February 2014 – Information Technology Quest

Dart, most people will think of the traditional game when they hear this word, but in IT industry, dart is not game. Dart is an open-source project that aims to enable developers to build more complex, highly performant apps for the modern web. Using the Dart language, one can quickly write prototypes that evolve rapidly, and also have access to advanced tools, reliable libraries, and good software engineering techniques.

GDG Karachi‘s aim is to update the Karachites with the upcoming and latest technology and tools related to computer science and information technology. As a continuation of this journey, GDG Karachi organized an event call The Dart Flight School on February 15, 2014 at Bahria University Karachi.

The speaker of this event was Mr. Imam Raza, Senior Software Architect at Folio3, a leading software house in Pakistan. He has more than 12 years of professional experience in different programming languages including javascript, php, java, etc.

The event was scheduled for 3 hours, but unfortunately due to some unforeseen circumstances, it was delayed.

The Dart Flight School took its flight off when Hafiz Faraz Baig, Co-Manager of GDG Karachi recited some verses from the Holy Quran. It was followed by the keynote speech by Capt. Iftekhar Ahmed, Bahria University Karachi.

After his keynote, Syed Shoaib Ahsan, Co-Manager of GDG Karachi alongwith Faraz Baig took the stage and provide the audience with some valuable information regarding Google, Google Ambassador Program, Google Developer Group, Google Business Google, and other bodies of Google active in Pakistan.

Their session was followed by Mr. Imam Raza’s session. His session consisted of two parts, the introduction of Dart and then practical implementation of the dart code. During his session, he engaged audience by asking them different questions, and responding to their queries on the spot. Those who gave correct answer were given dart flight and angular badges.

The flight came to land when Captain Iftekhar Ahmed of Bahria university presented souvenirs to the speaker and the co-managers of GDG Karachi. The audience was asked to fill the online feedback form and collect goodies. Afterwards refreshment was served to the audience and guests.

For those who don’t know what freelance is, a freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a person who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long-term.

GDG Karachi arranged another short session on December 28, 2013 at SZABIST university regarding freelancing. The speaker of the session was Mr. Umar Farooq, Software Engineer at Freelance.com. This two hour session was full of handy information regarding freelancing. The speaker also removed audience’s confusion regarding trust factor between the employer and the freelancer. He also gave examples of few people who were initially freelancers and now they have their own group working as a start-up in Pakistan. He also shared with the audience the facts and figures collected by Freelance.com which showed that approximately 50% of the freelancers are from Pakistan.

The session was short but very informative. In the end, the audience asked their queries to the speaker and he answered them with practical examples.