2020 was a year to remember. It had a lot of down points for sure. But just like anytime in life, there is always ups AND downs. So, to start the new year I wanted to look back at 2020 and go over some of the good things that happened.
1. My First Software Engineering Job
To start the year, I started work at my first software engineering job. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and was working in that field before making the switch to software engineering (I'll have a blog post on how I switched careers in the future - stay tuned!). I was miserable in my last job and just was not enjoying it whatsoever. I knew software was the route I wanted to go. After just over a year of learning software development - I had my first offer.
I love the work I do now. I'm a Test Automation Engineer and I primarily work with Python, which is great. Through this year of work, I improved upon my python skills tremendously. I gained real world development experience in python, testing, SQL and database usage, and much more. It was a year of learning. I had to learn about the tech stack in use, I had to learn the testing framework that we used, the codebase, and the standards that we followed. I look forward to the coming year as I continue to grow more and more!
2. I Launched My First Website
This year was the year I developed and launched my first live website - This blog site! This was a big accomplishment for me. My day job doesn't deal with web development. It is something I just like and continue to learn more about on the side. Through the year I continued to improve my python skills at work and my web development skills in the after hours of work. I got to the point where I was feeling confident and decided to launch my personal blog site. I intend for this blog to be a place for others to follow along and learn with me as I document my journey and new findings.
I will say, if you want to learn to code, or get better, then just build and launch something. I learned more in the two months after launching my site than I did the 6 months prior. Between figuring out how to do things from other sites and fixing errors and bugs I learned so much. I love Jamstack, so I started looking into Static Site Generators and feel they are a great tool. This was the tech that started my web development journey and you can definitely expect more posts on SSG's and Jamstack to come!
3. Started Blogging
I always wanted to have/start a blog. I love teaching others. I love teaching others through my experience even more. I like to be real with people and by starting this blog, I can help others learn to code, learn new tech, or help them solve a problem. Blogging is also a great way to document your journey, what you have learned and are continuing to learn. It makes writing a year in review recap blog post easier too! ;) I look forward to continuing to build my technical writing skills, document my journey, and helping others through blogging this coming year.
4. Skills Improved
Through this year I learned new technologies and improved upon my skills as a developer.
- Python - have a deeper understanding and fluency in the language which helps me in my career
- SQL - learned how to query and work with databases and continue to improve upon my SQL and database skillset at my day job
- Static Site Generators - as mentioned above I love SSG's and feel they are a great tool for web development today. This year I used mainly two when developing and practicing my web development skills
- Tailwind - I used tailwind css to build this site and to be honest, feel I will use it on every project going forward. It is just a pleasure to use for me. I like keeping my HTML and styling together - less file switching and better efficiency.
Yes, 2020 was a year that will be remembered, for obvious reasons, but there was still a lot of good to come out of it!
I look forward to the new year as I continue to grow as an engineer, write more blog posts, and help others. Stay tuned for my next post on my goals and learning path for this year!
What was your biggest achievement of 2020? Follow me on Twitter and let me know!
Stayed tuned for my next blog here - on my learning goals for this year!
Originally posted @ Delisle Domain
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