10 Questions With Martijn van Dijk

Welcome to 10 Questions With, a blog series where we get to know members of the Xamarin community a little bit better.

1) What's the first thing you do when you start working in the morning?

I get a cup of coffee and start planning my day. I discuss and look at what work needs to be done and prioritize the tasks.

2) What superpower do you wish you had?

I wish i could remember everything like Mike Ross can in Suits :) It just very useful to remember every piece of code you ever wrote, all the blogs you read and any meetings you had.

3) What's one thing that you do when developing software that you know you shouldn't?

I get distracted too fast sometimes. People send me questions on different mediums like Slack, Twitter, email, etc. and I always want to give them a quick response. This can interrupt your coding flow, so i might have to look into getting a notification manager or something.

4) What makes you happy?

The thing that makes me most happy is spending time with my friends and family. I also really enjoy coming home from a long day of work and get behind my piano and play some relaxing songs, or pick up the saxophone and play away.

5) What first got you interested in software development?

When I was around 12 or 13 years old I used to play video games, and I wanted to make a website for the tips and tricks I learned playing that game. After a while I didn't play the game anymore but was just developing the website! This continued as I began working as web developer while I was studying to make some money. After I got my first Android device, a HTC Desire I knew I wanted to develop mobile apps!

6) Where in the world would you most like to live?

I would not want to live in one place specifically. I love traveling the world and discovering new and exciting places. My dream would be to travel and work on open source projects, evangelizing software around the world!

7) If you weren't in software, what would you be doing?

I thought I was going to be a teacher or a financial guy when I was in high school. But then discovered that i liked my hobby way too much and got into Application development.

8) What's the most overrated software skill?

Not many skills are overrated, but one that is underrated is the ability to listen to others, like customers, and translate what they say into what they actually want. Especially in the area of UI/UX Design, to have a feeling what makes sense, and to work on making the end-user happy.

9) What music do you listen to while you're coding?

I listen to Jazz, Blues and Soul on normal days. Sometimes when it's a tough task I'm working on I like to listen to Rock.

10) What's your motto?

Getting things done!

Bonus! What's next for you?

I'm working on spreading the word about MvvmCross even more. We've got some pretty exciting news coming up soon!

Bonus 2! Where can people find you?

They can find me on Twitter: @mhvdijk, Github: Martijn00 or any other social media