Profile: Nadir Alaoui, iOS Developer
“Getting to make products that people use every day, and solving problems that require interesting, thoughtful solutions.”
Where are you from originally?
I grew up in the DC Area, and I’m Moroccan.
What did you major in college?
Computer Science
When did you join NPR?
January 2018
What are you currently working on or have you recently worked on?
I work on the NPR iOS apps.
How did you get into mobile app development?
I’m self taught! I started learning with objective-c because I’d always wanted to make iPhone apps. As Swift grew, it really pulled me in to mobile because of how compelling it is as a programming language. It’s exhilarating to work in the iOS world, where there’s always something exciting and new to learn, and the community is constantly moving forward.
What personally excites you about being a developer?
Getting to make products that people use every day, and solving problems that require interesting, thoughtful solutions.
What is your favorite Serendipity Days project that you worked on?
Building a tvOS app for our visual news. I really enjoyed getting to work with Apple TV, and start a project from scratch that was meant to be a demo or proof of concept. Work fast and break things is kind of a motto for some developers but it doesn’t make sense to do that with production code, so this was a good chance to do that.
What are some of your hobbies and interests?
I love playing board games, seeing live concerts, movies, walking around DC, and teaching others.
What was your favorite Tiny Desk concert out of the ones you’ve attended?
Tiny Desks are one of my favorite things about working here! Three of my favorites, in no particular order:
Aside from the Tiny Desk concerts, what are some of your favorite things about working at NPR?
All of the people with different backgrounds and perspectives, and how they’re all aligned for a common purpose. It makes it easy to just have a conversation with anyone in the building!
