My Growth – Busting Myths About PHP and Continuous Improvement – Mateusz Cholewka, Senior Backend Developer

Hi! I’m Mateusz.

I have been a back-end developer for almost seven years, developing backends for various types and scales of applications. I'm an enthusiast of DDD, event-driven architecture, and event-storming. At Tidio, I implement integrations with other platforms and solutions to enhance the capabilities of Tidio Flows (automated chatbots integrated into our chat widget). In my work, I aim to find solutions that are easily maintainable, extendable and meet our business requirements. Currently,  I’m working on a solution to enhance the capabilities of our Flows. This new service will allow our customers to configure more complex Flows based on various conditions and data, enabling them to better understand their client's needs and respond more effectively and quickly through our chat widget or email messages.

In my free time, I devote it to broadly understanding DIY projects, such as electronics, 3D printing, and building smart-home systems. These activities, along with programming, fascinate me a lot.

What's a common myth about your professional field that you'd like to bust?

I work in PHP, and the most common misconception is that PHP is dying as a programming language – it’s outdated and not worth learning. I completely disagree. 

I remember participating in a competition organized by well-known figures in the Polish programming world. The competition involved solving a specific problem using best practices in any language. During the live YouTube session with the organizers, I presented my solution in PHP and saw many surprised messages in the chat from people who thought PHP was obsolete. Outside the PHP community, I've often encountered the belief that PHP is just an old scripting language, mainly associated with WordPress. This misconception is surprisingly widespread.

PHP is a mature and stable language with many great solutions, frameworks, and libraries, and new ones are continually being developed. New PHP versions are released regularly with great features. Even JetBrains has invested in PHP development by playing a pivotal role in initiating the PHP Foundation. Many successful online platforms, including Tidio, are written in PHP.

What attracted you to Tidio in the first place?

I first heard about Tidio when I decided to leave my previous job. I had planned to apply but chose another opportunity with a software house, believing it would allow me to work on various products and accelerate my growth. In hindsight, I realized I was wrong. Since joining Tidio, my skills have grown much faster than before.

At Tidio we have many experts with strong skills who are open to consulting on problems and aiding in your growth. We also have a strong culture of ownership. Everyone feels responsible for the product and genuinely cares about it. When someone identifies a problematic part of the code, an environment configuration issue, or other easily fixable problems, they proactively address it. There are no lingering issues that frustrate you for months or years. If you see a problem, you can propose a fix and implement it immediately.

What does "Grow with Tidio" mean to you?

To me, growth with Tidio means continuously improving my skills on many levels. I feel I have an impact on our product, can voice my thoughts, and make decisions on solving various problems. I work with world-class specialists open to discussions in many fields. I also enhance my daily work experience by participating in Improvement Friday - our internal initiative where each engineer regularly dedicates time to work on improvements that are not part of the weekly sprints. During those days we address issues such as local environments, language and tool updates, and pipeline refinements.

Any tips for someone looking to get into a career like yours?

To grow faster as a programmer, learn not just programming but also software design independent of specific languages or frameworks. This is very useful and allows you to learn ready-to-use patterns and solutions. It also helps you understand why certain frameworks are designed the way they are. Don't be afraid to ask other developers for help in understanding something. You can also follow programming influencers on YouTube and Instagram and reach out to them with direct messages. Most of them are open to talking and are generally very helpful.

What are your career goals, and how is Tidio helping you achieve them?

Tidio contributes to my career development by allowing me to constantly improve my skills in designing architectures that perfectly fit our problems. Moreover, it provides the opportunity to work with high-level developers and world-class specialists who are open to my questions and help me find the best solutions. I am happy to be here.