※Article migrated from Hatena Blog

Overview

As the title suggests.

Last year’s reflections were quite rough, but I spent my days thinking about various things, so I feel like I managed to take meaningful actions overall.

Reflections

Let’s start by looking back at what I did this year.

This year marked my 3rd or 4th year as an engineer. I was aware of my lack of input, so I focused on improving that. As a result, I feel like my output was less compared to previous years.

Additionally, this year was a time for me to think deeply about my future career. I feel like I’ve gained a clearer image of my direction moving forward.

I’ve gained a bit more confidence in what I’ve done so far. While adjusting my vision daily, I was able to end the year with good motivation to continue working toward my future goals.

Programming Languages

Every year, I set a goal to learn at least one new programming language. This year, I studied Go (golang).

I haven’t produced any concrete output yet, so that’s something I’ll carry over to next year...

Having never worked with compiled languages before, studying Go has changed how I view PHP and broadened my perspective on programming.

It’s hard to put into words, but I feel like I’ve gained something valuable. I’ll continue studying Go to deepen this understanding.

Infrastructure

I read several books related to server design, architecture, monitoring, and tuning.

I mostly revisited books I already owned, while newly purchased books piled up unread...

Operating Systems

I read a few books about operating systems. I had to read and re-read them to really absorb the content, focusing on the basics.

I feel like I’ve gained a minimum level of fundamental knowledge...

Networking

I bought a book on TCP/IP but haven’t read it yet...

I vaguely remember reading a book about DNS.

To be honest, I’m not very interested in this field, so I haven’t been motivated to dive into it. However, I recognize that I lack a lot of knowledge here, so I want to find a way to start learning.

Software Architecture

I considered exploring topics like DDD, Clean Architecture, and Microservices. However, I felt I needed to study the foundational concepts behind these first, so I decided to hold off for now.

Development

I made some commits, but I don’t remember much...

[https://github.com/bmf-san/Rubel:title]

This year, instead of creating new things, I mostly dabbled in new technologies and studied programming languages.

Contests

I participated in ISUcon. It was a disaster, but I learned a lot.

I want to participate again next year, so I’ll start preparing at the beginning of the year.

Study Groups (Community Activities)

I hosted several LaraCafe events.

[https://laracafe.connpass.com/:title]

Regarding LaraCafe, we plan to hold a meeting with the organizers at the beginning of the year to decide on future activities, which are currently undecided.

Presentations

I gave a lightning talk at PHP Conference 2018 in Tokyo again this year.

Having done it two years in a row, I’m even more motivated to present next year.

Like last year, I chose a topic slightly removed from technical subjects. Starting next year, I want to focus more on technical topics in my presentations.

Presenting forces me to improve both my input and output skills, which I feel is beneficial for my growth.

While I don’t want to present just for the sake of it, I aim to actively share what I’ve learned. I also gave one internal lightning talk.

Blogging

I feel like I wrote more blog posts than last year.

While I don’t think the quality of my content is particularly high, I believe I’ve been able to summarize what I’ve researched and done at a decent level.

Writing posts with enough depth to be repurposed as a lightning talk ensures that I spend adequate time learning and producing meaningful content. I want to maintain this pace.

Books

I think I bought dozens of books (on infrastructure, OS, networking, software architecture, programming languages, etc.).

I read a few, but my unread pile keeps growing...

I want to focus on reading classic books thoroughly, not just new releases.

I subscribed to two technical magazines: WEB+DB Press and Software Design. The information in these magazines is invaluable.

Gym

I’m not a hardcore fitness enthusiast, but I’ve been going to the gym regularly enough for it to be a hobby.

After a year of consistent gym visits, I feel like I’ve gotten better at pushing myself during workouts. I’ll keep it up.

Staying consistent seems to have positively impacted my health and mental well-being. While the effects aren’t entirely clear, I feel more confident, which likely boosts my daily motivation.

I believe maintaining a good balance between physical and mental health is essential for engineers. I’m glad I managed to keep up my gym routine this year.

Goals for Next Year

My main goal is to continue the unfinished input from this year.

However, focusing solely on input isn’t enough, so I plan to produce more output (specifically through development and presentations).

Programming Languages

I’ll continue studying Go.

I’m also considering exploring a functional programming language.

Development

I want to create small projects in Go.

Additionally, I’d like to gradually replace parts of this CMS with Go as a learning exercise and because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.

[https://github.com/bmf-san/Rubel:title]

I also want to write Go at work... though it might be challenging for now. I’ll do my best.

Contests

Winning 1 million yen is a dream, but my realistic goal is to make it past the qualifiers.

Honestly, even that feels far-fetched right now... haha.

Of course, the ultimate goal in contests is to win. However, my personal aim is to become someone who can support the performance of applications as they scale with business growth. I want to participate with this goal in mind and take away lessons that bring me closer to it.

Study Groups

As mentioned earlier, the future of the study group I host is undecided.

I want to actively participate in or host communities related to the languages or frameworks I use.

Study groups are valuable not only for technical knowledge but also for other useful information, so I plan to participate more actively than before.

Presentations

As mentioned earlier, I want to increase my presentation opportunities without losing sight of the purpose.

While internal lightning talks will naturally increase, I especially want to focus on external opportunities.

Blogging

I’ll continue blogging.

Whenever I learn or try something new, I’ll write posts with enough depth to be repurposed as a lightning talk.

Books

I’ll prioritize my reading list to tackle my unread pile.

I’ll continue my strong style of buying books without hesitation if I want them. I feel that stopping this habit might dull my curiosity and information-gathering skills.

Gym

I need to work on my back muscles and aim to get six-pack abs by summer. :)

Theme for Next Year

In previous years, my theme was “challenge,” focusing on trying new things in both my personal and professional life. However, this year, I’ve decided to change it.

In my personal life, it’s getting harder to find new things I want to try. In terms of technology, I feel like I naturally take on new challenges every year. At work, I recently changed jobs, so I’m already in a new environment. As a result, the theme of “challenge” no longer feels fresh.

Therefore, my theme for next year will be “Learning from the Past to Innovate.”

Instead of “challenge,” I want to focus on revisiting and deepening my understanding of what I’ve already learned. As an engineer, I’ve studied a wide range of fields, and now I want to revisit and deepen my knowledge.

In my personal life, I can also focus on “depth” (muscles) through the gym. At work, while I’m still onboarding, there’s plenty of room to deepen my expertise. I think this theme fits perfectly.

Conclusion

To everyone involved, thank you for your support this year.

I look forward to working with you again next year.