OpenLampTech - Developer Interview with Nico Verbruggen
Software developer Nico Verbruggen shares insight, knowledge, and inspiration in this OpenLampTech developer interview.
Welcome to this OpenLampTech text-based developer interview.
Nico Verbruggen is a developer using mostly Laravel but is also an open-source contributor. PHP Monitor, a macOS app, is Nico's largest open-source project at the time of writing.
Needless to say, I'm very excited Nico took the time to share his knowledge and experience with the OpenLampTech community in this text-based developer interview.
And now without any further ado, on to the interview.
Q: Please introduce yourself and tell us what you currently do for a living.
I’m Nico Verbruggen, and I am a software developer from Belgium. I work for a software agency in Ghent called DIVE. We take care of all sorts of business-to-business projects. In my spare time, I contribute to open source.
My biggest open source project is currently PHP Monitor, which is an app for macOS that aims to make you more productive when using the PHP binaries provided by Homebrew and by integrating with Laravel Valet. You can learn more on the mini-site here.
Q: What PHP framework(s) and/or CMS(s) are you interested in the most or currently using (if any) and why?
Today, I pretty much exclusively use Laravel as the basis for all of my projects. I have used Symfony in the past, as well as various CMS(s) like OctoberCMS and Craft.
Laravel’s biggest strength is obviously the ecosystem, and that’s super nice. I do have a pretty strict policy on trying to minimize extra dependencies, so I often just end up writing my own stuff instead of relying on third-party packages. But it’s great knowing that the first-party options are rock solid.
Q: Do you think it is important for developers to know some SQL and not rely solely on an ORM? Why or why not?
It is important, yes. You need to know the basics, so you can understand why a certain query is fast or slow.
It's very much a trade-off between ease-of-use and performance in most cases: it's easy to shoot yourself in the foot if you don't know what the ORM does query-wise.
This is why I always recommend examining the raw SQL that is produced (when building features for your app or website) in order to avoid issues.
Additionally, knowing enough about SQL will also make you better at creating an improved schema for your app (i.e. knowing when to add indices to various columns, make use of certain database-exclusive features).
Q: What is one piece of software that you just cannot live without and why?
When it comes to coding, I don't think I could do my job properly without PhpStorm. As soon as I became serious about being a web developer, I picked it up and I haven't looked back. I find regular text editors to be quite underwhelming... plus you need to rely on various third-party plugins which may not work as well as you'd think. PhpStorm just does things right.
I also want to give a shoutout to Firefox, which is honestly my preferred web browser. I can’t imagine browsing the web without the various privacy protections and ad-blocking options it offers.
Q: You type all of your code in which IDE/Text Editor/Software?
I use PhpStorm for most of my programming. If I'm writing Swift for PHP Monitor, I do use Xcode, too. When it comes to dealing with my git repositories and version control, I am a big fan of Sublime Merge, which is pretty much the most performant git GUI I've ever used. It's so good and I often spend some time in that app dealing with merge conflicts, too. If I'm working with plain text or small projects I also use Sublime Text.
Q: How has working as a web developer/designer/professional benefited you other than the obvious paycheck and monetary value?
You learn how to think in various new ways, which is the most interesting benefit of being a programmer, I think. The whole idea of stripping real-life situations, objects, scenarios down to their most simple representation and having them interface with one another is a kind of mental exercise that translates well to other aspects in life, I think. Programmers tend to be pretty good at making informed decisions because of this. It’s also fun, you know!
I've also found working on open-source software to be quite rewarding. There's always a few bad apples out there, but there's a lot of encouragement and thank yous being thrown around in the world of OSS. Seeing folks from all over the world use something I built just feels great. I think of it as a good thing to do for the world. To put stuff out there, for free, with no real expectations. Folks can donate, though.
Q: Do you have a book, newsletter, blog, podcast or other resource you would recommend to other developers?
If I have to recommend one thing? A book: Atomic Habits. It changed my life. It’s about building good habits and avoiding bad ones. I don’t think I need to tell anyone that fostering healthy habits also benefits one’s coding!
Also, I recommend simply following interesting PHP developers on platforms like Twitter or Mastodon, and you are quite likely to see interesting blog posts appear in your timeline.
Q: What hobbies or activities do you do for fun?
I became an avid runner some years ago. I try to go out and get my daily workout in and that's usually 45 minutes of non-stop running, every day. I also enjoy going on walks (with friends or by myself). I’ve found walking helps me clear my head.
When I'm not being active, I tend to enjoy writing (blog posts, but also fiction!), cooking, and playing various types of video games. If there’s a game coming out with exceptional writing, you can be sure I’ll likely end up playing it. Oh, and I also love tinkering around with computers and computer parts. I enjoy building PCs.
Q: Where can readers go to learn more about you and any projects you may have going?
I tend to blog every now and then on my website, https://nicoverbruggen.be. There's also links to my various social media channels there too. I tend to be pretty active on Twitter and GitHub.
Q: Anything else you'd like to add or share with the OpenLampTech readers?
If you can afford it, please consider sponsoring an open-source developer whose code or tools you use frequently. It doesn’t need to be me: it can be anyone. I can confirm: some kind words or a donation can easily make an open-source developer’s day.
Thank you, Nico Verbruggen, for sharing your knowledge and insights with the OpenLampTech newsletter readers and community!
Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Take care.
Josh Otwell