In the blog, I write longer pieces that are centered around a specific thought. If you want to hear about me more often, head to my now page.
I have been building UIs on the web for 10+ years, and most of the time I've been using a component framework like Vue. There have definitely been some ups and downs in the frontend space, but overall I'm quite happy with the current state of the art (I did start on the jQuery era, after all!).
However, there is something that always bothered me: Modals.
For five years, I've dedicated most of my side-project time to making apps and tools using the Solid Protocol. Many share its vision, but it's also common to hear criticisms. I'm often asked why I'm still working on Solid, or told about another project that is doing a better job at solving similar problems.
Today, I'll go through some of the criticisms, share my own concerns, and answer why after all these years I'm still choosing Solid.
In July of 2011, I finished my degree in computer science and got my first job. That was 10 years ago.
Today, I want to look back and share some of the lessons I've learned.
...is nothing.
You do, and I do. But technology doesn't.
Everything you love about technology, and everything you hate, is not its own doing. Technology is only a multiplier.
Use it for good, and it will flourish. Use it for evil, and it will corrupt everything in its path.
I've been a proponent of transparency and working openly for a while, but I struggled to translate this into something actionable myself. So I came up with this new methodology: Open Productivity.
I am a software developer, and many people I speak with tell me how lucky I am of being able of doing everything myself. If I have an idea I can define, prototype and implement the whole thing myself.
There is a problem with that, though. I don't prototype. And chances are, if you're a developer, you don't do either.
I think people have a tendency of working always at their higher level, using their top skills when possible. As it has been said many times, simplifying is difficult, and purposefully downgrading yourself is quite unnatural. That's why I don't prototype, because I have a tendency of thinking something will be “easy”. But inevitably things start getting complicated and something I could have spotted with a simple prototype becomes a problem I am working on (and wasting my time on). I reckon there is a problem there, and my goal in this writing is to analyze the problem and start making an effort to improve my approach.
