The Engineering of Migration: 21 Years of Re-factoring

On December 19th, I turned 41. It was a quiet milestone that felt heavy with the weight of “roots.” I spent the first 19 years of my life in Tehran. Since then, I have spent 22 years—more than half my life—as a migrant. My journey hasn’t been a straight line; it has been a series of hard-coded lessons, global migrations, and system upgrades.

“Looking back, I realize that the most difficult projects I ever “shipped” weren’t software—they were the various versions of myself.”

v1.0: The Malaysia Years – The “Hard Manager”

In 2007, I was a software engineer in Malaysia, working for a core-banking firm. I had a manager who was notoriously “hard.” In hindsight, he taught me the most vital lesson of my career: Precision. In core banking, there is no room for “close enough.” He forced me to move from a student mindset to a professional one.

v2.0: The Prague Years – Finding the Soul

In 2010, I migrated to the Czech Republic. Prague is a city that steals your soul with its beauty, but it also grounded my career. I joined a cutting-edge software house that allowed me to travel the world. I wasn’t just writing code anymore; I was solving problems across borders.

2012 was also the year I “merged” my life with my wife. Marriage was the stabilizing force I needed. While the world was changing around me, she became my “home” when the concept of “home” was still a moving target.

v3.0: Germany – Architecture and Scaling

In 2016, we moved to Germany. If Malaysia was about hardship and Prague was about exploration, Germany was about Scaling. Living in a modern, structured country offered a new stage for growth. It taught me the importance of a solid foundation—not just in code, but in how a society and a life are built.

v4.0: Google – The Superstars

In March 2020, I joined Google. Transitioning into an environment surrounded by the “superstars” of Software Engineering was both humbling and exhilarating. Dealing with complex problems at scale taught me the most important lesson: No matter how much you know, you must never stop being a student.

Learning Impressions: 21 Years of Migration

• Migration is the ultimate “Code Review”: Every time you move, your assumptions are challenged. You are forced to see what actually works in a new environment.
• Hardship is a Feature, not a Bug: That hard manager in Malaysia was the training I needed for Google 13 years later. Embrace the stress-test.
• The Power of the Merger: My marriage provided the high availability and resilience I needed to survive the volatility of migration.
• Stay in the “Junior” Mindset: The moment I think I am an expert is the moment I stop growing.