About me
I started developing my first commercial projects as a software developer in 2019. Although I’ve been passionate about technology for as long as I can remember. I discovered the internet at the age of 6-7, and along with it, I learned to use Paint 🎨 and play Sonic Heroes on a Windows XP computer that my parents had. Years passed, and I discovered there was a cyber café near my house, so accompanied by my older brother and friends, I spent a lot of time there, watching others play Counter Strike ⚔️. When I could, I also played the computers and investigated how those games worked. That made me want to try create something alike. I found it incredible how so many things happened on the screen, although I couldn’t understand them yet. Without a doubt, it was my first influence to get into programming.
When we got our first computer at home, around 2006-2007, I spent all my time there, discovering all the new gaming worlds there were at that point: GTA SA, CS 1.6, World of Warcraft etc. I learned to use MS Office later, and all the basics of a Windows PC user. I wanted to go further and started creating communities, share ideas about the worlds I wanted to build in a shape of a computer game. By then, I was already 14 years old, and I remember I had the intention of dedicating myself to creating video games 🎮. A couple of years later, knowing that programming is needed to create video games, I started researching a bit about video game creation process. I even built a prototype in Unreal Engine for my future dream game.
My Beginnings in Programming 🖥️
In 2016, I entered the university to take the Programming Technician career. In the first semester, as an integral project, I knew I wanted to make a video game, so I committed to doing it. I started with simple ones, like recreating chess and checkers online. At that time we had Java as our main language for OOP. I knew it was not perfect for creating video games, but nothing could stop me, especially when I knew Minecraft was created with Java. It was an arduous process, as no one in my class knew how to program, but with their help, we all learned a bit more and managed to complete the project. For example, my friend was doing a semester project, too, that was an online messanger. With him, we learnt the basics of the networking and Internet protocols. I finished the semeseter with an awfully organized, painful to look at code base, but it worked, and it was my first real achievement: I created a full game, with all the requirements, and it was even utilizing multithreading and networking.
I felt good about having achieved that small project, but gradually I fell more in love with networking and Java. So, I started learning more about OOP and Backend. At that time, I knew that a lot of online games had a backend to develop for the online part. I spent all my free time watching courses and practicing modern frameworks and concepts.
My way to Backend 🤖
For my third summer practice, I was recruited to the IT company Bitmedia Ukraine, to get practical skills (that was part of the university program, and only a couple of the best students could count on being recruited to the IT company for this). I was given a task to discover the framework they were working with, for the time it was Vaadin, a convenient web-builder for Java developers. I finished my research on it, after which my main goal was to know as much as I possibly could about how it works and what the framework does. In a few weeks, I had a good understanding of the things, and was given my first real task on the project - to migrate the framework to a newer version. After it was finished, I was given a chance to continue to work on the project beyond the university practice program, which I accepted gladly. This was my first job offer.
In 2021, I was already working at Bitmedia Ukraine for some time, and was working on my master’s degree at the same time. During Covid time, there was an IT field burst in Ukraine, which gave me the opportunity to get an offer in Sense Bank as a Java Developer on their new project - Mobile banking application, specifically - bonds and shares. I accepted the offer, and in a few months my life changed completely. I was fully emerged into backend, my interests shifted from game development to web development.
In Sense Bank, we successfully launched the product, first in our country, making it a new course for other banks. I was proud to be a part of the team. However, in 2022 Sense Bank was changing course, and the team shifted focus to other fields. Consequtively, I got an offer from another modern bank, OTP Bank to the same position and even the same product - bonds and shares in mobile banking app. I accepted it, and we began the journey once again with the new team, this time all from scratch, building the microservice architecture we designed ourselves. Up to date, I am still part of the team. We’ve achieved a lot, I’ve learnt much from this position, including Agile frameworks, modern microservice architecture design, new frameworks like Quarkus and much more.
Lecturer career 💡
In 2024, another important chapter opened for me — I became a lecturer at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Teaching was not just about giving lectures; I wanted to bring something new to the class. Instead of sticking to dry theory, I started experimenting with gamification — turning course tasks into quests, challenges, and competitions inspired by fantasy worlds and real industry practices.
This approach worked surprisingly well: students became more motivated, engaged, and curious about IT beyond the curriculum. Many of them weren’t just learning programming, but actually enjoying the process, treating each semester like an adventure. For me, it was a chance to share both knowledge and passion, while testing how creative methods could make technical education more effective.
Creating Impact with Technology 🌍
Aongside teaching and development, I also wanted to build something of my own — a community where IT students and young developers could grow, not just technically, but with a spark of creativity. That’s how Bytes&Dragons was born: a platform where real-world IT experience meets fantasy-inspired storytelling. The idea was simple but powerful — to turn the challenges of programming, system design, and AI into quests and adventures, making the learning journey both practical and engaging.
Over time, Bytes&Dragons grew into more than just a blog. It became a space for sharing industry insights, coding tips, and lessons learned from large-scale enterprise projects, while keeping the spirit of imagination alive. My goal has always been to show that IT doesn’t have to be dry or overwhelming — it can be an exciting story, where every bug is a monster to defeat, every feature is a crafted artifact, and every student is a hero forging their own path in tech.
Sharing Knowledge 🧠
I’ve always liked sharing my knowledge. I often give small courses or mentoring to friends, students, or companies, and through Bytes&Dragons community, too. When questions arise from them is when I learn the most, because sometimes these questions may seem simple and the answers are something we take for granted, but perhaps we don’t fully understand why it is so. This pushes us to:
- Deepen our understanding of concepts
- Understand them better
- Transform them into something that can be taught clearly and practically
Grounding knowledge is, for me, the bridge between knowing and teaching.
What’s Next… ☕
Today, in 2025, I continue working as Software Java Engineer in OTP Bank Ukraine, collaborating with my team and and working on new features for our product. I love creating things, experimenting with new ideas, and organizing events. I live with the maker spirit: learning, experimenting, and sometimes adding a little bit of gamification to things. This has proven a great strategy for motivation and personal interest in things, combining work with passion ☕🎶
Oh! And I’m alos play the guitar. I have finished the music school, and I have even been part of the great band Second Breath for some time. I also still like to play video games and chess, reading fantasy and creating pet-projects of all types to test ideas 🎲. And of course, I am passionate about AI, as, first of all, I have a degree in it and am working on my PhD now in this field, and secondly, it’s fun and very productive, when you know how to use it!
I’m Yehor Havryliuk, and I thank you for reading this.