Welcome to my blog!

Hey there! Welcome to my blog, and my first post! This post will cover:

1. Introduction
2. Why I made the choice to start this blog
3. What kind of content can you expect from this blog

Introduction

To kick off this blog, I would like to introduce myself to you.

I am Nick Zimmermann, and I am a software engineer (more specifically, a Frontend engineer). I love everything and anything to do with visualizing data in a clean and fun way. Although I have been coding professionally now for about four years, I have loved computers and video games for as long as I can remember.

When I was a teenager, I started as a hobbyist modding an old game called Halo Custom Edition where I built Sector 09, Halo: RPG, GTA Halo, Raids and countless other mods! Talk about good times.

This lead me to getting a degree in Computer Science... although I was not certain this was the right choice as I also had interests in video production and worked on my High School's morning announcements. However, in Fall of 2016, when I took C++, Differential Equations, and Physics, I knew I had made the right choice, as programming felt very natural to me. Combined with Differential Equations and Physics, I was able to reinforce my learning of C++ by building cool programs like DENS (Differential Equations Numerical Solver).

I finally ended up in web when some good friends of mine and me built an app called WeTube, that allows you to synchronize a video to watch with your friends. This was my first delve into the world of JavaScript and React, and I knew this was the place for me. I have built countless projects with JavaScript and web technologies, including a game engine using ECS and an app to control my LEGO trains! (client and server). Yes, I like LEGOs, and I have plans to write some blogs about those too, so stay tuned!

Why I made the choice to start this blog

Now that you know a little about me, I want to share my reasons for starting this blog in the first place.

Firstly, I have hit the crossroads of depth and theory with my Frontend experience and knowledge. I have been coding professionally with NextJS for about two years now and been using React since about 2019. Now I have toyed around with other frameworks and technologies like Angular and htmx, but I wanted to build a project with something different -- so I decided to try out SvelteKit. The more I continued to build, the more I started to realize that it is very similar to NextJS. Sure, the syntax is different, and it feels closer to the browser, but the components are the same: A webserver, client-side interactivity, and a framework to marry the two. This "server-side" trend has been going on for some time now, but this project helped me to realize that these frameworks are all the same thing. Also, there's something nice about a simple, old-fashioned vanilla approach to web, which is made much easier when using htmx. With this new revelation, I realized it's time to start seeking out knowledge in different places. While I plan to play more with "vanilla" JavaScript and go deeper into the browser, I also want to use this blog as a medium to share the good, the bad, and the ugly stuff I've experienced using NextJS and these other frameworks.

In addition to developing my technical abilities, I want to continue to develop my soft skills: in particular, my writing. I have discovered in my career that "writing" is my super power, and I attribute this to my introverted personality and my deep thinking approach to making decisions. Writing is my way of exploring and evaluating edge cases at work and in my personal life, as it helps me articulate my thoughts and helps me prepare for important meetings and conversations. Having a blog is a great way to continue my growth in my writing.

Finally, as I have started to see writing this first post, I have accomplished a lot and have built many cool projects. I want this blog to serve as a personal record of all of the experiences I've had, so that I can look back on it if I ever get stuck in the future.

What kind of content can you expect from this blog

You can expect high-quality content based on my experiences and my interests, which include (but are not limited to):

• Frontend topics
• Linux topics
• LEGO
• Soft skills
• My experiences as a junior-level and mid-level software engineer
• How I am planning my long-term career as I grow into senior and staff+ roles
• Answering some of my own questions about technical, career, or LEGO related topics

That's all I have for you today! I don't have a strict cadence yet of the frequency of these blogs, but I want to be publishing at least once a month. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and I am looking forward to writing many more blogs to come!