Welcome to the weekly series “Meet The Champion”.

Last week we spoke to Duncan C. White, the winner of Perl Weekly Challenge - 020. Today we are talking to the Perl Weekly Challenge - 021 winner Ruben Westerberg. I hope you are going to enjoy the interview.

Mohammad: Tell us about your technical background?

Ruben: I am a design engineer/systems engineer developing sensor systems and DGRT (http://dgrt.com.au also YouTube search ‘dgrt borehole camera’). I develop downhole probes, cameras, winching systems, which measure anything from conductivity in water to the levels of radiation present 2000m underground. I developed much of the existing software and electronics we use and working with a small team to utilise the new tech to conquer the frontiers of the web in our industry.

Education wise I have a Bachelors in Microelectronic Engineering (Hon) and part of an IT degree.

Mohammad: How/When did you start using Perl/Raku?

Ruben: I would say not very long ago. Around 12 months. I’ve used Javascript( node) a fair bit in the backend, which can be a real memory hog. Python is all the rage but the idea of indents in code being semantically significant is not for me! I wanted a relatively good execution speed, low memory usage, lots of features for less key strokes and have the ability choose a paradigm instead of being forced into one. Perl seems to fit the bill very nicely. Perl6 is like being in kid in a candy store most of the time.

Mohammad: How did you come to know about “Perl Weekly Challenge”?

Ruben: I think It was my focus on learning Perl6 at the time that led me to reading a post about the PWC.

Mohammad: What do you like the most about “Perl Weekly Challenge”?

Ruben: It’s a great way to extend my knowledge on elegant ways to solve coding problems. The blogs and review of each of the challenges is a quick way to see how the experienced perl hands solve a problem that I have actually thought about and have in my head. Seeing code this way makes it much more relatable than picking a random problem and skimming over example code and not really engaging the brain cells. As I do more challenges it is also nice to reflect and realise how much I’ve learnt along the way.

Mohammad: Is there any thing you would like to change?

Ruben: I wish I could blog about my solutions! ;) (maybe soon). But otherwise not really.

Mohammad: How much time you dedicate every week to “Perl Weekly Challenge”?

Ruben: It varies on the topic. But anywhere from 4-8 hours. Most of the time I need to figure out what the question is asking, get it wrong and then re-read the question! Other times (like the bitcoin challenge) I have 0 prior knowledge and it takes me a lot of time to complete the challenge.

Mohammad: Do you checkout others solutions and who is your favourite?

Ruben: Yes. I would like to check out everyones, but I mostly checkout the highlighted mentions in the reviews, or the blogs.

Mohammad: What do you suggest someone just started the weekly challenge?

Ruben: As long as you are learning something, bettering your skills and having a bit of fun there is nothing to worry about. Who knows, you might help someone else out with your solutions?

Mohammad: Do you find the website user friendly? What do you like most?

Ruben: Yes and no. The graphs are a little fiddly to interact with. I have had a few issues on mobile browsers and the menu system.

Mohammad: Anything else you would to like share with us?

Ruben: Thank you to the PWC team for continued effort every week to put the challenge together and review the solutions. I’ve benefited greatly from your efforts. Also thank you to Perl Careers for the prize. I’m not here for the prize, but its a nice touch.

That brings the end of the conversation with Ruben Westerberg. Please do let us know your view. We will come back next week with another champion.