deutrinoMar 7

been thinking more about this as I slowly stack up ideas on my programming bucket list…

I need projects which won't overwhelm me and lead to shutdown + abandonment, which leads to tentative conclusions:

* stick to PHP for web apps at first :(

* find existing projects with a high itch-to-scratch factor to contribute to, which will naturally suck me back in when I stray

* this is especially true for Android which has an awful brick wall to scale when it comes to dev tools

Show threaddeutrinoMar 7

additional background:

back when I had a "career," I did mostly backend web app dev, most of that on horrifying PHP codebases, a bit on Django but that was when I was already close to burnout. I was also better at front end than most engineers in similar roles, but that was like 15 years ago and front end is way different now.

web apps is what I know. but I want to get into mobile development because I'm convinced it's a good fit for my mind and its various quirks.

Show threaddeutrinoMar 7

when it comes to mobile development, I have written zero (0) bytes of code, ever, which have run on a mobile device, not counting in browser.

I've also decided that I'll stick with Android (until such time as Linux phones are further along) because I just don't have the money or the mental bandwidth or the desire to fuck with iOS.

unfortunately, starting out with Android development seems to require climbing a high mountain at first re: getting tools and such set up.

Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
in fact, one of the selling points of starting back out with PHP on the web app side is the low barrier to entry. I like Python a lot more than PHP (yes I know it doesn't scale™ and the ecosystem is a mess but I *enjoy writing it*) but it's undeniably a higher barrier to entry. I started with LAMP over 25 years ago and it really is dump files in a directory and go at its most simple. maybe that's due to the decades of experience, but the end result is the same either way.
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
writing PHP is like doing sanitation work, you have to keep in mind MLK's quotes about the inherent dignity of decreasing entropy (heavily paraphrased lol) but I'm willing to do it, so I'll do it if it makes sense.
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
anyway as far as Android goes, it seems to be a giant fucking pain to get started with especially with my cognitive limitations, so the key with that will be to pick an existing project with very high intrinsic stickiness factor which will suck me back in repeatedly when I inevitably fall on my face and don't touch it for long enough to forget basic stuff. and then get started in the ecosystem by fixing bugs in said project.
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
ideally I'd prefer to start by building simple apps from a complete green field, but I just don't have the wherewithal to do that at the moment so I'm gonna have to dip my toes in with pull requests.
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
on the web app side, it's a similar story, although it's a lot more plausible for me to build simple greenfield apps in PHP because a lot of domain knowledge is seared into my brain (and still relevant so many years later). but I have nevertheless identified what I think is a good way to get back into web apps by contributing to a stable PHP one which is in maintenance mode.
Show threaddeutrino

so right now the tentative plan is:

Android: get set up and start submitting pull requests to Fedilab, which I've been using since 2017 and which has extremely high inherent stickiness for me, and plenty of itches I want to scratch

Web: start building Tasks support (aimed at #TasksDotOrg compatibility) for AgenDAV which is a standalone CalDAV calendar front end. this one may be more than I can handle but there's only one way to find out.

Mar 7 at 10:00pmWeb
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7
fun bonus context on AgenDAV ... back when I still had a software engineering straight job, my last successful gasp at maintaining any sort of equilibrium before I entered the burnout spiral was when I employed novel strategies to stay sane on a 13-month refactor of the calendar system in a horrifying PHP groupware product used by companies you've definitely heard of. we did in fact deliver the refactor, which dissatisfied the company president who was later fired. the end.
Show threaddeutrinoMar 7

obviously if I'm working on tasks support for AgenDAV I won't be fucking with the calendar too much, but at least it's not wholly uncharted territory.

anyway that's my vague semblance of a plan for getting back into software as something more than a power user, it's important to me because it's what I've wanted to do since I started writing BASIC at the age of 8, thanks for listening.