Welcome to my GitHub! Through words and code, this space documents my journey as a developer. 🗺️
If you're new to Web3, keep grinding! Leveling up can be challenging but it's always rewarding, and Web3 is an incredible space in which to explore, dream, learn, and grow. 🌿
We've come a long way in 15 months! Submitted our third Chainlink Hackathon project today with great relief and a sense of awe. We built something complex and useful, and it looks pretty good. 🌵 I've been scraping the rust and dust off my frontend skills, and it turns out my teammate is really, really good with Solidity. We both have a better understanding of how the frontend and backend share blockchain data. We've evolved from 'learning to code' to 'we build dapps' and that's an amazing feeling.
Next steps? Going for a run in the morning for sure. Apparently Thanksgiving is next week, and it would be good to get a run in before Turkey Trotting.
I'm going to catch up on some sleep and explore Vue in depth. It might be a better fit for me than React. My Vue Quest will start here on GitHub, but I think it's time to start a Medium.
Mood: 🤩✨
Our second Chainlink Hackathon is in the books. For our first Chainlink Hackathon, back in November 2021, we submitted a Chainlink VRF project. Yesterday, we submitted an incomplete external adaptor. Today, a new, more focused leg of my journey begins.
During the past year, I've watched the Chainlink docs and tutorials evolve. My technical understanding and ability to read & write Solidity have grown a bit since I studied the Chainlink docs and went through boot camp last summer. This summer, I'll be working through the updated docs and tutorials with a fresh perspective.
Cultivating balance in my learning is important, though. As much as I love learning & practicing Solidity & React, there are definitely some gaps in my foundational knowledge. I will be a better Solidity dev if I get serious about filling them.
In three weeks, it will be my 1 year anniversary with Codecademy. My 'current streak' is 165 days, and when my anniversary arrives, my Total Days Practiced will be 359 of 365. Some of those are flashcard days, some are quick flashcard days while I was learning from other sources, and some are days of in-depth work. Heading into my second year with Codecademy, it's time to fill in (some of!) the gaps in my foundation. To start, I'll be learning Node.js, working through the Full-Stack Engineer career path, and taking a quick dive into the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity course.
I also need to go back to Python. I'm much stronger in JavaScript, but...it would be good for me to develop competence in Python.
So. Chainlink docs & YouTube videos (both hackathons have some seriously good material to rewatch!) + Codecademy paths...with focus & purpose. ✨
Not too long ago, the most creative thing I was building was google slide decks. Admittedly, some of them were pretty amazing, but they were still just slide decks. I missed building websites, and I felt really stuck so...I took a risk and made a BIG change.
In June of 2021, I started working in Codecademy to dust off my HTML & CSS skills, update my knowledge of JavaScript, and learn Python. In July, I went to the Chainlink Bootcamp, and after that, I decided to sign up for the Chainlink Fall Hackathon. In preparation for the hackathon, I read Solidity docs, and Chainlink docs, and spent a lot of time with CryptoZombies. 🧟
Finding Buildspace was a game-changer. Suddenly I had real projects to debug + lots of other devs to chat with in Discord + practical applications for the code I'd been learning. Buildspace is a structured sandbox in which to tinker, and an amazing community full of devs who are learning together and helping and inspiring each other. It's an exciting place to be.
Rolling into 2022, I have some loose goals. There are projects here that need to be cleaned up and expanded, and I recently started learning React. There are new things on CryptoZombies + experiments I want to try with what I've learned there, and a couple of upcoming Buildspace workshops. I've accomplished a lot in 6 months. The next 6 months will be about tinkering, hacking, imagining, polishing, and exploring.