Alex Patterson for CodingCatDev

Posted on Jul 3 • Updated on Jul 5 • Originally published at codingcat.dev

Using Firebase with Communication APIs

#webdev #javascript #beginners #podcast

Introduction and Background of Guest

Amanda's Background: Amanda discusses her educational journey, starting from her early exposure to computers due to her father's work with assembly and Fortran, to studying computer science in Brazil and the UK. She also shares her initial aspirations to become a professor before transitioning into a developer role.
Balancing Career and Parenthood: Amanda talks about her experience as a first-time mom while working in developer relations, touching on the challenges and strategies she uses to balance both responsibilities.

Early Exposure to Tech: Amanda's father played a significant role in her tech journey, exposing her to computers at a young age and encouraging her interest in tech.
Educational Journey: Amanda elaborates on her academic path, including the challenges of studying math and moving from Brazil to the UK to complete her degree. She also discusses the multicultural environment at her Brazilian university.

Transition to Dev Role: Amanda shares her transition from academia to a developer role, learning Ruby on Rails on the job, and her preference for JavaScript.
Post-Graduation Studies: During the pandemic, Amanda pursued a post-graduation degree, which brought her a sense of fulfillment and advanced her knowledge in the field.

Meetup Involvement: Upon moving to the UK, Amanda became actively involved in local meetups, eventually becoming an organizer and Women Techmakers ambassador.
Hosting Events: Amanda organizes and hosts events such as "Women Techmakers Coffee and Code," fostering community engagement and knowledge sharing.

Joining Vonage: Amanda joined Vonage during the pandemic and discusses the international and supportive nature of her team. She also highlights the various roles and projects she has been involved in.
Learning and Growth: Amanda emphasizes the diverse opportunities for learning and growth at Vonage, including her work with network APIs and contributing to product development.

Demo Overview: Amanda presents a demo on using Firebase with the Vonage Verify API for account recovery, showcasing a flow where users verify their identity via SMS to reset their password.
Technical Details: The demo involves Firebase Functions, Firestore as the NoSQL database, and Vonage communication services to check SIM swap details and send verification codes.

Firebase Setup: Amanda explains the process of setting up Firebase, including creating a project, configuring Google Cloud resources, and setting up the Firestore database.
Integrating Vonage APIs: Details on setting up a Vonage account, generating keys, and using the Verify API for sending one-time codes are provided. Amanda also discusses handling environment variables and testing the setup with Firebase emulators.

Blog Posts and Videos: Amanda shares various blog posts and videos she has created on topics like appointment schedulers, sending messages with Firebase, and migrating from Firebase generation one to two.
Firebase Extensions: Amanda talks about contributing to Firebase extensions and the types of extensions available, such as multi-party video calls and message APIs from Vonage.

Upcoming Conferences: Amanda expresses her excitement about attending Google IO Connect in Berlin, mentioning her preference for smaller, more interactive events.
Community Engagement: She discusses the importance of accessibility and how attending past conferences has profoundly impacted her understanding and implementation of inclusive design in her projects.

Community Involvement: Amanda invites viewers to join the Vonage developer community on Slack for further interaction and support.
Final Thoughts: The session concludes with Amanda and Alex discussing the significance of professional networks, continuous learning, and the importance of community support in the tech industry.