DEV Community: Jui Barmukh

From Hearing the Word "Coding" in 8th Grade to Pursuing Ethical Hacking: My Journey into CSE

Jui Barmukh — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:17:33 +0000

When people hear that I'm studying Computer Science and Engineering, they often say"Engineering is such a common path." But to me, it's not just a generic degree—it's the realization of a dream I've been holding onto since the 8th grade.

Here is the honest story of how a curious kid sitting at home during the pandemic found her true calling in cybersecurity.

Up until 8th grade, my life was completely ordinary—schooling, playing, doing homework, and taking exams. Then COVID-19 hit, and like everyone else, I was sitting idle at home.

During that time, advertisements for WhiteHat Jr. were everywhere. Out of sheer curiosity, I registered. One afternoon, I logged into a Zoom demo class with an instructor, and for the very first time in my life, I heard the word "coding."

To be completely honest, almost everything the instructor explained went straight over my head! But even though I didn't understand the lesson, that single word—coding—stuck in my mind like an itch I had to scratch. I started searching for it on the internet, reading articles, and trying to understand what it really meant.

Slowly, days passed; I finished 10th grade and officially said goodbye to basic schooling. When I entered 11th grade, we had to choose our elective subjects. Without giving it a second thought, I immediately chose Computer Science (CS) as my extra subject, ignoring standard options like Physical Education.

That was my official entry into the world of computer science. I started learning Python, understanding programming logic, and building small scripts.

As I completed 12th grade and kept exploring tech, I found my clear purpose in life: to become an Ethical Hacker in Cybersecurity and eventually contribute to organizations like NTRO (National Technical Research Organisation).

A standard 9-to-6 corporate job was never what drove me. I wanted to work on real-world security challenges, protect critical infrastructure, and build tools that make a difference.

So when people tell me engineering is just a common career choice, I tell them that this has been my dream since 8th grade, and I refuse to give up on it. Whether every single plan works out perfectly or not, as long as I am giving 100% to what I love, I know that at the end of the day, I won't have any regrets.

Did you always know you wanted to build software or work in tech, or was there a random moment that sparked your interest? I'd love to hear your story in the comments below!

Building My Own Mini Shell in C++: What Happens Under the Hood?

Jui Barmukh — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 13:21:21 +0000

Ever wondered how your computer's terminal actually works when you type commands into it? Like a Command Prompt. Lately, as I've been diving deeper into C++ and preparing for a future in cybersecurity, I wanted to stop just using tools and start understanding how software actually talks to the operating system.
So, I decided to build my own mini shell from scratch in C++!

When you're learning systems programming, reading theory can only take you so far. I wanted to see how a program could take user input, process it, and talk directly to the system terminal. Writing a custom command loop felt like a fun challenge to bridge that gap.

How It Works (In Simple Terms) **
1) **The Infinite Loop: The while (true) keeps my custom terminal alive, constantly prompting myshell> and waiting for me to type something.

2) Catching the Input: Using getline(cin, command) grabs whatever line I type. If I type "exit", it cleanly breaks the loop and shuts down. If I accidentally hit enter without typing anything, command.empty() tells it to just skip and try again instead of crashing.

3) Executing the Command: This is the coolest part—the system() function from takes whatever string I typed, converts it with c_str(), and hands it right over to the actual system terminal to run!

To see my entire code, visit my GitHub page: https://github.com/barmukhjui07-hue

Building this really opened my eyes to how processes execute at a low level. It’s wild to realize that underneath all the fancy graphical interfaces we use every day, it all boils down to loops that take strings and pass them to the system. For anyone aiming for security or systems engineering, understanding how commands are handled at this level is super important.

Writing a terminal loop in C++ proved to me that building cool developer tools doesn't require thousands of lines of complex code.

Have you ever tried building your own terminal or command-line tool? What was your experience like? Drop a comment below—let's connect and chat!

Building Python's Telegram Bot for Beginners

Jui Barmukh — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:23:05 +0000

Before diving into C++ systems programming, I spent time mastering Python. Python's clean syntax makes it incredible for prototyping real-world applications quickly. Once I felt confident with the basics, I wanted to challenge myself with a project that went beyond standard terminal output—which led me to build my first Telegram Bot.

Having no prior experience with bot development, I started by researching how they operate. A Telegram bot is essentially an automated program running inside the Telegram app. It acts like a regular chat partner to handle user requests, answer queries, or integrate with external services—almost like a personal micro-agent responding to text commands.
To get started, I generated an API token through Telegram’s BotFather. In Python, connecting to Telegram's servers only requires importing the telebot library (pyTelegramBotAPI) and initializing the bot instance with that token.
To see my entire code, visit my GitHub page: https://github.com/barmukhjui07-hue

How the Logic Works:
1) Command Handling: _The @bot.message_handler(commands=['start']) _decorator listens specifically for the /start command. When triggered, welcome() sends back a greeting message.

2) Echo Logic: _The @bot.message_handler(func=lambda message: True) _decorator acts as a catch-all for any incoming text. The echo_message() function extracts the message body using message.text and mirrors it back to the user via f-strings.

3)_ Continuous Execution:_ Calling bot.polling() creates an active listener loop, ensuring the Python script stays alive and continuously polls Telegram's servers for new user interactions.

Building this project proved that applying programming concepts to real messaging platforms builds genuine understanding far faster than isolated syntax exercises. It was super satisfying to see my Python script respond live in Telegram!

What was your very first Python project? Have you built any automated bots or integrated external APIs before? Drop your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below—I'd love to connect and chat!

Building a C++ File Encryptor: Practical Cryptography & File I/O for Beginners

Jui Barmukh — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 16:39:45 +0000

Before my Computer Science engineering journey officially kicked off, I decided to bridge the gap between basic C++ theory and real-world application. My goal was simple: Take C++ standard file streams and build a utility that demonstrates fundamental data protection. This led to my first project—a C++ File Encryptor and Decryptor, and also my first blog.
At its core, file encryption relies on transforming readable plaintext into unreadable ciphertext. To achieve this in C++, I leveraged the header file to handle file operations through ifstream (for reading) and ofstream (for writing). The encryption algorithm uses byte-level substitution via ASCII shifting. By iterating through input characters with .get(), each character’s ASCII value is shifted forward by 1:
cpp
while (inFile1.get(ch1)) {
outFile1 << (char)(ch1 + 1);
}
This converts standard text into encrypted output, ensuring simple yet effective stream-level transformation.

Decryption follows the exact inverse logic. The program opens the encrypted file as an input stream, reads each character, and shifts its ASCII value backward by 1 (ch2 - 1) to restore the original plaintext file:
cpp
while (inFile2.get(ch2)) {
outFile2 << (char)(ch2 - 1);
}

Building this simple tool gave me a genuine boost in confidence right before starting my CSE classes. It forced me to pay attention to resource management, such as explicitly closing file streams (.close()) so data doesn't get corrupted or memory leaks occur. Working directly with ASCII character shifting opened my eyes to low-level byte manipulation, proving to me that even though basic substitution (like the classic Caesar Cipher) is simple, it lays the exact foundation needed to understand how complex, modern cryptographic systems protect data.

If you remember your very first C++ project or have tips on how you mastered file handling when you started, I'd love to hear about it! Drop your thoughts or suggestions in the comments—let's chat and connect!