Humans of justDice – Smith, Software Engineer

Balancing Code and Corner Kicks

Our team here at justDice is a blend of fun and professional. And that’s what these posts aim to unlock. We want the Humans of justDice features to focus on getting to know the people and minds behind the scenes. We’ll get to know a different team member every month, giving you an exclusive look into how we work together here at justDice 🙂 

This time around, we speak to Subhasmith Thapa, or as we have come to know him, Smith. Coming from the world’s seventh-largest country (by area), Smith took the long-haul 14-hour flight from India to Hamburg to join us as an experienced Android developer and software dev. Smith’s Computer Engineering degree, coupled with his extensive knowledge in the field, made him an excellent fit to help develop and maintain our rewarded apps.

Anyway, enough from us. Here’s the man himself!

First up, Who’s Smith?

S.M.I.T.H = Smart, Marvelous, Innovative, Tenacious, Hilarious! Haha no! Actually, Smith is me. I am a Nepali-speaking Indian, have been living in Hamburg for the past year and I am now a Software Developer at justDice. I love experiencing different cultures and exploring the food of different cultures and when I am not developing apps, I would either be watching my favorite football team Liverpool ❤  play or would be playing football myself. And yes, If you’ve got a game of Footy somewhere do not forget to invite me.

From India to justDice: What’s the Story?

Uffff. Well, to be honest, this journey is special to me as my wife and I were expecting a baby. And it was a kind of challenge to plan or to think about moving to a foreign country halfway around the world with a 5-month-pregnant person. But everything worked out pretty well, apart from the 14-hour flight that we had to take. But yes, I remember the first day in Hamburg. It rained, haha!  

Your Role in the Team: Key Responsibilities?

My role in the team is to develop new product features and constantly make our apps more meaningful and useful for our users. Having said that, coming from a technical point of view, it is also important for me to review and maintain code written by fellow developers. We, as a team, maintain a good structure and code quality that ensures that the product or the project is scalable. 

What Sets Us Apart?

Well the most unique point is that you can earn free rewards by using our apps, Plain and simple. There are not many apps out there in the market that pay you to play games. Our apps give you the opportunity to earn some cash by just playing games on your mobile devices.

Overcoming Challenges

I previously had experience with Java and Kotlin to create apps for Android devices. However, after joining justDice, my biggest challenge was to learn and write code for React Native. It took some time for me to learn and understand, especially since we had a big project with thousands of files. I found it hard to grasp some simple things that were working in the app in the beginning. Fast forward to today, I am pretty comfortable with the language and have helped my team roll out a lot of features, with more to come!

justDice vs. Previous Experiences?

I have never seen a company that loves cake as much as people at justDice do. But seriously speaking I believe that vibe is very important at a workplace. My workstation is at the new cooler kitchen and the side which looks at the Alster lake. And I am pretty sure that we are definitely the loudest ones in the company as we sing, shout out random noises and when I start some song I am pretty sure someone will complete it. That’s the type of people that are there in the company. This also contributes to the work we do. We work hard, play hard.

And Finally, Tell Us Something We Don’t Know

I love to spend time playing football and love being at home or outside with my family my wife Mary and my dear son Aiden! I am also a big, big Liverpool fan and never miss their games. And recently I also got the opportunity to watch them play at Anfield. It was a holistic experience. I’m not gonna lie I cried a little when I sang You’ll Never Walk Alone. (And yes I took my ten-month-old son too for the game).