An interview with Ulugbek Urunov, a software engineer who creates modern web applications

The modern era of software development requires specialists to possess both a fundamental understanding of technology and the ability to quickly master the latest tools. Today, we're speaking with a software engineer with over four years of experience creating frontend and full-stack solutions. His background includes developing banking systems, Google Workspace Marketplace applications, and electronic document management platforms. In our interview, he shared his professional journey, reflections on the specifics of working on international projects, the application of artificial intelligence in products, and the most valuable competencies in modern software development.

Ulugbek, tell us how you began your programming career. Why did you choose software development?

Even while studying at university, I was drawn to the opportunity to create digital products that could be used by thousands of people. I enjoyed solving complex problems, analyzing internal processes, and seeing the results of my work. That's why I chose Computer Science and Software Engineering, and then decided to pursue web development.

How did your professional career begin?

Your first significant experience was working at Dragle LLC, where I developed internal banking systems. There, I gained practical experience developing in Angular, working with REST APIs, Oracle Database, and corporate applications with a strong focus on reliability and security.

Which projects have been most significant for you?

Each project was interesting in its own way. The banking platform allowed me to understand and master the intricacies of developing corporate information systems. I then worked on several applications for the Google Workspace Marketplace, which, incidentally, are used by users all over the world. Today, I'm involved in the development of the Sign2x digital document signing platform, which places a strong emphasis on security, performance, and user-friendly interfaces.

You currently work primarily with React. I'd like to know why so many modern companies choose this framework.

React is an excellent choice for building complex interfaces. It's component-based, making it easy to scale. It also has a huge community, a ton of ready-made libraries, and excellent performance. That's why it's so beloved by developers around the world.

Previously, you actively used Angular. What do you see as the main differences between Angular and React?

If Angular is a fully equipped house you can move into right away, then React is a set of high-quality building materials that you use to construct a building according to your own design. Choosing between them is always a balance between established standards and creative freedom, dictated by the scale of your business.

What an unusual comparison! I'd like to talk about your involvement in the development of a banking platform. What are the key considerations when creating such systems?

The system is designed with a focus on reliability and scalability. To prevent incidents in production, it is necessary to adhere to strict development guidelines: test coverage, mandatory peer review, optimized database queries, and adherence to clean architecture principles.

Tell us about your projects for the Google Workspace Marketplace.

We developed several self-contained application systems tightly integrated with Google Forms and other Google Workspace services. Our main goal was to simplify and automate some processes as much as possible, transferring them to artificial intelligence and well-designed algorithms.

One of the key "superpowers" of our developments was the ability to automatically generate tests and questionnaires using advanced AI models. The user simply provided a basic topic or data set, and the system generated complete questions, answer options, and even scoring logic. The result was hours, and sometimes even days, saved on the manual preparation of educational or research materials.

Furthermore, the form approval process became a production line. The system automatically distributed forms to the appropriate employees for approval, tracked approval statuses, and notified of any changes. This eliminated the risk of document loss and accelerated decision-making.

Equally impressive was the QR code generation functionality. Our applications could instantly generate unique QR codes for each form, whether for quick access on mobile devices, for placement on printed materials, or for integration into presentations. This significantly simplified form distribution and the collection of responses from a wide variety of sources.

But the real highlight was the unprecedented access to diverse data sources. We were able to create a unified interface that allowed us to work with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDF documents, images, and even YouTube videos. The AI ​​could analyze the content of these sources, extract key information, compare data, and use it to personalize forms, generate reports, or as the basis for creating new tests. This was a true breakthrough, turning the development into a powerful tool for working with any information, regardless of its format.

How difficult is it to work with Google's system?

Google's system has quite high requirements. You must adhere to OAuth authentication rules, work correctly with APIs, consider service limitations, and go through the process of publishing apps in the Google Workspace Marketplace. This requires careful attention.

One project used artificial intelligence to generate tests. How was this work organized?

Artificial intelligence was used to automatically create questions and tests based on various information sources. The user could select a document, presentation, video, or image, after which the system analyzed the content and generated ready-made questions, significantly reducing the time it took to prepare educational materials.

What technologies do you consider the most promising today?

The IT sector continues to transform. In short, the focus has shifted to AI, cloud solutions, microservices, and development automation. At the same time, the demand for cybersecurity tools and electronic document management systems is growing.

You have experience in both frontend and backend development. How does this help you in your work?

My experience working with the full development cycle allows me to contribute at all stages of a project: from architecture design to quickly fixing critical bugs. The full-stack approach helps me see the system as a whole, which makes my work in a team more productive.

What tasks are you most interested in as a developer?

I'm particularly interested in tasks related to application architecture design, performance optimization, developing complex user interfaces, and integrating various services via APIs. I also enjoy working on products that people use every day.

How important is teamwork in creating modern software products?

Today, almost every large project is created by a team of specialists. Developers constantly interact with designers, analysts, testers, project managers, and clients. Therefore, the ability to communicate effectively and collaboratively make technical decisions is no less important than proficiency in programming languages.

What professional skills do you consider the most important for aspiring engineers?

In addition to knowledge of programming languages, it's important to understand the principles of software system architecture, databases, network technologies, and REST APIs. Equally important are the ability to read documentation, quickly learn new technologies, write high-quality code, and continually improve your knowledge.

What are your goals for the coming years?

My development vector is to deepen my expertise in designing fault-tolerant distributed systems and cloud architectures with the integration of AI tools. I am focused on developing large-scale international systems focused on automating business logic and improving user experience performance.

Renata Kromberg