Check-in for 2009 and Goals for 2010
In January of 2009 I wrote down some goals for the year, so I figure it's appropriate to look back and see what I accomplished from that list and where I fell short; and then set some new goals for this year.
- Learn Transfer and CF9 Hibernate
Status? Fail!
Admittedly, this was a pretty ambitious goal. And while I didn't manage to learn both, I have learned the basics of CF9's new baked-in Hibernate functionality. That's a start. I won't say the lesson here is to be less ambitious, but perhaps a little more realistic? - Finish Grub 1.0
Status? Fail miserably!
Alas, time got the best of me. While I haven't finished it, I am still working on it. I've renewed my interest by switching to using Git for version control for the project, which makes working on the train much easier. Now if only I could make all of those books, movies, and TV shows that consume my time on the train less interesting… - Start Refactoring Grub
Status? Success!
Indeed, I have started refactoring. In addition to moving over to Git for version control, I've been rewriting the model behind Grub to use CF9's Hibernate ORM. Luckily, continued work on this goal will go hand in hand with continued work on Goal #1 above. - Get started with Flex
Status? Great Success!
As a matter of fact, as of last week, a Flex application that I wrote from the ground up is running in production. I have another on the back burner while finishing up the first project, and it seems like I'm really getting the hang of Flex. I look forward to more projects that utilize it.
So yes, I failed. In some cases, spectacularly! Luckily, it's our failures that we learn the most from, not our successes. I can only hope to continue failing so spectacularly, because when I take stock of the last year I feel as though I've learned an incredible amount.
Goals for 2010:
- Get more better at ORM
Having a basic understanding shows me the power behind this beast. Now it's time to turn it up to 11 and see how I can increase my productivity. - Ship Grub
Whatever the version number, the version control system, or the architecture of the model… just make it work, get it online, and make it public. Don't stress over the design so much, you can fix that in the next iteration. SHIP IT! SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP! - Continue to grow Philly CFUG back to a large regular attendance
I don't have any grandiose plans for how to accomplish this, I'm just going to try hard to plan compelling content, communicate well, and hope that if I build it, they will come. - Get very comfortable with Git
The more I work with and learn about Git, the more I like it over Subversion. I don't want to say that it's a hammer capable of driving screws, but at this point I don't see a compelling reason to continue to use SVN, except when you are sharing a repository with other developers who don't know (or want to learn) Git. If nothing else, the GUI's and tools available for SVN are far more mature and compelling than those available for Git, but that will change over time.
Posted in Meta | 1 Response
1 response:
- Raymond Camden Feb 1, 2010 at 2:35 PM Good luck with ORM. To me - it is like CFCs. I spent _years_ working with it before I felt comfortable. I can do an ORM app right now of course, but I think I'll be "learning" for years.