Meet the NativeScript Champions

Last summer, we hosted our first Ambassador program, during which 18 amazing young developers were paired with mentors chosen from our Developer Experts program. From that cohort, several standouts emerged, and were selected to be added to our first group of NativeScript Champions! Being a NativeScript Champion allows a developer to refine his or her skills, in order to qualify to the Developer Experts program.

In this article, you'll get to meet these amazing folks. We asked each Champion to describe their use of NativeScript and to describe their relationship to the framework.

Jean-Baptiste Aniel - France
I'm a freelancer. I decided to join the Champions program because I love NativeScript. I loved the Ambassador program and I didn't see myself stopping there. And of course it's a good thing to have on a resume, and it's already given me professional opportunities. I use NativeScript as a teacher to teach my students mobile development because it draws on their web skills. It's easy to use but yet has good performance. Compared to other frameworks, I like that you could use it with any frameworks, it's not bound to a specific one.
James Breedlove - USA
I'm working part-time as a Systems Engineer at The HomeDepot. I'm also the CoFounder and CTO of Noix LLC. I joined the Champions program because I enjoyed connecting with my mentor Alex to solve problems and collaborate. I also enjoyed working in a community of talented individuals who are doing amazing things, and I hope to contribute further in the Champion program. I use NativeScript and Angular to write production applications while working at HomeDepot and Noix LLC. I prefer NS over something like React Native due to the ability to tap into the native underlying APIs, as well as its use of Angular.
Luna Kang - USA
I'm currently employed as a Technical Project Manager Consultant. I decided to join the Champions program after the Ambassadorship to keep the momentum going and continue learning about mobile development. I am a beginner and am still uncovering the power of NativeScript. I use NativeScript to experiment with side projects. I feel it is a powerful framework and anticipate high growth in the NativeScript community in the future.
Rachid Al-Khayat - France
I'm employed, and I decided to join the Champions program because I have a lot of faith in NativeScript as a way to build native apps while coding with my favorite language, TypeScript. I used NativeScript to build two mobile apps and three plugins. I see this framework as the best alternative to build native apps while coding in Angular/Typescript.
Daniel Leal - Portugal
I'm currently employed (thinking about going freelance). I think this program is a great opportunity for knowledge share and to engage with the community! NativeScript has been the "de facto" framework for cross platform mobile development for me, I have tried others (React Native, Ionic) but it's just harder to get the same problem solved! NativeScript has a simpler way of working with the native part of things! Big win!
Oscar Javier Mendoza Ruiz - Colombia
I am a systems engineer by profession in Colombia, and I currently work as a mobile developer for projects with Angular and NativeScript. Participating in the NativeScript Ambassadors program was an excellent experience where I learned a lot about the framework, and now is the time to continue growing with NativeScript and be able to teach future Ambassadors that the future is better if using NativeScript. I want to continue growing and help grow the NativeScript family. It's a solid mobile framework due to its native benefits compared to others within the mobile segment. I've been able to make beautiful applications much faster than with other frameworks. NativeScript and I make a good couple, as it helps me build beautiful mobile applications with my web knowledge, using the same code for Android and iOS. NativeScript allows you to use native libraries and its rendering is completely native which will allow you to have a better performance of your application, unlike with other frameworks.
Jose Pedraza Sandoval - Bolivia
I'm employed in a technology company, and I decided to join the program because I want to be an expert in NativeScript and share what I've learned. I'm using it in small projects for the moment, I'm doing well with the framework and I think it's the future of mobile application programming.
Shiva Prasad - India
I am working as a Lead Software Developer at Bfit Technologies. I'm also the Technology and Product lead for JyoPal technologies. In my free time, I like developing plugins for the NativeScript community, and blog about it. I decided to join the Champions program to get trained by the best people of {N} Community. I'm always up for learning new things, and also always ready to help other developers when I can. "NativeScript has boosted my productivity by 10x". Developing native mobile apps was never this easy. I've tried Xamarin and React Native too, but nothing was as easy to get started as NativeScript (Ionic and other web view based solutions don't appeal to me because that aren't very performant). NativeScript is the only framework out there which is easiest to get started, and easiest to onboard new developers as well. If the developer just knows JS and goes through the good old Groceries app once, s/he'll be good to go! Shortest learning curve, which no other framework offers. Also, NativeScript community has changed my life. I love the support I receive from this community. DevExperts are always ready to clear my doubts, and I will be always grateful to them ^_^