As a developer since 2018, I've always been passionate about learning new languages and technologies. My journey started with Ruby on Rails, a language known for its clean syntax and focus on developer happiness. Although my current role as a product owner means I don't code as much as I used to (Read: want to), I still spend most of my days thinking about development and how systems, flows and processes should work, how to break down projects to tackle them effectively and how to build cool shit.

In my spare time (Which is limited now that I am also a full-time dad), I enjoy working on passion projects. For 2023, I've set some goals for myself and the things I hope to learn from these projects. In this article, I'll outline my plans for the year. In future articles, I will share my progress.

This — Capturing, reflecting and sharing my learnings and thoughts

The main goal of this project (Starting this blog) is to capture, reflect on, and share my learnings, thoughts and struggles. This will involve regularly writing about my experiences, what I've learned, and any insights or challenges I may have. I hope that by documenting my journey, I can not only help myself improve my understanding of the concepts I'm learning but also share my knowledge with others who might find it useful.

In addition, I also want to make sure that I'm actively seeking out new opportunities for growth and development. This involves trying out new technologies, frameworks, and programming languages, taking online courses or tutorials, or even just reading more about subjects that interest me.

I believe that taking the time to pause and think about what I've learned can help me identify areas where I need to focus more, as well as provide growth opportunities. Furthermore, by sharing my thoughts and insights with others, I hope to engage in conversations and learn from others' perspectives as well. By doing this project, I hope to accelerate my growth as a developer.

Create and publish my first game with Unity

As someone who has always been interested in game development, I'm excited to dive into the world of Unity and learn more about the tools and technologies involved.

One of the main things I hope to learn from this project is C#, the programming language (mostly) used in Unity. While I have some experience with C#, I want to take my skills to the next level and become proficient in using them to build fun games. In addition to C#, I'm also eager to learn about the Unity engine itself, including its architecture, features, and specifically, best practices for game development.

Of course, game development involves more than just coding. I'm also looking forward to learning about game design, user experience, and the business side of things if it ever comes to that. And yes, that includes graphical work, which I'm not specifically looking forward to. Nonetheless, from concept to launch, I want to understand every step of the process and create a game. And hey, perhaps people might even enjoy playing it.

I already have a work-in-progress project in Unity that I've been tinkering with. And while it's still in the very early stages, I've already put in some work and have a basic understanding of the Unity engine and C#. However, there's still a long, long, long (Did I mention long?) way to go and I'm looking forward to learning and improving as I go.

Modding and more game development

This project is still a bit of a mystery to me. But I think it would be cool to dive into the world of modding, and the world of game development a little bit more.

Whether it's creating a mod for a game, building a custom map in CounterStrike: Global Offensive, scripting a new scenario or map generation for something like Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, I'm excited to see what I can create and learn along the way.

Modding (and game development for that matter) involves a wide range of skills, including coding, design, and creative problem-solving. I think using these skills from a game development perspective will give me new insights compared to my web development experience. It's can be a challenging and rewarding project that allows you to push the boundaries of what's possible and bring your ideas to life.

Any suggestions are very welcome!

Learning Flutter and Dart

Flutter is an open-source framework that allows you to build multi-platform applications from a single codebase, using the Dart programming language. Both Flutter and Dart are developed by Google, and Dart is known for its ability to build fast apps on any platform.

While my current knowledge of Flutter (Nor Dart) is pretty much nonexistent, the idea of a multi-platform solution that allows me to build applications quickly and efficiently is very appealing. Plus, learning a new programming language is always a valuable opportunity for growth. I'm hoping to find the time to create a cool project with these technologies!

Looking ahead

Overall, I am very excited to start this journey and I am curious to see where it takes me. I might change directions halfway through or get distracted by diaper duty, but wherever I'm going I am confident it will be a rewarding and insightful journey.

This is my first time writing an article, so any feedback or support is greatly appreciated!