The Rock & Roll with Ember band - Serguei Cambour

13 November 2020

The "Rock & Roll with Ember band" interview series introduces readers of the similarly titled book. They tell us about how they got acquainted with the framework, how they learned it, what they use it for, and share a few more details about the non-tech related side of their lives. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

Could you introduce yourself in a few sentences?

My name is Serguei Cambour. I'm 51 years old and am working as Software Engineer on a permanent basis in Belgium at Devoteam company.

When and how did your Ember journey begin? How did you learn about the framework?

Frankly, I can't neither even remember that moment or the reason why. What I do remember is that my first attempt with Ember was reading the "Deliver Audacious Web Apps with Ember 2" book by the Pragmatic Programmers. As I was (and still always) a big fan of Ruby and Ruby on Rails, I started to look for a better JavaScript integration within a Rails application. I think this is how I found Ember. Afterwards I started to subscribe to different channels and newsletters to get more updates from the Ember community.

How did reading the Rock & Roll with Ember book help you? Can you recall something that you learned from it?

The book gave me a real take-off in my Ember learning curve! It provided me with everything I needed to start a new Ember app, lots of useful tips and tricks, and add-ons. It made me discover the Ember ecosysytem and learn other development tools frequently used.

What Ember feature/RFC/etc. are you most excited about?

I don't really follow new features and RFCs. The main reason is that, unfortunately, Ember.js is not in the current development stack neither in the company I work at or in the country where I am based. So I discover new features as I go, when something suddenly stops working or doesn't work as expected. I like the introduction of tracked properties, and the look of the new Ember Guides.

Other than reading the book, how did you learn to “speak" Ember?

If I have questions, I usually ask them on the Ember Discussion Forum or the appropriate Discord channel. This is where I pick up valuable advice from the Ember community members which is a very pleasant experience.

Is there something you’d like to see covered or explained in more detail in the book?

I always wanted to know more about the authentication/authorization workflow in an Ember app. Unfortunately, the corresponding add-ons do not provide a step-by-step tutorial and most examples on the Web become outdated very quickly. Another point I'd like to learn more about is customizing adapters and serializers to be able to communicate with nonconventional APIs.

Are there any (side-)projects that you’ve built in Ember? What is it (are they) about?

Yes, that was my first real challenge. I had to replace an outdated Java-based monolyth application with 2 separate ones: an API built with Ruby in Rails (in API mode) and an Ember.js app on the front-end. The app had to provide authentication and authorization, and be able to upload files. The main use of the app was the back-office of a sport retailer shop and in the same time provide an API end-points to other consumers who needs to get more information about the retailer (address, opening hours, available sportswear, etc.). The app had to be deployed to Amazon S3 storage.

Were there any challenges or stumbling blocks while you were building your app(s)?

How much time do you have to work on that project?

I worked alone for 2 years on these 2 applications.

What do you like to do in your free time?

If people would like to follow you (or your project), where can they do so?

I have accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Github.

Is there something else you’d like to say?

Thank you so much for the great book and your contribution towards making Ember easier to learn.

If you've read the book, and would like to give a similar interview, please drop me a line at rarwe-book@balinterdi.com.

If you'd like to join the Rock & Roll with Ember band, check out the book of the same name to learn Ember (and be part of a band).

Share on Twitter