My Goals for 2024
Tags: goals, devresolutions2024, learning
Published: 2024-01-01 21:17:24

---
title: My Goals for 2024
published: true
description: This post is the first step of hopefully many along my journey this year
tags: goals, DEVResolutions2024, learning
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# published_at: 2024-01-01 21:04 +0000
---

This article was originally published on [my blog](https://www.jakehayes.net/articles/2024-goals)

I have spent a significant amount of time over the last month considering what my goals for the year should be. One thing that continued to come to mind was to [Learn in public](https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1009174159690264579) (Thanks to Kent C. Dodds for introducing me to that).

For 2024 I am going dedicate myself to learning. I want to be better at my current job and prepared for anything that may come my way. Given the way that my brain works, I need to be very specific about where I apply my focus.

That combined with having 2 young kids and a full-time job, I do not have enough free time to waste it wherever. I have decided to focus on three main areas.

## Write more articles

Writing is a skill that I have let go dormant and atrophy for too long. It was a primary focus of mine as I grew up but has fallen away since I began my professional software journey. I am looking to get back into that.

I already have curated a list of things I would like to write. But I would also take suggestions based on the interests of others. Would even be available for hire to write technical articles and how-to's.

Preliminary list includes:

- Architecting a Front-End Project Using Micro-Front-ends and Single-Spa
- Things I wish I knew starting as a software engineer
- How to update a header as you scroll through a list in react
- Building a Zip Code Outline Map from Scratch in React
- My Journey from College to Becoming a Technical Lead Engineer
- Many, many others

## Publish an app to an App Store

I am a full-stack web developer specializing in React by trade. I have always wanted to learn native app development as something new. I've done a fair amount of preliminary research and I know that I am going to try both [SwiftUI](https://developer.apple.com/xcode/swiftui/) and [Flutter](https://flutter.dev). SwiftUI fascinates me in its construction. Also, I want to test Flutters 'One codebase, native apps on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Web' assertions.

I do not have a plan for a specific app to make yet. But that is one of the constant background processes in my brain trying to come up with ideas.

## Deep dive and learn about large-scale software architecture

Last year, I read [The Pragmatic Programmer](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-pragmatic-programmer/9780135956977/) for the first time. This year, I have [Clean Code](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/clean-code-a/9780136083238/) and [Clean Architecture](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/clean-architecture-a/9780134494272/) near the top of my "to read" pile.

Others in that pile include:

- [Head First Design Patterns](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/head-first-design/0596007124/)
- [High Performance JavaScript: Build Faster Web Application Interfaces](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/high-performance-javascript/9781449382308/)
- [JavaScript Patterns: Build Better Applications with Coding and Design Patterns](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/javascript-patterns/9781449399115/)
- [Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/hackers-painters/0596006624/)
- [Football Analytics with Python & R: Learning Data Science Through the Lens of Sports](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/football-analytics-with/9781492099611/)

_If you're interested in my non-tech related reading list, let me know_

## Conclusion

If you made it this far, cheers to you and I hope you have a wonderful 2024 ahead of you! Feel free to reach out with questions or comments!