My relationship with coding is complicated. I started coding back in 2008, when I was in middle school, making simple websites that I was able to get hosted for free. I remember altering the jpegs and creating my own version of free themes that I found online. I was even helping friends with their Myspace profiles helping them get rid of pesky watermarks, back when that was a thing.
My name is Mark Ambrocio; I am a Fullstack Web Developer in a code bootcamp. After I retired from the Army in 2018, I decided to go to school and follow my dreams of becoming a Game Developer. I quickly realized that the likelihood of being successful or getting hired in that bubble might not happen without interning while not getting paid. I am no traditional student by any means; I am in my late 20s, married, and with kids.
Early in 2020 and before the pandemic became an absolute panic, I bit the bullet and joined a code Bootcamp as a part-time student focusing in full-stack web development. I chose to sacrifice my weeknights to learn web development. It has been one of the best choices I have made. After taking a couple of introductory and advanced programming classes in C# with my University before all of this, I felt comfortable with code.
Flash forward to today, I am nearing the finish line for my code bootcamp. I have some projects that I have built while working in teams within the bootcamp. But truthfully, I have high standards for myself and my work. As a group we patchworked a minimal viable product, and that’s great, we passed. I just want my work to look better than how it currently does. But more importantly, I would like the code to be cleaner.
A full on refactor might just be easier to get stuff out the door, you're right, but I like a challenge.
I’ve also started to look at future employment, and with these not so great looking UI and coded projects, I feel like I can only get so far.
Enter #12startups12months
Ever since I read Pieter Level's post on launching 12 startups in 12 months, I have been fascinated with the idea. I have been scheming of methods on how to apply this at a lesser scale. So I was thinking, instead of startups, I want to focus on projects with great looking UI and clean, functional MVPs that I can share on my portfolio and with others while using some new piece of tech in each project to further expand my knowledge in applicable web development skills a.k.a. employable tech skills.
Motivation
Pieter put it bluntly, Creatives have a bad problem when it comes to finishing things. I have a habit of starting up new tutorials and never completing them. I blame myself and the societal norms that have made us “love” the greenfield part of a new project and not the part of sticking with it until the end. As much as we all dislike it, finishing projects can only add value to our futures as developers. Being successful is seeing things till the end and learning from any mistakes made or analyzing choices that paid off dividends. In the Army we called that an After Action Report, in game dev we call it a Postmortem.
Personal Courage
Again, Pieter hit the nail on the head. Who likes failing? No one. I follow a lot of developers on twitter-like @DThompsonDev who like to say, failing to fail is failing to learn.
My primary focus with these projects is to show my ability to create good looking front ends that are functional without over-engineering things, all while learning new tech. It might sometimes look rough around the edges or some stretch functionality might not make the cut, and that's ok.
The Tech Stack
I learned React in the code Bootcamp I went through, so that will not change. I want to get better at react and its branch frameworks like GatsbyJS, NextJS, perhaps @Remix_run. Some of the tech I chose to focus on learning during these monthly sprints are some that I believe to be easy enough to pick up yet challenging enough to keep you on your toes. All while still being applicable to future employers.
If you wish to participate and want to start with a tech stack you are most comfortable with, go with it!
Projects? Why not Startups?
Although I am not opposed to making each app a startup, that’s not my primary goal for this challenge. Yes, I will add features to gain revenue and track analytics ethically, but I won’t be losing sleep if they don’t gain any traction. If anything, I think learning new tech and teaching other #codenewbies about it will be more enjoyable.
If you plan on participating and want to make a startup, make it a startup!
Fullstack Dev Jam
I’d like others to join as well. If you are interested in challenging yourself and your skills, I invite you to join. I will be posting a theme on the first of each month on Twitter, so please follow me there, @_mark_ambro.
TL;DR
Follow me and join in on creating a new, fully functional web app every month for the next 12 months. A Fullstack Dev Jam similar to Game Jams like Ludum Dare. Follow me on Twitter to find out what next month’s theme will be, @_mark_ambro.
Without further ado,
Theme for month 1: November 2020
Fundraising platform
Key Focus: Payment Transactions Stuck on a UI/UX? Look at GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Indiegogo. Don't plagiarize, add your own twist to it.
Tech Stack, I will be using:
::: FRONT END :::
- Create-React-APP & Tailwindcss
- React Query / Context
::: BACK END :::
- Google Firebase
That’s all, folks. Thank you for getting this far! I will be busy with University, code bootcamp, family, and now this! I'll make posts with updates in the following weeks, good luck and happy hacking!
Cover Photo by: Caspar Camille Rubin from Unsplash.