Interview: A cochin Based Freelance Web Developer, Binny VA

Who are you? What you do?

I am Binny V A – a freelance web developer. I concentrate on LAMP technologies. I also do some client side coding – as a matter of fact, Javascript is my favorite language. These days, most of the work I do is wordpress related – creating plugins, customizing plugins, theme customizations etc.

What kind of Technologies you work with?

I’m working on Linux. Its awesome. And if you are a programmer, there is no excuse for using windows

Best Frame Work in your opinion?

Best PHP framework, IMO, is Code Ignighter. But I have a framework that I created that I use in most of my projects - IFrame. Making a custom frameworks and getting depended on it was a mistake. I have ‘Not Invented Here’ Syndrome Best JavaScript framework is, of course, jQuery. Again, I have a custom frame work JSL Ruby – Ruby on Rails. Fortunately, I haven’t created any custom frameworks for that Python – Django.

Which SCM do you prefer? : Git or SVN?

Git. Definitely Git. I have switched most of my projects to Git. Only ones that are left are really old of WordPress plugins(WordPress.org only supports SVN – so far)

your typical day looks like?

Get up around 8 or 9(sometimes later) Check Email/Twitter/Facebook/etc. Code (Something always need doing). Lunch. Check Email/Twitter/Facebook/etc. See film/serial/anime/something Some more coding. 5:30-7:00 Badminton. If the neighbors are playing. Because its very hard to play Badminton by yourself. General browsing – google reader, digg, slashdot, etc. Dinner. Code. Sleep(2/3 AM).

Of course, this is not set in stone. I often have to travel which changes the schedule a lot.

your fav apps or the tools u can’t live without?

Linux tools

Kate/Kwrite Konsole (Plus a lot of shell tools - too many to list) Firefox Amarok Tweetdeck Konqueror Apache (I'm excluding PHP, Perl, Ruby, etc - not sure if it can be called an App.)

Web Apps

Gmail Google Reader Twitter Google Calender Google Your favourite OS ?

Linux. The only choice for serious programmers

Small picture of your workplace ?

your favourite Prog. Languages?

Javascript. No question.

your Future plans?

Continue freelancing. Try to convert a couple of my projects into products. Maybe start a company – and that’s a big maybe. I hate the red tape that comes with starting a company. And I’m lazy.

why do u prefer freelancework?

The freedom. I can go to any and all events I am interested in. Work as much or as little as I like. Its Awesome. With a capital A.

how did u become a freelancer? what inspired u?

When I was working at a company, I took small ‘side jobs’. Soon, those side jobs began to pay more than what the company gave me. Its was pretty dump to stay at the company after that. So I got out.

do u hav any mentors? or someone who guided u?

Can’t say that I have. Met most of the good programmers after I became a freelancer and fairly proficient at programming. My only mentor was the internet.

about the other stuffs you do (other than freelancing)?

I volunteer with a lot of organizations – because of all the free time. That include… MAD(http://makeadiff.in) EPLFC(http://epflc.incochin.in) ILUG Cochin OWASP Etc.

your educational background? what and where did you study?

I’m a college dropout – and proud of it

Few lines about the events u’ve organized like the Barcamp, Tweetups ?

Those are unconferences – they generally organize themselves . Anyway, I can’t take the credit. There were a lot of awesome guys that did most of the work. I was more of a ‘technical consultant’ for the website. But I am always glad that I got into it. I met a lot of awesome people at these events.

you have any more questions? write it down below so that binny will be able to respond to it. Stay Tuned for More Interviews From GeexHQ

This post is tagged binnyva, cohin, developer, freelancer, geek, interview, kerala, Web