Welcome to the monthly series “Meet The Champion”.

Last month we spoke to Luca Ferarri, the winner of April 2020.

Today we are talking to Shahed Nooshmand, the winner of May 2020 of “Perl Weekly Challenge”. I hope you are going to enjoy the interview.

Mohammad: Tell us about your technical background?

Shahed: I have none. I’m a Computer Science student. This is my second semester, and barely — considering you-know-what. My experience with computer programming does go back to Junior High School, but that’s unimpressive since it was only days ago.

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

Shahed: I think it was two years ago, but memory is a fuzzy thing. It was before the name “Raku” came about, that’s for sure. I watched Larry’s videos on YouTube, and I read the Raku documentation (of course at that time it was called the Perl 6 documentation).

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

Shahed: I wanna say via RSS, but again — fuzzy.

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

Shahed: The community. People who participate in this challenge are very generous for sharing their problem-solving skills with others. Different people tackle one assignment from different angles. Each person has their own distinct mindset. That means everyone has something to learn and something to teach. It kind of feels like a school, but in a good way.

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

Shahed: Time flies and some problems are harder to solve than others, but you want me to give you a number, so an hour or two maybe? I spend more time on others’ solutions than my own.

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

Shahed: I do, and it kills me to see someone else come up with a smarter solution than me — which happens every week. I especially enjoy reading others’ blog posts, but can’t say I have a favourite.

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

Shahed: I say patience. Be consistent and two months from now you’ll be answering these questions. Actually, I suggest you start preparing yourself; maybe you’ll give better answers than me.

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

Shahed: How about another Star Wars quote? “No, I am your father.”

That brings the end of the conversation with Shahed Nooshmand. Please do let us know your view. We will come back next month with another champion.