At a Glance: Dmitri Cherkas
- Involved in open source since: 2021
- Works for: Be-Tse Group - Milan Office
- Eclipse Foundation contributor since: 2021
- Involved in: Jakarta EE Tutorial, Jakarta EE Platform, Jakarta NoSQL, Jakarta Connectors, Jakarta Server Pages
- Committer to: Jakarta EE Tutorial, Jakarta EE Platform, Jakarta NoSQL, Jakarta Connectors
- Committer since: 2021
- Fun facts: Dmitri is a Java Master with many certifications as well as degrees in computer engineering, business economics, and nanoelectronics. He also plays classical guitar and teaches guitar to children.
How did you first get involved in open source software communities?
The Eclipse Foundation is the first open source community I’ve been involved in. I got involved after Mike Milinkovich responded to a comment I made on his blog, Jakarta EE 9 Delivers the Big Bang.
My comment asked whether Jakarta EE 9 definitely meant the end of Java EE.
His short response was: “No. I think it actually means the exact opposite. Java EE has now found a new home and a strong community committed to its future evolution as Jakarta EE.”
In some sense, his response changed my professional life and I decided to apply my technical, creative, and organizational skills to help maintain the role Jakarta EE plays for Java developers. I wanted to do my small part to strengthen this role and to make Jakarta EE better in every sense.
Why did you want to become a committer at the Eclipse Foundation?
Most communities in IT are very closed. You may want to become a committer, but you don’t have the opportunity to help the community grow and be better.
The beautiful thing about the Jakarta EE community is you have the opportunity to apply yourself. Community members listen to your point of view. You feel useful and that your work is appreciated. As a result, you’re happy to be part of the community, and you’re motivated to apply yourself to the maximum of your skills and time.
How would you summarize your experiences as a committer?
I believe I’m doing something important with some of the best programmers in the world. I think I can help make Jakarta EE better, and more importantly, I’m better at using Jakarta EE. This motivates me and makes me happy.
The best thing about being a committer is seeing your work released, and the most challenging thing is finding areas where you can really make an improvement.
What are your next steps and goals as a committer and Eclipse Foundation community member?
I will continue to scrupulously study the Jakarta EE Tutorial to find errors and inaccuracies that I can improve upon to make Jakarta EE more understandable, logical, and fast to learn. It’s a difficult task because the tutorial is already a great guide.
I’ll also dedicate considerable time to the Jakarta NoSQL specification. I’m very enthusiastic about that specification and very much enjoy working with the Jakarta NoSQL team. And I’ll continue to work with the Jakarta EE Platform specification team, which is also a real pleasure. There are design aspects to improve in that specification, and every member of that team is a storehouse of knowledge.
What would you say to developers who are considering getting more involved in open source software projects at the Eclipse Foundation?
I would encourage them to help the Eclipse Foundation unleash creativity. The seriousness, competence, and hospitality in the Jakarta EE community cannot be matched in any other community. All of the members are very helpful, and I want to thank them.
I also want to give special thanks to Reza Rahman and Dmitry Kornilov. I don’t know them personally, but they helped me become part of the Jakarta EE community.