Jake Worth

• retros

Each year (mostly) I conduct a review to reflect on the ending professional year and share the results of that review on this blog. Here’s the full collection:

2023 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Milestones

Here are my milestones from 2019. This year, I:

• 🎉 Ported this blog from Rails to Gatsby.js. I am ecstatic about this change. Writing React and markdown, and deploying with GitHub, makes for an effortless workflow. I also open sourced the codebase. I’d love some PR’s or issues on the repo.
• Received a challenge coin from Code Platoon for work as a volunteer. Thank you Rod! I love being a part of this community.
• Created and administered, along with my colleague Suzanne, an internal Developer’s Survey for Hashrocket. We presented our findings (everybody really loves React and TypeScript) at Hashrocket’s Summer MiniConf.
• Tried out working 100% remotely. I enjoyed the experience. Along the way, I learned the value of a good coworking space.
• Doubled my Stack Overflow reputation (1,511 points this year, top 3% of the site for 2019). There are a lot of people out there who need help with their code, and I’m happy to give back. I’m coming for you, Jon Skeet!
• Spoke at Ancient City Ruby 2019 about React.js. My preparation included some of the most challenging source diving I’ve ever done. My slides are here; video forthcoming I hope. I’m averaging one conference presentation a year, which feels right. Thanks for the opportunity to share, ACR.
• Mentored four Code Platoon veterans. Proud to have been a part of your journey, Ben, Kyle, Christian, and Hal. Good luck out there.
• Taught SQL three times at Code Platoon with my friend Jack Christensen.
• Got paid by a client to write Elixir code for the first time.
• Attended my first RubyConf with coworkers and friends old and new. Spent some one-on-one time with my programming idols.

What did I learn?

Here are some of my takeaways after another year in the programming trenches.

• How to do faster planning
• How to pick a good name
• How to make social media images with ImageMagick
• I’m highly motivated to build and ship an application of my own. At some point, a lot of programmers want to take the skills they’ve learned and build something personal and audacious, and 2019 was the year I crossed that threshold. Consulting provides me with the time and inspiration to make such an investment. Watch this space.
• It’s better to be working with difficult technology, than a difficult team. Applies to many disciplines, including programming.
• Elixir is a fantastic language to work on professionally. Also, an application written in any language, even a great language like Elixir, can have its edges.
• Reading technical books consistently requires small, sustained effort every day.
• If I drink coffee after noon, I don’t fall asleep. ☕️

Thank You

Thanks to my family and friends, everyone at Hashrocket, and my clients for another wonderful years as a programmer. And thank you for reading.

Happy New Year everyone.

What are your thoughts on this? Let me know!