Table of Contents
Hello World!
Welcome to the mines! The theme of this blog is heavily influenced by the world-renowned Amethyst mines at the Four Peaks mountain range near my home in Mesa, Arizona. Which means that you will have to excuse the odd mining reference here-and-there. The purpose of this blog is to document my journey as a software engineer in a constantly evolving landscape. If 1 standard year is 7 dog years, then 1 standard year is probably about 20 software developer years. It is challenging to work and stay relevant in a profession where the ground is contantly changing beneath your very feet. In this post, I will give you a current snapshot of my career, as well as a preview of where I am headed. This post is actually the kick-off for an entire blog series, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Ground Zero
I have been building and shipping software for the last decade. I have primarily been building and coding in the Javascript ecosystem. What does that mean? It means that I have been exclusively using tools like: Javascript, TypeScript, Node.js, Angular, Vue.js, React, Next.js, Express.js, etc. I don’t do Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, or any of the other host of programming languages that are out there. So far Javascript has provided everything I have ever needed.
That being said- the landscape is always changing, and AI has only added more fuel to that fire. Don’t misunderstand me, I think that AI is an extremely useful and powerful tool- one that can and is reshaping how we do nearly everything. But I also am of the opinion that we do not fully understand what AI is best used for (and best *not used for), and we as a society are brandishing it like a kid who just found his dad’s gun. (More spicy takes on AI to come in future posts)
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads
So here’s the impetus for this blog. I have been a software developer for the last 11 years, building products for web and server. I recently built a product of my own, HyperFX, a super powerful budgeting and personal finance tool. I got an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about the project, and also a ton of feedback that if it were a mobile app it would get more adoption. Which brings me to where I am at today- at the beginning of my journey to build a mobile app. I am excited at the prospect not only for my small software business, but also because I am absolutely convinced that learning to build mobile apps is going to open more doors down the road. The mobile project is underway! Over-and-out.