Web apps have become increasingly complex over the years, making it difficult for browsers to handle all processing required to run them smoothly. One way to improve performance is to use Web Workers, a JavaScript feature that allows you to run scripts in the background without interfering with the UI and making it more responsive. In this blog we'll explore the ways of using this approach.

<p>Web applications have become increasingly complex over the years, making it difficult for browsers to handle all processing required to run them smoothly. One way to improve performance is to use Web Workers, a JavaScript feature that allows you to run scripts in the background without interfering with the user interface. In this blog post, we'll explore how to use Web Workers in JavaScript to improve performance and create more responsive user interface. Also we will write simple example how to use Web Workers in React.</p><h2>What are Web Workers?</h2><p>Web Workers are a feature that allow JavaScript code to run in separate background threads. In traditional web development, JavaScript code runs in the same thread as the user interface, which means that long-running or computationally expensive tasks can block the UI and make the web page less responsive.</p><p>Web Workers solve this problem by allowing developers to offload these tasks to a separate thread, freeing up the main UI thread to respond to user input and keep the web page responsive.</p><p>There are two types of Web Workers in JavaScript: Dedicated Web Workers and Shared Web Workers. Dedicated Web Workers are used for tasks that are specific to a single instance of a web page, while Shared Web Workers can be shared across multiple instances of a web page.</p><p>Important thing is that Web Worker run in another global context that is different from the current window. This means that workers can't access the DOM (the window, document, page elements, etc.).</p><div class='post-img'> <figure><img src='/assets/img/blog/javascript-web-workers/dedicated-web-worker.png' alt='Dedicated web worker'><figcaption>Image 1: Dedicated Web Worker example</figcaption></figure></div><p>Beside aforementioned Web Worker, there is a special kind of Worker called Service Worker which runs in a separate thread, but there are some important differences between them. Service Workers are designed to run in the background and handle network requests, cache data, and provide offline functionality. This worker is more complex and we will write about him in some separate blog after we get some basics of Web Workers 😊. </p><p>So, next in this blog we will write examples using Dedicated Web Workers.</p><h2>Dedicated Web Worker in JavaScript</h2><p>Working with Dedicated Web Worker basically means instantiation of Worker object and calling appropriate methods and handling events. Here's an example of how to create a simple Dedicated Web Worker in JavaScript:</p><pre class='language-javascript' tabindex='0'><code class='language-javascript'>// create a new Web Worker
const worker = new Worker('worker.js');

// send a message to the Web Worker
worker.postMessage('Hello Web Worker');

// receive a message from the Web Worker
worker.onmessage = (event) =&gt; { 
	console.log(`Received message: ${event.data}`);
};</code></pre><p>In this example, we're creating a new Web Worker by passing a URL to the Worker constructor. This URL points to a separate JavaScript file, named worker.js, which contains the code that will be executed in the Web Worker.</p><p>We then send a message to the Web Worker using the postMessage method, and listen for messages from the Web Worker using the onmessage event handler.</p><p>Here's an example of what the worker.js file look like:</p><pre class='language-javascript' tabindex='0'><code class='language-javascript'>// listen for messages from the main thread
onmessage = (event) =&gt; {
	console.log(`Received message: ${event.data}`);

	// do some heavy computation
	const result = fibonacci(40);

	// send the result back to the main thread
	postMessage(`Result: ${result}`);
};

function fibonacci(n) {
	if (n &lt;= 1) {
		return n;
	
	return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2);
}</code></pre><p>In worker.js, we're listening for messages from the main thread using the onmessage event handler. When a message is received, we do some heavy computation (in this case, calculating the 40th number in the Fibonacci sequence) and send the result back to the main thread using the postMessage method.</p><h2>Dedicated Web Worker in React</h2><p>In the context of React, Web Workers can be used to improve the performance of complex components or to perform tasks that are not directly related to rendering the UI. By offloading these tasks to a Web Worker, we can ensure that the main UI thread remains responsive and the user has a better experience overall.</p><p>Here's an example of how to use a Web Worker in a React:</p><pre class='language-javascript' tabindex='0'><code class='language-javascript'>import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
function FibonacciCalculator() {
	const [result, setResult] = useState(null);
	const [worker, setWorker] = useState(null);

	useEffect(() =&gt; {
		const w = new Worker(`${process.env.PUBLIC_URL}/worker.js`);
		setWorker(w);

		w.onmessage = (event) =&gt; {
			setResult(event.data);
		};

		// When the component unmounts, terminate the worker to prevent memory leaks
		return () =&gt; w.terminate();
	}, []);

	function calculateFibonacci() {
		// send a message to the Web Worker
		worker.postMessage(40);
	}

	return (
		&#60;div&#62;
			&#60;button&#62; onclick="{calculateFibonacci}">Calculate Fibonacci&#60;/button&#62;
			{result &amp;&amp; &#60;p&#62;The 40th number in the Fibonacci sequence is {result}.&#60;/p&#62;}
		&#60;/div&#62;
	);

export default FibonacciCalculator;
</code></pre><p>In this example, we're creating a new Web Worker using useEffect hook and storing reference in a state. We're also setting up a cleanup function to terminate the worker when the component unmounts -w.terminate(). </p><p>When the user clicks the "Calculate Fibonacci" button, we send a message to the Web Worker using the postMessage method, passing in the number 40 as the argument and listen for messages from the worker using the onmessage event handler added in useEffect hook. When a message is received, result is updated using the setResult function.</p><p>process.env.PUBLIC_URL is path to out public folder and we will put our worker.js file there.</p><p>Here's a content of the worker.js file for React sample:</p><pre class='language-javascript' tabindex='0'><code class='language-javascript'>// listen for messages from the main thread
onmessage = (event) => {
	// do some heavy computation
	const result = fibonacci(event.data);

	// send the result back to the main thread
	postMessage(result);
};

function fibonacci(n) {
	if (n <= 1) {
		return n;
	}
	return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2);
}</code></pre><h2>Web Workers and error handling</h2><p>As we have onmessage event, we also can use onerror event for error handling. When a runtime error occurs in the worker, onerror event handler is called. </p><p>The error event has the following three fields:</p><ul><li><b>Message</b> (A human-readable error message)</li><li><b>Filename</b> (The name of the script file in which the error occurred)</li><li><b>Lineno</b> (The line number of the script file on which the error occurred)</li></ul><pre class='language-javascript' tabindex='0'><code class='language-javascript'>worker.onerror = (error) => {
	console.log("error: ", error);
};</code></pre><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>In conclusion, Web Workers are an essential part of modern web development, allowing developers to run computationally intensive tasks in the background without blocking the main thread and causing UI freezes or slowdowns. </p><p>Web Workers come in two types, Shared Workers and Dedicated Workers, each with their own strengths and use cases.</p><p>Using Web Workers can be a powerful way to improve performance and provide a better user experience. With a few simple steps, you can create a Dedicated Web Worker in a separate file and communicate with it using the postMessage method and the onmessage event handler.</p><p>Error handling is an important aspect of any application, and with Web Workers we can use the onerror event handler to efficiently handle errors.</p>

JavaScript Web Workers: Improving Performance with Parallelism

Read here what happens to data in frontend frameworks, and how state management resolves the issue of handling it. This post is especially recommended if you are creating Angular apps, but since the main principle is pretty much the same in all the JS-based frontend frameworks, this text is recommended for all frontend developers, regardless to their knowledge.

<p>In the world of software engineering, the main thing in every aspect is data. The backend uses databases to store this data, but the frontend part also requires a way of storing that data temporarily. How is it managed? This is where state management comes in.</p><p>State management is a way of reducing API requests on the client side by storing the initial response in a <b>store</b>. A store is a place where data is accumulated. In other words, a store is a place where different states are stored. States are classes which represent a container of specified data types.</p><div class='post-img'> <figure><img src='/assets/img/blog/state-management-in-angular/1.png' alt=''><figcaption>Image 1. A store is a union of various states</figcaption></figure></div><p>Frontend frameworks have different ways of managing the state, for example React apps can use e.g. Mobx, while Vue apps can use e.g. Vuex.</p><p>In applications using Angular as a Javascript frontend framework, state management is used as well. The main focus of this post is NGXS, as our company uses it most of the time, but in this text, we are also gonna refer to NGRX. NGRX has a bit of a different code structure, and I am not saying people shouldn’t be using it, but we found NGXS as a perfect fit for our solutions using Angular on the frontend part.</p><p>The reason NGXS is more chosen by our developers is the simplicity of it, but great power at the same time. It allows us to do more things with less code, but also lets us maximize the usage of received observables. While the NGRX has Reducers and Effects, in NGXS everything comes down to state. The Effects in NGRX make both writing and understanding the code more complex, while in NGXS one state is capable of handling all the actions.</p><p>State management with NGXS is based on CQRS (Command and Query Responsibility Segregation). Redux is formed in the same way, but NGXS reduces the usage of boilerplates (including repeated parts of code with minimum variations) by using strongly typed code (Typescript). This is another good side of this state management, because NGRX still uses boilerplate code.</p><p>NGXS consists of four major concepts: store, actions, states and selects, while NGRX also uses effects. We have already talked about the store and states, but what are actions and selects? Actions are commands which trigger specific changes to the state, while selects are functions in which we use specific state data. Selects are most commonly declared to variables using decorators in components (the naming convention is adding a dollar sign at the end of variable name (e.g. businessUnits$).</p><div class='post-img'> <figure><img src='/assets/img/blog/state-management-in-angular/2.png' alt=''><figcaption>Image 2. NGXS flow</figcaption></figure></div><p>Below is an example representing state management in NGXS with countries.</p><h4>countries.action.js</h4><pre><code class='language-javascript'>import { CountryModel } from 'src/app/models/all';
import{ CountriesGetRequest, CountriesInsertRequest } from 'src/app/models/requests/all';
export class CountriesStateModel {
	countries?: CountryModel[];
	filter?: CountriesGetRequest;
}

export class CountriesGet { 
	static readonly type='[Countries] Get';
	constructor(public request?: CountriesGetRequest) {} 
}

export class CountriesInsert { 
	static readonly type='[Countries] Insert';
	constructor(public request: CountriesInsertRequest) {}
}</code></pre><p>Here we define the action names and their constructors, what the actions will receive when being dispatched through components. </p><h4>countries.state.js</h4><pre><code class='language-javascript'>import { Injectable }from '@angular/core';
import { tap }from 'rxjs';
import { Action, Selector, State, StateContext } from '@ngxs/store';
import {
	CountriesStateModel,
	CountriesGet,
	CountriesInsert
} from './countries.actions';
import { CountryModel }from 'src/app/models/all';
import { CountriesService }from 'src/app/services/all';

@State&lt;CountriesStateModel&gt;({
	name: 'countries',
	defaults: {},
})
@Injectable()
export class CountriesState{
	constructor(private countriesService: CountriesService) {}

	@Selector()
	static countries(
		state: CountriesStateModel
	): CountryModel[] | undefined {
		return state.countries;
	}

	@Action(CountriesGet)
	get(context: StateContext&lt;CountriesStateModel&gt;, params: CountriesGet) {
		return this.countriesService.get(params.request).pipe(
			tap((result: CountryModel[]) =&gt; {
				context.patchState({
					countries: result,
					filter: params.request,
				});
			})
		 );
	}

	@Action(CountriesInsert)
	insert(context: StateContext&lt;CountriesStateModel&gt;, params: CountriesInsert) {
		return this.countriesService.insert(params.request).pipe(
			tap(() =&gt; {
				const previousState = context.getState();
				context.dispatch(new CountriesGet(previousState.filter));
			})
		);
	}
}</code></pre><p>This is the whole logic happening in the store and it represents state mutation with action names before every implementation of the mutation.</p><p>Once the store is set up we use our selects and dispatches in the components we want. The only thing we need to do is inject the store in our wanted component constructor, as so:</p><pre><code class='language-javascript'>export class CountriesComponent implements OnInit {
	title='countries';
	constructor(private store: Store) {}

	@Select(CountriesState.countries) countries$: Observable&lt;CountryModel[]&gt;

	ngOnInit(){
		this.store.dispatch(new CountriesGet()); //params go in parentheses
	}
}</code></pre><p>In conclusion, state management is as crucial in frontend frameworks, as the database is to the backend. Every state management library has its downsides as well, but in our recent practice, NGXS showed as a very good solution. Both NGXS and NGRX are a good choice and the decision depends on the wanted structure of the code. Both are based on Redux, and will require proper handling of the actions.</p><p>You can also <a href='/assets/docs/posts/state-management-in-angular/post.pdf' target='_blank'>download</a> this blog in PDF to view it at any time!</p>

State management in Angular

Here are some helpful DevTools Extensions for both Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code! This can help juniors better optimize their code, time, and performance, but also remind more experienced ones of a few utile tools in aid of development or debugging. Our dear employee Azra Smajić prepared a presentation for internal education and prepared this blog.

<p>Here are some helpful <i>DevTools Extensions</i> for both <i>Visual Studio</i> and <i>Visual Studio Code</i>! This can help juniors better optimize their code, time, and performance, but also remind more experienced ones of a few utile tools in aid of development or debugging. </p><h2>01 Visual Studio Extensions</h2><h3>Visual studio spell checker</h3><p>This extension checks the spelling of comments, strings, and plain text as you type or interactively with a tool window. It uses NHunSpell to perform the spell checking. As such, <b>custom dictionaries </b>can be added to spell check in different languages. Dictionaries for <i>OpenOffice</i> versions 2, 3, and 4 are supported. </p><p>It can also spell-check XML elements. If you have ever used MS Word, you should not have problem with using this extension, since it’s like spell checker that is present inside MS Word. You can see suggestion for wrongly spelled word, ignore suggestion or add new word to dictionary.</p><p>It is useful for preventing possible data conflicts caused by misspelling words.</p><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-custom img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/vs-spell-checker1.png' alt=''></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/vs-spell-checker2.png' alt=''></div></div></div><h3>CodeMaid</h3><p><i>CodeMaid</i> is an open-source Visual Studio extension to cleanup and simplify our <i>C#, C++, F#, VB, PHP, PowerShell, R, JSON, XAML, XML, ASP, HTML, CSS, LESS, SCSS, JavaScript</i> and <i>TypeScript</i> coding.</p><p>This tool is very powerful and can be used in various ways to improve your code and make it look more professional. Also, this tool can help you to organize your code and to navigate through it easily.</p><p>Three main parts of this tool that I would like to bring forward are: </p><ul><li>code cleanup</li><li>code digging</li><li>code reorganization</li></ul><p>With Code cleanup you can:</p><ol><li>Erase random white space into a simple standard order</li><li>Add unspecified access modifiers</li><li>Utilize Visual Studio’s built-in formatting capabilities</li><li>Remove and sort using statements</li></ol><p>And do it all <b>automatically</b> on save or <b>on demand</b>, from an individual file to the entire solution.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid1.png' alt='' /></div><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid2.png' alt='' /></div><p><b>Code digging</b> visualize and navigate through the contents of your <i>C#</i> and <i>C++</i> files from a tree view hierarchy. Quickly switch between different sorting methods to get a better overview. Drag and drop to reorganize the code.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid3.gif' alt='' /></div><p><b>Code reorganizing</b> organizes the layout of members in a <i>C#</i> file to follow <i>Microsoft’s StyleCop</i> convention, or your own preferences. You can automatically generate regions to match and run it on demand or automatically during cleanup.</p><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-4 col-lg-4'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid4.png' alt='' /></div></div><div class='col-xl-4 col-lg-4'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid5.png' alt='' /></div></div><div class='col-xl-4 col-lg-4'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-maid6.png' alt='' /></div></div></div><h3>VSColorOutput</h3><p><i>VSColorOutput</i> is a Visual Studio extension that adds color highlighting to <i>Visual Studio's Build and Debug Output Windows</i>. Errors are in Red, Warnings Yellow and build headers are Green. <b>Custom</b> match patterns can be added and colors custom modified.</p><p>VSColorOutput hooks into the classifier chain of Visual Studio. This allows VSColorOutput to monitor every line sent to the output window. A list of classifiers, consisting of regular expressions and classifications is <b>checked</b>. The first matching expression determines the classification. If no patterns match, then the line is classified as Build Text.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/vs-color-output.png' alt='' /></div><h3>IntelliCode</h3><p><i>IntelliCode</i> saves you time by putting what you’re most likely to use at the top of your completion list. <i>IntelliCode</i> <b>recommendations</b> are based on thousands of open-source projects on GitHub each with over 100 stars.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/intelli-code.png' alt='' /></div><p>When combined with the context of your code, the completion list is tailored to promote common practices. <i>IntelliCode</i> isn’t limited to statement completion. <i>Signature help</i> also recommends the most likely overload for your context.</p><h3>OzCode</h3><p><i>Ozcode</i> is a must have <i>Visual Studio Extension</i> which cuts down on debugging time and increases productivity by detecting and isolating <b>bugs</b>, making them easy to fix. <i>Ozcode</i> turns <i>C#</i> debugging into a simple, efficient, and even fun experience.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/oz-code.gif' alt='' /></div><p>This extension integrates with the <i>Visual Studio</i> debugger and expands on its functionality. Among other features, <i>Ozcode</i> predicts the future of a function code execution and provides insights that enable <b>fast problems solving</b>. It allows to search for properties, compare objects, evaluate expressions, and create trace points - all leading to a fast and productive debugging session. It also predicts what will happen in a function after execution of other functions or parts of code (mostly loops).</p><p><i>Ozcode</i> does to debugging what <i>ReSharper</i> does to coding, and they work seamlessly together. Studies have shown that developers spend about <b>50%</b> of their time on debugging. This extension significantly reduces this time, and makes sure developers remain focused on development – what they do best.</p><h2>02 Visual Studio Code Extensions</h2><h3>React snippet</h3><p>This extension expands functionalities of <i>Visual Studio Code</i> with various kind of snippets, and it significantly increases productivity of developer. This extension is a must have for <b>Frontend </b>developers that works in React.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/react-snippet.gif' alt='' /></div><p>By inputting some of snippets that can be found inside documentation of this extension, it automatically generates <b>skeleton</b> for matching component. Writing base code to create new component is usually tedious and redundant because every time developer wants to create new component, he must add same import code, component function code, export default, etc.</p><p>This extension allows every developer to automatically generate all those previously mentioned parts of code by just inputting few letters. This package is based on <i>babel-sublime-snippets</i> package.</p><h3>Prettier</h3><p>Formatting code consistently can be a challenge, especially when working on a team. However, today, there plenty tools that can help us with code formatting, like <i>Prettier</i>. In a shortest way, prettier represents code <b>formatte</b>. It literally makes your code “prettier”, more unified, and cleaner. This extension enforces a consistent style by parsing your code and re-printing it with its own rules.</p><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/prettier1.png' alt='' /></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/prettier2.png' alt='' /></div></div></div><p>You can manage some of those rules inside settings of these extension, making it more <b>custom </b>and according to your preferences. It can fix spacing, line wrapping, consistent quotes and much more.</p><h3>Code spell checker</h3><p>This extension represents basic spell checker that works well with code and documents. Its main goal is to help developers catch <b>common</b> spelling errors.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/code-spell-checker.gif' alt='' /></div><p>All words that are not correctly spell are being marked with a squiggly underline. After positioning cursor in the underlined word, list of suggestions should be displayed. This extension works with camel case notation as well.</p><p>The spell checker is <b>case insensitive</b>, can contain errors and only words longer than 3 characters are being checked, but despite all of that this a very cool extension, especially for those ones whose first language is not English 😊 </p><h3>Turbo Console Log</h3><p>Most of a time developers are fixing bugs and trying to see where exactly the problem occurs. For those purposes, most of them uses console.log, to see what is content of some variable instantly. Usually there is need to log into console several variables at once and writing that code can be annoying.</p><p><i>Turbo Console Log</i> extension does that specific job for developers. After installing it, developer just needs to choose variables for logging, press <i>ctrl-alt-l</i> and magic will happen. Console log code for those variables will be created, and it will log combination of a variable name and its value.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/dev-tools-extensions/turbo-console-log.gif' alt='' /></div><p>Pre message of console log can be custom as well and it can be modified inside setting of extension. The best part of this extension is that it allows you to <b>automatically</b> delete all created console logs, so you don’t have to worry about pushing them as a part of your regular code. 😄</p>

DevTools Extensions :: must have

Another group of interns recently finished their three-month internship with excellent results. We are thrilled to wish them a warm welcome to our team as full-time software developers! Six young and talented folks have shared their impressions by looking back to the process of learning and getting familiar with different technologies throughout the internship.

<p>This is a story about six students currently starting their career path in software development. A turning point in one's life is certainly gaining firs work experience. In reality, there are so many students in technology field, but low capacities in local companies for all of them to attend an internship program. It is a challenge to be selected and, of course, a great honor to be offered a job after showing needed qualities. </p><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/1.jpg' alt=''></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p>All six of these young individuals study Software development at Faculty of Information Technologies. We claim that different characters and complementary knowledge create a great group. That’s surely the case with these creative students.&nbsp;</p><p>A few of them liked programming from a young age, but some never considered pursuing that career path before applying to University. But, what is most important – no one regrets choosing it and each of them enjoys to work and learn about IT. </p></div></div><h3> Let's see what they had to say about teamwork and their beginnings in IT sector </h3><p>“<i>When we first came to the office, of course we were shy and a bit nervous about how all of this is going to work out. We were quite surprised with positive manners of BreakPoint’s team, the way they initiated contact with us and making us feel equally important. It wasn’t difficult for me to focus, and I also believed that if I work hard I would get an opportunity to join the team.</i> ” -&nbsp;Muhamed tells us</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/2.jpg' alt=''></div><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/3.jpg' alt=''></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p>“<i>Mentors that were assigned to us were always available and ready to understand our doubts by providing useful tips and advice. We felt guided through the process and empowered to learn. I feel like I’ve got an opportunity to enforce all my theoretical knowledge from faculty and upgrade my practical skills.</i> ” -&nbsp;says Melissa</p></div></div><h3> We wanted to know which level of dedication did this internship require and was it hard to balance other obligations </h3><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p>Tajib says that they had the aspiration to research and practice coding even outside their internship hours. Although, it was a full-time internship program, they still had the <b>energy</b> to learn even more than it was required, almost every day. <i>“We used to go home, take a rest and then call each other on Teams or Skype and discuss about tasks, problems, new solutions etc. It was a fun time but also brought us closer together.</i></p></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/4.jpg' alt=''></div></div></div><h3>Developers always have something new to learn, but by acquiring basics and really understanding how something functions, you have a good ground to be successful. Do our interns think like this?</h3><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/5.jpg' alt=''></div><p>“<i>This internship gave me a solid knowledge of the system infrastructure and layers, as well as many principles of development that are always applicable, no matter what business logic interconnects with it. By obtaining these crucial things, I believe I will be able to adapt and adjust to any given project.</i> ” -&nbsp;says Azra, and also points out the satisfaction because of the great communication with the team on her assigned project.</p><h3>We are rarely talking about stress when it comes to a programmer’s job, even though it is a common issue.&nbsp;</h3><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/6.jpg' alt=''></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p>Amir admits he was stressed out in the beginning, about how would they fit into the new environment, or would they be good at completing tasks.<i>”It is normal to worry about something when you really care, but don’t let it become irrational. I realized that I don’t need to worry about failure when I’m giving my best. I am happy here and love working on my project, so stress is down to a minimum now.”</i></p></div></div><p> They all agree it is okay to make mistakes and <b>not be perfect</b>, especially while learning, and the fact that their project managers indeed understand this, makes them relax.</p><h3>What would they advise to young students who haven’t yet decided whether to take an internship?&nbsp;</h3><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p><i>”It was demanding to get used to the work tempo of 8 hours in the office, but that quickly contributed to adopting healthy work habits every student can benefit from. So my advice for young people is to invest in their future by seeking practical knowledge and be aware that the future starts now!”</i> – Lamija sends a clear message.</p></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/7.jpg' alt=''></div></div></div><p><i>“Whoever is not sure whether to apply for internship in IT sector, do it now! Comparing our knowledge on the first and the last day of the internship, we have to say it’s a GIANT upturn. We wouldn’t be able to respond to work challenges without this internship program, for sure.“</i>-&nbsp;others add</p><h3>Now let’s elaborate our heading! </h3><p> Mathematically speaking, six is considered a ‘<b>perfect number</b>’ for a few reasons. We are not going to smother you with some number theories, but if you are a software developer, you probably remember solving tasks with perfect numbers in university :D. Number six represents creating a <b>peaceful</b> and <b>harmonious</b> environment, which matches with our organization culture. We are beyond happy and humbled to have them on our team. Also, six is the most valuable number on a dice, right? </p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-is-six-a-perfect-number/8.jpg' alt=''></div><p> Asides from being different and unique in ways of thinking and coping with challenges, they all share the same <b>passion</b> for working and learning in a well-organized team. Strength that holds them together and gives them motivation to improve is true <b>synergy</b> that creates friendships and remarkable results. </p><h3>If you are a responsible and openhearted individual with desire to grow in professional aspect, feel free to contact us about internship or job opportunities.</h3>

Why is six a perfect number

Recently we have welcomed two more skilled individuals to our IT family! We are thrilled about growing so fast lately. Meet software developers Saudin Ahmetspahić and Merima Čelić! You can read more about them personally and challenges they faced during “fast track” internship program preceding their employment. They are the first to go through such a fast-track internship.

<p>Goals for our business development this year is, surely, to expand our team of professionals and meet new young, eager candidates. It is a great positive change to have new members in the office!<p><p><i>Merima</i> and <i>Saudin</i>, both had prior experience in learning different technologies, not just in university, but in their free time. They are curious and ready for tasks that are yet to come. </p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/lets-get-on-the-fast-track/definition.jpg' alt='' /></div><p>You are probably already familiar about our 3-month on-site internship for students and young developers. Fast track internship lasts one month, and it includes more complex but essential tasks for such individuals that don’t need a full mentorship program in our office. Intention is to check abilities and prepare developers for our technology stack faster and without loading space capacities.</p><h2>Let’s meet them</h2><p>Merima is now at university with a few exams left to graduate, and prior to this program, she has already finished one internship, also in the field of IT.</p><p>“<i>A few months ago, I decided to look for a job in one of the software companies in BiH, but wasn’t quite ready to move to another city, so I secretly wanted to find something here in Mostar. I only sent one e-mail. That is the only e-mail I ever sent to the potential employer. After a meeting, I agreed to a one-month program internship to get familiar with company’s technologies.</i>”, she said.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/lets-get-on-the-fast-track/together.jpg' alt='' /></div><p>Saudin already graduated from university and didn’t have any previous experience since he had focused on faculty obligations during past few years.</p><p>“<i>I graduated on Thursday and already on Friday I got an offer for this internship, with the help of university professor’s recommendation. Whole internship was organized virtually, and we had some easier tasks for the beginning, and a few more complex later. It was a useful and refreshing experience. After finishing our tasks, we had an interview and were offered to stay on-board.</i>”, Saudin told us.</p><h3>These two proved that they can really keep up to the tempo of fast-track internship, so we wanted to know if they found this internship rather inspiring or not quite the best approach?</h3><p>According to Merima, it has been a great opportunity to refresh memory and upgrade already acquired set of skills, through this shorter program. She specially appreciated that the mentor was always available and answered all her questions.</p><p>Saudin says he especially liked doing research for tasks that he didn’t encounter with earlier. Whole experience was fun and useful to him and considers it a great introductory program.</p><h3>How did they like the environment once they came to the office and spent a few days there?</h3><p>“<i>Relaxing and pleasant atmosphere really surprised me.</i>”, Saudin says, “<i>I haven’t had any opportunities to be engaged in teamwork activities especially in open-office space. I was a distance learning student, so sharing office with coworkers is very refreshing.</i>”</p><p>“<i>I was really nervous before coming in, the first day, but realized I had no reason to. It is a very welcoming and warm environment with great young people around.</i>” , adds Merima.“</p><p>If you want to become our intern or part of our team you can feel free to <a href='/contact'>contact us!</a></p>

Let's get on the FAST track!

A while ago, we announced a story about three interns that have been learning new skills, working on interesting solutions, while spending three months in our office! They recently got an offer to start a full-time career in our company and joined different teams of developers working on exciting software solutions. We are sharing a full interview with you!

<p>A bit more than three months ago, we increased the number of people spending time in our office. In addition to all our employees, it was a refreshment to have new interns again.</p><p>They were encouraged to observe, learn from their mentor, adjust to our operating technologies, and accept daily challenges.</p><p>All three of them had different sets of skills in the beginning, different fields of knowledge that needed to be upgraded. This helped Niaina, Nešad and Ilija to build a strong communication habit between themselves, and besides building their expertise from mentor's advice, they also learned a lot from each other!</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/keep-calm-and-be-a-super-intern/together.jpg' alt='' /></div><p>Because of their diverse capabilities, it was decided to go through a complete process of developing a software solution – <i>from scratch.</i></p><p>After successful completion of an internship program, and them coming aboard as new members of our team, they started working on three separate projects.</p><p>We were curious how they managed to catch up with new system specifications, technologies, and obligations they were assigned with, during their internship program, but also as employees.</p><h3>How do you feel about projects you’re now working on, as full-time developers? How difficult it was to adapt and understand a project language – all the logic, procedures, technologies used etc.?</h3><div class='row'><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6'><div class='post-img img-portrait'><img src='/assets/img/blog/keep-calm-and-be-a-super-intern/alone.jpg' alt='' /></div></div><div class='col-xl-6 col-lg-6 text-aside'><p>Ilija tells us that he didn’t notice major differences in back-end technologies between internship project and a real production project, but front-end is a whole new chapter. Luckily for him, he already had an encounter with such frameworks while he was at university, and also as an intern of one of their organizations.</p><p>Nešad, on the other hand, is a freshman at the university, and didn’t have much formal experience with said technologies. Although, the learning process was long and not so easy, he claims that he is very happy and convinced in his acquired abilities.</p><p>“<i>Of course, it was a bit challenging when I first got all the documentation and had to examine it with intention to understand procedures and architecture. In the process, I realized it isn’t one of those unnecessary complex solutions. Business logic is quite clear and painless to understand. In addition, I find this project very amusing and the way it brings together various technologies really sparks my interest.</i>”, Niaina answered.<p/><p>Everyone agreed that it is an exciting new chapter of their growth and business journey.</p></div></div><h3>How exactly did this internship affect your knowledge basis? Are you satisfied with the program and outcomes of your learning process?</h3><p>“<i>I personally think this internship was a great step for my career, and a big leap for me since I have always been oriented mostly to front-end. If I had joined the team directly as an employee, without this thoroughly learning program, I probably wouldn’t have been able to bear with “production” difficulty level and different back-end frameworks. Now I can say that I’m very satisfied with the outcome and the time passed so quickly. It’s a sign of having fun!</i> ”, says Nešad</p><div class='post-img img-portrait-med'><img src='/assets/img/blog/keep-calm-and-be-a-super-intern/keep-calm.png' alt='' /></div><p>Niaina adds: “<i>Even though the content was quite similar to a few subjects at my faculty, it definitely upgraded my knowledge, since it was a more advanced program. If I had to make a comparison, I would say I see it as a three-step progress. My curriculum at university was a first step, and upgrading that with new, up to date principles as an intern, elevated me to a higher level. Finally, the third step, is a real work experience, after which there are many new steps to come.</i>”</p><p>„<i>What I personally really liked, is that our mentor was insisting on writing clean code. I’m surely grateful for being able to adopt discipline, code legibility and simplicity. I’m convinced it is a great starting point for me as a developer. Especially, because my personality is purely tactical, logical and I like to think something through before acting.</i>” - Ilija tells us.</p><p>When we asked them how they felt about company culture, Niaina told us it really felt like home, while Nešad and Ilija said they felt welcomed from the very first moment. We are so happy to have these wonderful young people on our team!!</p><p>If you want to join our team or explore internship opportunites, please <a href='/contact'>contact us!</a></p>

Keep calm and be a SuperIntern

Young people are often afraid to step into the business world. It’s different from anything they’re used to. We asked our employees to join us on writing a list of 10 tips for young beginners, who have just gotten a job or are working for a short period! Happy New Year!

<div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip1.png' alt='' /></div><h2>1. Learn to deal with barriers</h2><p>Nothing is ever perfect. Regardless, no obstacle should be considered a problem, but a challenge. One should never give up and surrender but overcome each obstacle and recognize it as a new lesson.</p><p><b>Do not</b> be afraid of challenges, because only through overcoming them do we grow and gain the experience that is, in addition to knowledge, most important in any business.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip2.png' alt='' /></div><h2>2. Never, ever let yourself become superficial</h2><p>If you stop searching for the reasons of some problem, or keep mostly on surface, without examining the deeper and more important context, you are heading towards indifference. A successful person is always aware of their surrounding and thorough in solving issues.</p><p>If you say: “<i>I don’t really care</i>” or “<i>it doesn’t matter right now</i>”, you tend to avoid the essence of things. The more you say it, it becomes your point of view, a lifestyle. Indifferent people find it unnecessary to express their opinions, or even don’t have them formed. By increasing your level of responsibility, you increase your level of awareness of things around you and decrease your level of indifference, thereby increasing your likelihood of success!</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip3.png' alt='' /></div><h2>3. "Per aspera ad astra"</h2><p>As we said, you should never give up on your goals because of obstacles you may encounter. Obstacles are there to strengthen us on the path to success - the stars. We should never hesitate to ask others for help in order to make this happen. People who have experience in our career field can provide us with useful tips.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip4.png' alt='' /></div><h2>4. Listen to what others have to say</h2><p>Learning from other’s people experience can be much easier than making all their mistakes again, by yourself. For a person to become successful in any business, one must listen to what others have to say. Sharing experience is an efficient form of corporate strengthening and lifelong learning. What is important here is to be able to determine who to listen to and whose opinion to respect. You can start practicing this lesson today – by talking less and listening more!</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip5.png' alt='' /></div><h2>5. Persistence really pays off</h2><p>If you really care about something, then you invest everything to make it happen. Even if sometimes it seems that all the work has no purpose at all, then especially you should not let it go. No talent and happiness can be compared to perseverance. Choosing the right path, a lot of patience, good organization and work will surely lead you to the desired goal. Persistence and effort have always paid off.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip6.png' alt='' /></div><h2>6. Be patient and realistic</h2><p>In today's time, where we are all in a hurry and we want our ideas to come true <i>"right now"</i>, it is very easy to fall into the trap of unrealistic expectations in business and thus in other life challenges where patience is the key. Young people in their business beginnings are often afraid of the work environment and the challenges they face, and in the desire to break away from that feeling as soon as possible, they impose too high expectations to themselves and stress about it, which results in significantly reduced productivity and ultimately loss of self-confidence. Therefore, it is important that you arm yourself with will and desire, and the rest is a process and a journey whose duration is individual.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip7.png' alt='' /></div><h2>7. Learn to rest, not give up!</h2><p>The problems that employees, especially developers, face can sometimes be quite challenging. You can find yourself in situations where you stare at screen for hours and don’t come up with a solution. In such moments, it is very important not to lose self-confidence and give yourself enough time. The programmer cannot be productive for hours and one should have in mind that an one hour break can be more productive than continuous attempts to reach a solution. Too much forcing in a short period of time can be counterproductive and lead to giving up. Therefore, one should know how to rest, not give up!.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip8.png' alt='' /></div><h2>8. Only person you should compare to – is yourself in the past</h2><p>We certainly discussed many difficulties that can appear on your way to success, and why they're so important for you to learn and progress. If you know and solve everything that is served to you right away, then you are not learning anything new, you are just repeating.</p><p>Armed with the will, make a retrospective, and compare yourself now with yourself a month ago and it will be clearer to you how far you have progressed, and you certainly have! The right things require dedication, attention, and time. And as one wise man said  <b>"<i>All things are difficult before they become easy.</i>"</b></p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip9.png' alt='' /></div><h2>9. The ability to realize one's own values and possibilities is the starting point for success</h2><p>In a world of chaos, prestigious people, and technology, it is very easy to lose the thread of your own capabilities and awareness of your abilities. If you have known yourself well enough and if you give your best to prove yourself and be satisfied with the values you have acquired, you have done the harder part of the job. If you do not allow anyone's thought to take you out of rhythm and be aware of what you are and can do, then limited space is an unknown term for you.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/10-tips-for-business-and-personal-success/tip10.png' alt='' /></div><h2>10. Take care of your health</h2><p>In these fast and busy times, it is easy to get carried away by the work atmosphere and the need to earn, and then forget about your well-being. This is usually the case in the beginning. When a young individual is hired for the first time, he feels that he should give better than his best to meet the criteria, given that he has no experience.</p><p>It is true that it is much harder to learn and invest much more time in work activities than someone with experience, but that does not mean that anyone expects you to push yourself beyond limits. Find a pace that suits you and stick to it. Don’t let anyone rush you and don’t disrupt your sleep, eating and relaxing activities schedule. A healthy person has the energy for many challenges!</p><p>In the end... Remember - always do what you love – <b>it's not a luxury it's a need!</b></p><h2>Bonus quotes :)</h2><p><blockquote><i>„If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.“</i> - Marc Anthony</blockquote></p><p><blockquote><i>„Success doesn't come to you, you go to it.“</i> - Marva Collins</blockquote></p><p><blockquote><i>„Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.“</i> - Steve Jobs</blockquote></p>

10 tips for business and personal success

October has been a Cyber Security Awareness Month. In context of current circumstances and a cybercriminal rate that has never been higher, here is an article to remind us about the risks and precautions we need to take in order to stay safe online.

<p>Most people think computers are lifesavers in everyday business and personal tasks. Being online has become an inevitable part of one's daily routine in order to function <i>normally</i>“ and be up to date with modern society. However, no matter how helpful and facilitating can information and communication techologies be, they are exponentially becoming larger and larger source of insecurity, possible threats and vulnerabilities for their users. </p><p>This problem has escalated, especially in the past two years or so, considering circumstances caused by pandemic. State of emergency in many countries has forced hundreds of millions of people to adjust to the new reality in virtual environment, leaving them exposed and unguarded from more and more redesigned ways of invading privacy or exploiting information over network. Surprising fact is that cybercrime rate has jumped by 600% because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is surely disturbing.</p><p>On the brighter side, global surveys from 8 years ago have shown that over 75% of the population were both aware of and concerned about potential online security risks. However, an estimated one-fourth (almost 25%) of PCs were not protected with antivirus software, leaving them on average 5.5 times more likely to be attacked and infected.</p><div class='post-img'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-we-need-to-be-aware-of-cybersecurity-threats/infographic.png' alt='People are spending more time online than ever before, and criminals are getting smarter and more creative in the ways in which they attemp to scam you and steal personal information.' /></div><h2>Cyber Security Awareness Month</h2><p>A history of Cyber Security Awareness Month starts in October 2004, when the world began to notice that Cyber Security was becoming a huge concern very rapidly. Every day more and more people were starting to use the internet and they created a higher risk of breaches in security. Since internet was slowly becoming a real public space and hackers started getting access to resources that don't belong to them, cybersecurity became an important issue.</p><p>This is where National Cyber Security Association (NCSA) got involved and started to take steps to raise awareness of virtual dangers. Every year from then, NCSA continues to monitor the risks to cybersecurity and educate people through webinars, seminars, blogs and articles, helping them understand the seriousness of this issue.</p><h2>What are statistics indicating?</h2><p>IT software vulnerabilities and cybersecurity threats in 2021, have reached highest number of all time. There are an estimated 23,000 security risks registered globally, and this is forecast to increase above 25,000 by the end of the year.</p><div class='post-img mb-35'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-we-need-to-be-aware-of-cybersecurity-threats/monetary-damage-graph.png' alt='Monetary damage graph' /></div><p>Other important factor is financial downgrade and damage that cyber attacks cause to world's economy, but also indvidual businesses, that has been estimated at over 4 billion dollars annualy, and set to rise above an unbelievable $5 billion by the end of 2021.</p><div class='post-img mb-35'><img src='/assets/img/blog/why-we-need-to-be-aware-of-cybersecurity-threats/software-security-risks-graph.png' alt='Software security risks graph' /></div><p>What's interesting in the aspect of business and professional perspective, is that, on average, only 5% of a company's folders are properly protected. Reason for this lies either in inadequate or non-existing IT security education or simply laziness of responsible individuals.</p><h2>What can you do?</h2><p>Cyber Security Awareness Month is coming to an end, but you can still find a way to celebrate it today, just as every other. The idea of this month is to remind the world of how important being secure online actually is. Whether you are unexperienced user or fairly familiar with this topic, you can always do better. So let's check following items:</p><ul><li>Get That Anti-Virus Program Running<li><p>Take a time to run a deep scan on your machine every once in a while. Doesn’t cost you anything but can save you a lot of trouble in the future.</p><li>Get Those Passwords Changed</li><p>Mostly everyone know they should be changing the passwords on their devices and accounts regularly, but most people just don’t do it. Don’t be lazy! Now is the time for you to renew that old passwords.</p><li>Get Educated About Cyber Security</li><p>There are numerous free tips and resources online to help people get more informed about risks and their prevention, as well. Be ready to learn.</p><li>Take an IT Awareness Training Course</li><p>Those who take this field of interest a little more serious, should certainly consider taking a course that is specifically focused on providing essential knowledge and skills in this topic. This is very important decision for business owners and managers.</p></ul><h2>In the end...</h2><p>In conclusion, it is becoming the highest priority for businesses to recognize these factor of negative influence and build a strategy of coping with potenital difficulties. It is better to be ready for the worst, even if it requires higher financial resources, than to be caught off guard.</p><p>„<i>Criminals are getting smarter and more mischievous in the ways in which they attempt to scam you and steal personal information. By taking the proper measures to protect your computer, including the most basic step of installing up-to-date antivirus software, <b>people can dramatically reduce the risk of becoming a victim to cybercrime.</i></b>“ (cited from Microsoft blog on Security intelligence report from 2013.)</p>

Let's get on the FAST track!

Let’s meet them

These two proved that they can really keep up to the tempo of fast-track internship, so we wanted to know if they found this internship rather inspiring or not quite the best approach?

How did they like the environment once they came to the office and spent a few days there?

Keep calm and be a SuperIntern

Why is six a perfect number

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Trg Ivana Krndelja b.b.Mostar 88000Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Let's get on the FAST track!

Let’s meet them

These two proved that they can really keep up to the tempo of fast-track internship, so we wanted to know if they found this internship rather inspiring or not quite the best approach?

How did they like the environment once they came to the office and spent a few days there?

Keep calm and be a SuperIntern

Why is six a perfect number

office@breakpoint.software

Trg Ivana Krndelja b.b.Mostar 88000Bosnia and Herzegovina