Image: Saurav Anand, Senior Software Engineer, Near.co
Next up in our Developer Showcase blog series is Saurav Anand, a senior software engineer at Near.co. This blog series serves to highlight the work and motivations of developers, users and researchers collaborating on Hyperledger’s projects. Let’s see what he has to say!
What advice would you offer other technologists or developers interested in getting started working on blockchain?
Working on blockchain is going to be really exciting. It is being applied across an array of industries, such as finance, retail, supply chain and healthcare. So you will be solving a large variety of problems with far reaching consequences. There are online resources available. Try to go through a few of them and understand the concepts explained. Once your basics are clear, you are ready to explore this new world of blockchain.
Give a bit of background on what you’re working on, and let us know what was it that made you want to get into blockchain?
I work as a senior software engineer at Near.co. We are building the world largest location based intelligent data platform. Working in the industry for around six years, I came across various limitation and problems that we face. And while reading a tech blog, I came across blockchain. I really liked the concepts and the problems that it was solving and it really made me want to work on it.
What do you think is most important for Hyperledger to focus on in the next year?
Around 99% of people who I work with in the software industry are not aware of blockchain, even though they know about Bitcoin. I would want Hyperledger to create a very big and active developer community, with with all levels of expertise. So that it can be noticed. Because these people will help propagate the words. Once I was stuck with a problem and posting issues on RocketChat did not help. And after 5 days of continuous breaking of my head I was able to fix it. Creating such a community will need some effort from Hyperledger to promote it.
As Hyperledger’s incubated projects start maturing and hit 1.0s and beyond, what are the most interesting technologies, apps, or use cases coming out as a result from your perspective?
Transaction volumes worldwide are growing exponentially and will surely magnify the complexities, vulnerabilities, inefficiencies, and costs of current transaction systems. And transaction volumes will explode with the rise of Internet of Things (IoT) — autonomous objects, such as refrigerators that buy groceries when supplies are running low and cars that deliver themselves to your door, stopping for fuel along the way. Blockchain will play a major role in handling our future tech.
What’s the one issue or problem you hope blockchain can solve?
Many business transactions remain inefficient, expensive, and vulnerable, and suffer from the various limitations. To address these challenges, the world needs networks that are fast and that provide a mechanism that establishes trust, requires no specialized equipment, has no chargebacks or monthly fees, and provides a collective bookkeeping solution for ensuring transparency and trust. Blockchain can help us achieve this.
Where do you hope to see Hyperledger and/or blockchain in 5 years?
The power of blockchain will essentially eliminate the middle man in financial transactions like loans, wire transfers, and other services that require often exorbitant transaction service fees. We can also expect to see major commodities traded readily and with a lot of efficiency using blockchain.
What is the best piece of developer advice you’ve ever received?
As a developer you have to keep up with the learning curve. The software industry is so dynamic and you have to keep updating your skills and challenging yourself with new problem set. This makes a developer’s role challenging.
What technology could you not live without?
Internet. Can’t imagine a world without this.