"First, he hacked toys, now — apps," — Imanekdyr Bekiev on his lifestyle

Imankadyr Bekiev, city — Bishkek, Middle/Middle+ Software Engineer, Linkedin, github.com

About Me

I was born and raised in the village of Min-Kush, located in the very heart of Kyrgyzstan. Only mountains and nature stretch out beyond our village, which perhaps shaped my character—curious and eager to learn new things. Since childhood, I was attracted to devices and mechanisms. Instead of playing with toys, I would take them apart to explore what was hidden inside. Later, my interest expanded to radio electronics—I would pull transistors, circuit boards, and other components out of old televisions and radios, for which my grandmother often scolded me.  

Gradually, my passion for technology evolved into an interest in cybersecurity. I began studying how hackers work, how they break into systems, websites, and phones. I was inspired by movies and TV shows on this topic—I especially recommend Mr. Robot. Thus began my journey into the world of technology.

At the same time, I was passionate about music: I wrote EDM tracks and played the guitar. I don’t know why, but EDM always inspired me creatively. I could spend the entire night developing something while listening to my favorite tracks. Martin Garrix always gave me special inspiration.

After high school, I enrolled at KG TU (Kyrgyz Technical University) in the “Software Engineering” program, but due to the pandemic, I never got to experience real student life. After my second year, I decided to switch to part-time study when I got my first job at PetaByte. I was hired as an intern, and my first task was to create a landing page for the company.

In a week, taking into account all the revisions, I completed the project—my first full-fledged website. It was an incredible feeling: seeing your work become a real product accessible to everyone. Before that, I had only written lab assignments in C++ and VBA, which ran in the console, but now I had created a website that could be opened in a browser on any device.

Over time, I began adapting the technology stack for different projects. For example, for news websites, I used Laravel for both backend and frontend. Step by step, I deepened my knowledge in the world of web development.

I literally lived in learning: I read articles and watched videos about Flutter and Dart on the bus on my way to work, applied new knowledge during development, and in the evening, I dove back into studying. It was an endless cycle—absorbing, trying, analyzing.

At first, I wanted to master all technologies at once and become a universal specialist, but over time I realized that this was impossible. It is much more productive to choose one direction and deepen your expertise in it. So I decided to focus on mobile development.

Today, I work as a mobile developer at MBANK. We have a standard 5/2 schedule; the workday starts between 08:00–10:00 and ends between 17:00–19:00. The team atmosphere is friendly—we often organize team-building events, play games in the evenings, and simply have a good time together.

Where and How I Learn

I learn almost every day. On my way to work, I read articles and news about technologies that interest me, because I like to constantly learn new things and expand my knowledge.

In school, I didn’t pay much attention to my studies—many things seemed unnecessary at the time. For example, I didn’t understand why sines and cosines were needed, but after working on developing graphic programs, I realized their importance. Now I have to fill in the gaps.

In the information age, any needed answer can be found in one click. I often communicate with ChatGPT, GROK, and DeepSeek, receiving terabytes of knowledge every day, and I try to apply them in practice, because I believe that the best way to learn is through action.

I actively use GitHub: I study the code of experienced developers, browse interesting repositories and projects. You can find almost everything you need there. I am also subscribed to thematic Telegram channels and follow IT news. In developer communities, you can not only get help but also exchange experience, which makes learning even more effective.

Additionally, I often read articles on Medium, subscribing to relevant topics to receive useful materials daily. It is always important to me to understand technologies deeply: while working with Flutter, I study not only its capabilities but also its internal structure. This helps me better understand how to solve business problems and optimize my work.

There aren’t many trainings and masterclasses in Kyrgyzstan that interest me, so I prefer to watch developer live streams on YouTube. I have been planning to visit GDG for a long time to meet interesting people and expand my network. This year, I will definitely try to go.

Environment

I have many friends in the IT field, and at every new job, I find people with whom it is easy to communicate and who share similar interests. Of course, I have childhood friends too, but there are few of them, because in the village where I grew up, there were very few of us. The most important thing for me is my family, who always supports my choices, and my girlfriend, who helps me at every step.

Currently, I critically lack time to attend networking events, so I find other ways to communicate with the community. I actively help developers in thematic groups, answer questions, and try to support colleagues, even if I don’t know the exact solution myself.

To find like-minded people, I actively use Telegram and LinkedIn—you just need to enter the topic of interest in the search bar, and relevant groups and contacts appear immediately.

Aside from these platforms, excellent tools for communication and exchanging experience are thematic forums, communities on Reddit, specialized chats, and Discord channels.

Additionally, you can participate in online events, hackathons, and webinars where developers gather. In such places, useful acquaintances and professional connections are often formed.

And of course, participation in open source projects on GitHub and other platforms helps not only to develop skills but also to establish contacts and find people with similar interests.

Where I Spend My Free Time

I love spending time at home working on my pet projects, learning something new, or simply watching series, anime, and listening to music. But sitting indoors for too long can lead to burnout, so I try to get out into nature—I often go to the mountains, walk in the park alone or with my girlfriend, admiring the sunset. By the way, for someone who is almost always at home, it is even a mystery to me how I got a girlfriend. We spend a lot of time together, walking, visiting various places, and simply enjoying each other's company.

My hobbies change every six months. I am engaged in 3D modeling and integrating models into mobile applications, and before that, I was into landscape photography, wrote music in FL Studio, and created anime edits in After Effects. But my main and constant hobby is programming, and this is what I live for.

Where to Buy What

I am an Apple fan, and I have almost their entire ecosystem. Friends even joke that I am already an Apple ambassador. In 2024, I bought Marshall headphones—the sound quality is stunning, and the battery lasts almost a month. If you are looking for a good keyboard, I recommend Ajazz. I buy PC components at Arsenal KG.