How One Topcoder Co-Pilot Went from Kid Gamer to Pro Coder

We’re not sure what’s more impressive—Topcoder co-pilot Thomas Kranitsas’ journey from kid video-game fan to Topcoder pro, or the seventh-grader Christian Amyx who recently interviewed him on his Little Da Vincis podcast.

Meet Thomas Kranitsas--Topcoder Co-Pilot Extraordinaire

Kranitsas is a 24-year-old software engineer from Karditsa, Greece. In his interview with Amyx, Kranitsas shares how he discovered a love for programming early on and then launched himself on a learning path that still fuels his professional aspirations. Enjoy the interview here:

As
you’ll hear, Amyx certainly shares Kranitsas’ enthusiasm for learning. Among
Amyx's latest
interviews are noted professionals such as speaker, author and futurist Sylvia Rochon; Deepez founder Elias
Lankinen; and founder and curator of the Museum of Interesting Things, Denny Daniel. Here’s what we learned about
Krantisas during their conversation.

Early Learning and the Journey to Topcoder 

Kranitsas
started playing video games at age thirteen when he got his first computer. His
passion went beyond mastering the games as he quickly became interested in
learning how to create the video games themselves. He started taking online
courses in programming and coding in his teens, kept working on those skills
and, after graduating from high school and spending a year in the military,
joined Topcoder as a way to further improve his coding skills. 

In
parallel to his coding path, Kranitsas also developed a love of extreme sports
and travel. What drives him
to become the best engineer, coder and programmer in his
professional work is what drives him to explore new areas and test his
sports skills in other regions, he says. Both tap into his
innate curiosity and require his focus and determination.

His
love of learning and drive to succeed have paid off. Kranitsas has been a
software engineer for five years, with a focus on APIs and microservices, and
is now a full-stack co-pilot at Topcoder. As a co-pilot, Kranitsas serves as a
technical project coordinator who devises the challenges for community members
to solve. Sounds a lot like a game, right?

A Personal Philosophy and Advice to Future Coders

At
Topcoder, Kranitsas has developed a work philosophy around learning and
exploring as much as he can every day so that he achieves new milestones
continuously. He thrives at Topcoder, he says, because every day he knows more
than he did the day before. 

Kranitsas advises young
people interested in pursuing coding to learn as much as possible and not to
worry about failure. In addition, if you want to get really good at computer
programming, he adds, it's important to figure out what part of coding you're
really interested in and then to concentrate on that aspect. Adding that focus to your natural curiosity and
passion for learning will certainly take you far.