Marko Banušić is not new to giving lectures at WordPress meetups or WordCamps, and this will be his second time giving a lecture at Croatian WordCamp. He is a lead developer at Telegram Media Group, and with experience in different technologies, he takes care that all their web portals work flawlessly.
We’re glad you’ll be joining us in Zagreb in September. Could you tell us more about yourself?
My name is Marko and I am a software developer. I am currently employed at Telegram Media Group as a lead developer and I am in charge of all software development activities in the company. Our two main products are news portals Net.hr (http://net.hr) and Telegram (http://telegram.hr). Both are developed on WordPress, something I already talked about in WordCamps and meetups. I am also in charge of some internal services, also developed in-house.
What’s the next thing you are excited to learn, technological or non-technological?
Being a father. We are expecting a baby and that consumes so much of my time. Other than that I am constantly learning new technologies depending on where the project leads me. At the moment that means learning new technologies that move me away from WordPress.
You have talked at meetups several times before applying for WordCamp — could you tell us what are the benefits of speaking at meetups? Why should people apply to speak at meetups?
The first benefit is your personal activation in the local community. Only listening to a lecture is not the same as actively participating in it. By giving a lecture you will be forced to interact with other members of the community and that can lead to many new experiences.
Second, you will learn more about the subject than you knew at the time of application. If you prepare a half decent lecture, if you do the research for it, that will most likely mean that you have learned something while preparing. I have personally rewritten parts of my code due to a research for a lecture because I have found better ways.
Ever since back in 2015 Matt said “learn JavaScript deeply,” this topic has been very lively in WordPress community. Is learning JavaScript important, and what can we gain by learning framework like Vue.js?
JavaScript is THE language to know, to learn, to practice. It is THE most available language in the whole world. Almost all modern devices support it (at least all the devices that display web pages) And if you want to be a web developer (backend or frontend or sysops or whatever) you should learn JS. It is the language that enables us to create new experiences, create new value and express our self on the web because that code works on all those devices. Unfortunately, it is not the best language in the world, not even top 10. But we are stuck with it because it is the only language our browsers can execute.
Additionally, we have trained our users to expect dynamic and interactive web pages and that can only be achieved with the use of JS. Therefore it is an imperative to learn proper JS. To compensate for the lack of language features, as well as for the complexity of creating HTML layouts, a number of frameworks have sprung up. These frameworks all offer a consistent and simplified way of creating interactive web applications.
Vue.js is just one in the sea of frameworks. These frameworks enable us to minimize the amount of code necessary for creating interactive web applications. They simplify the logic and increase maintainability.
Picking out the right one is no small feat, and I can only recommend my favorites. Learning to use additional framework will also make you learn other development strategies and concepts that might help you in all of your projects.
Did you get your ticket?
If you haven’t already, get your ticket for WordCamp Zagreb today. Tickets are priced at 20€ (around 150 HRK) which will give you entrance to the conference, (first) access to workshops on Friday and to Contributor day on Sunday. You will also get the drinks, lunch, incredible t-shirt and other cool swag from our sponsors.