2018, I, 2019, future

2018, Me, 2019, The Future#

I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to write this year-end summary and New Year's outlook before the new year. But now my future plans have been confirmed, so I'm preparing to write an article to commemorate 2018 and publish it at the end of the lunar year of the dog.

2018, Me#

2018 was a very special year for me. It was my zodiac year, I turned 24, and it was the second time I consciously experienced the lunar year of the dog. But maybe it's because I didn't wear red underwear all year. So my life has been full of ups and downs.

I thought I had a lot to say, but when I actually started writing, I didn't know where to begin. So I'll just jot down some random thoughts.

Work#

I had a systematic year of work. Last year, or rather, the year before last, I spent the whole year developing basic components and snapshot-like basic services. This year, due to my partner going on a business trip and a team transfer, I had some exposure to the business side. Although there were some unexpected incidents during this period, it still resulted in a good outcome. I also made a lot of friends.

But the biggest gain was the change in my self-awareness. I used to think that I could handle different scenarios between business and basic services well. I prematurely positioned myself as a versatile role, but now it seems that my previous understanding was wrong. I may not have much interest in the business side, and it may be better for me to focus on learning and developing basic services.

This change in understanding directly led to changes in my future plans and direction.

In my spare time, I chose to work on some personal projects to practice my skills. Through this process of starting from scratch, I further confirmed my thoughts.

However, the most profound lesson I learned this year is "Do something, do something with results."

But this change in understanding and some health issues led me to choose to quit my job and rest at home, which also resulted in my savings being reduced to zero, something I didn't expect at the beginning of the year.

Relationships#

In November, before Singles' Day, I got into a relationship with a very outstanding girl I met on Zhihu. She is from Shandong and is a piano major at the China Conservatory of Music.

She is a very outstanding girl, much better than me. At least I'm still wondering, "How did she fall for me?"

At first, I was a bit worried. In a sense, we are two people from different worlds. I wondered if it would be good for us to be together, if we would lack topics to talk about. But now it seems that we are both adapting to each other. I tell her interesting things about the internet industry, and she tells me interesting things about the art world. We watch plays/musicals together, analyze and criticize them, cook together, buy sugar-coated haws together. It seems that our life together is very comfortable and happy.

By the way, you may be worried if she needs me to take care of her or not. Honestly, she is a very independent girl and she takes care of me very well. In the two months after I quit my job, I got sick several times (some were quite serious), and she took care of me every time. So please don't worry.

As for photos, she said if I dare to post them, she'll kill me. For the sake of a harmonious relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend, I won't post them separately!

Technology#

At the beginning of 2018, I set a few goals for myself:

Read "Unix Network Programming Volume 1"
Study "Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" along with 15-213
Dive into the CPython source code... maybe...

So far, the progress has been good:

I read "Unix Network Programming"
I didn't study "Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective," but I studied "Advanced Unix Programming" instead
I studied part of the CPython source code and submitted two code patches and one documentation patch to CPython as assignments

I also had some other strange achievements:

As a major participant in PyCon China 2018, I organized the event in Beijing and Chengdu
I gave a talk about advanced asyncio at the Chengdu event as a speaker

I also read some strange source code, such as Redis/Nginx, and wrote some Golang/Java services.

Overall, I achieved and even exceeded my expectations, but there are also obvious shortcomings. I am limited to certain branches and lack a methodology and systematic design learning. This may be the reason why an HR person told me that my perspective may still be relatively small.

2019, The Future#

After leaving my previous company in November 2018 due to personal planning, and taking two months off, I have now confirmed my future plans. I will be joining the Huskar team in the Basic Framework Department at Ele.me, under the guidance of Zhang Jiangge (Squirrel Oreo/tongseek), to work on the development of a service registration and governance platform. I won't disclose the overall salary and level here due to privacy reasons, but I can say that it's better than what I expected. So when I received the news last night, I clearly told the HR person that I accept the offer.

So for the next few years, my development direction will be to delve deeper into middleware and distributed services, while also exploring different things in my spare time.

As for 2019, my first goal is to go home more often and spend time with my parents. Then, I want to continue building a good relationship with my girlfriend, travel to different places, try different delicious foods, and watch different musicals.

In terms of career and technology, I consider this offer as a breakthrough (because it's a big jump and I only have two years of experience without a computer science background), but because the three interviewers gave me high evaluations, the final result was a pleasant surprise. So my first priority is to establish myself at Ele.me and achieve good performance, for myself and for the three interviewers who won't regret their evaluations.

In terms of the community, I will continue to submit patches to CPython and strive to become a core developer someday. I will also participate in the organization of PyCon China 2019 and continue to learn things beyond technology.

As for the rest, I will continue to strengthen my computer fundamentals, address the weaknesses exposed during the interviews, and learn new things step by step.

Conclusion#

After the third interview at Ele.me the day before yesterday, I told my mentor, "Thank you for constantly guiding me in learning." My mentor replied, "Thank yourself, you idiot." Actually, regardless of the results of the interviews in the month before the new year, I am probably most happy that I finally have the qualifications to consider myself a competent developer. I may not be outstanding, but I can pass. This is also a recognition from the market.

I asked my mentor, "Did I embarrass you as your apprentice?" My mentor said, "Embarrass? What are you talking about? You're amazing." So the next goal is probably to work towards being able to consider myself a good developer.

This year, I stumbled and struggled, cried many times, and felt uncomfortable many times. But in the end, it had a happy ending and I consider myself lucky. I am grateful to many people during this period, my parents, my girlfriend, my mentor, my leader, my colleagues, and my close friends. At least when I wanted to cry, there was someone there for me. They continuously support me to explore a bigger world.

No matter how 2019 turns out, whether it will be as difficult as 2018, I still have to work hard to make each day more exciting and meaningful. For myself and for all the people who have taken care of and helped me. I don't want to disappoint them.

As the saying goes, "Enjoy poetry and wine while you're young."