Faris Arifiansyah

Hello, my name is Faris. I was born in Bandung on 9th December 1993. I'm a software engineer and currently working for Bukalapak. I'm passionately in love with software engineering because there are so many challenges in building a software with the best quality. I have a dream to contribute to my nation, Indonesia, through technology. I want to use my skills and knowledge to increase the Indonesian people's welfare. As a software engineer, I'm very happy when people use a software that I built and they feel helped by it. I also love to share my knowledge and sometimes I wrote them on my blog.

The first time I was interested in the IT world is when I was in junior high school. I was a gamer and played lot of games. One day, I played a game called Little Fighter 2. I really wanted to use a character which is the villain king in that game, but by default, that character is not available to choose. I was curious and ended up going to the installation folder and open the files which can be opened by notepad LOL. I edited some files which I thought may have an impact to the game and then I restarted the game. And BOOM, I can use the character that I wanted haha. I was very happy and I thought that I was successfully "hacking" the game 😂

The next thing that made me became more interested in IT world is when I have an internet connection at home. I remember it was 2009. At that time, I also went to vocational high school and took the Computer and Network Engineering major. I started my blog in 2009 and learn HTML & CSS because of it. I didn't know that there were many free templates available for Blogger. So, I modified the default template by myself 😅. At school, I got many knowledge and skills about computer and networking. I learn the components of a PC and then I can assemble a PC. I learned to set up a local area network (LAN) and also wide area network (WAN). I also tried many operating systems besides Windows, such as Free BSD, Mikrotik, and many Linux distros. I remember I even made my laptop quad boot by using Windows, Ubuntu, Slackware, and Backtrack. I did it on purpose, of course. I spent my 4 years in this school using Linux. Most of the material I got are about networking. I remember I learned about IP, Netmask/Genmask, supernetting, subnetting, routing, building a DNS server, Proxy server, Mail server, etc. I honestly like them all but then I realize that these are not really my thing. I'm more into a software engineering rather than this networking or IT infrastructure things. So, after I finished the school, I decided not to looking for a job. I wanted to go to college.

In August 2013, I started my study at Bandung State Polytechnic (Polban). I took the Informatics major. In there, I learned all about software engineering from the very basic. At first, programming is not easy for me but eventually I'm getting used to it and getting better and better. I spent 4 years at Polban and those years are my most productive years ever. I got sooo many new knowledge and skills from my great lecturers. I learned about many programming paradigms, programming techniques, data structures & algorithms, then study about data model (with SQL and NoSQL), analyze & design a software, dealing with distributed environment, and so many other things. I'm very grateful that I was given a chance studied there. In 2017, I graduated from Polban and unexpectedly, I received the honor as the best graduate in engineering. I really didn't expect to get that honor but I'm very happy, of course. This is my greatest achievement in my life until today 🙂

Apart from being a software engineer, I love sports, especially football. Until junior highschool, I still wanted to become a professional football player. But after I went to vocational highschool, I became more realistic haha. I ended up just making football as my hobby, not to be my profession. I have a dream to watch a world cup match live in the stadium. Hopefully someday I can make it true. Aamiin. I also have an interest in music. I love playing guitar and singing. Some of my friends told me that I have a good voice. They suggest me to become a professional singer but I don't want to. I think I'm not good enough to become a professional singer and also I love software engineering more than music because I think I can make a greater positive impact to other people if I become a software engineer than a musician. I always remember these words "Khairunnas anfa'uhum linnas" which means "The best of people are those that bring most benefit to the rest of mankind". Those words got stuck into my head since the first time I hear about it. It is written on my organization jacket when I was in vocational highschool. I'll never forget it.

I have a motto, "There's nothing you can't do if you mean it". So, when I feel down, I try to remember my motto and get up. I'm not a genius. I've been meeting some people who are smarter than me or considered as a genius. When they can do something, I believe I can do it too. The difference is that maybe they can do it faster than me. I'm not feeling inferior to them. I just have to try and learn about it two times, three times, or four times harder than them. The result would be the same or even better. So my message to you guys (and also myself), Don't give up on your dreams! Find your passion, define your goals, and work as hard as you can to achieve those goals. Even if you don't reach your goals yet, trust me, you'll get an important lesson. Just keep learning and trying 🙃

Software Engineer

Bukalapak is one of the largest online marketplaces in Indonesia. I work here as a software engineer, specifically back-end. I'm very interested in Bukalapak and I have been a Bukalapak customer since 2015. Bukalapak has a vision that is aligned with my goals and dreams. So when I graduated, honestly, I wanted to join Bukalapak as a software engineer, but I didn't get permission from my parents because Bukalapak office is located in Jakarta (I didn't know Bukalapak has a branch office in Bandung). I need to stay in Bandung for family reasons. So, I applied to another company, Xtremax Indonesia, which is located in Bandung. I worked there as a back-end developer.

One day, someone at Bukalapak contacted me via LinkedIn. He invited me to join Bukalapak and asked me to send my CV if I'm interested. He told me that the software engineer position can be located in Bandung but the recruitment process still need to be conducted in Jakarta. I'm very interested, of course. So, after thinking carefully, I decided to apply to Bukalapak as a software engineer, back-end. I passed all the tests and they offered me the job. It was May 28^th, 2018. They offered me much higher salary than I expected plus attractive benefits. So, I accepted the offer without a doubt. They wanted me to join them as soon as possible, but I couldn't just leave my team in Xtremax. So, I could just join Bukalapak in August 2018.

When I got offered by Bukalapak, I was happy, excited, and feel challenged at the same time because everybody knows that it's not easy to get offered by Bukalapak as an engineer. The acceptance rate is very low. That is what makes me feel very challenged, excited, and honestly a little bit nervous 😅. I will be working with the top engineers and top talents in Indonesia 😬. I hope I can use my skills and knowledge, here at Bukalapak, for the good of Indonesian people. 🙂

UPDATE : Until today (June 9^th, 2019), these are the technologies that I use in Bukalapak:

• Go
• Ruby on Rails
• MySQL
• MongoDB
• Redis
• Elastic Search
• RabbitMQ
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• Gitlab CI
• Grafana
• Prometheus
• Nginx

Back-end Developer

Xtremax Indonesia is a branch of Xtremax Pte Ltd. based in Singapore. Xtremax is a digital agency and has a specialization in building portals & CMS, enterprise application, and cloud computing. Xtremax is the first company that I choose to work for. I began my professional career in this company. After graduated from college, I did some "research" about software companies located in Bandung which value a software developer highly. Then I found Xtremax is one of them. So, I applied to Xtremax. After passing all the test stages, I got offered by them. They offered me a higher salary than I expected and also good benefits. So I accept the offer without a doubt. Xtremax provides cozy workplace and has many fun & talented developers. I work here as a back-end developer, specifically Java Developer. However, even though my job title is back-end developer, sometimes I still have to deal with the front-end side by myself. 😅

These are the technologies that I use in Xtremax:

• Java
• Spring Framework (core, web, webmvc, data, transaction, cloud config, security, AOP)
• Hibernate Framework
• Liquibase
• Ehcache
• Oracle DB, PostgreSQL
• JHipster
• Build & Dependancy Management : Gradle, Maven
• Front-end things : HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, ExtJS
• CI server : Jet Brains Team City

Politeknik Negeri Bandung (Bandung State Polytechnic)

Core modules: Basics of Programming, Data Structure and Algorithm, Programming Techniques, Principles of Programming Language, Database System, Operating System, Software Analysis and Design, Data Modelling, Information System, Web Development, Software Testing, Computer Graphics, Image Processing, Object-oriented Software Programming, Distributed System, Data Communication and Networking, Computer Architecture and Organization, User Interface Design, Software Project Management

Activities, Honor, and Awards

• The best graduate in engineering
• Participated in Gemastik programming contest (2014 and 2015)
• Participated in Imagine Cup 2015 → Game : Math Fantasy Defense
• Participated in PKM (Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa) 2015-2016 → Mobile Application : Bandung Virtual Tour Guide (funded by Kemenristekdikti)
• Chief executive of industry visit event (to Biznet Technovillage)
• Scientific committee of Tisigram programming contest
• The 1^st champion of solo pop putra (singing competition) - Porseni Himakom
• Staff of Education Department of Computer Student Union (Himakom)