Milestones / Reflecting things
Tags: career, meta, showdev
Published: 2019-08-06 06:27:49

Sometimes it is quite nice to reflect on what you have already achieved in life. Here, I only focus on tech things that I've learned since I started software development 20 years ago.

There were also some technologies or programming languages which I started to learn but abandoned at some point. I marked them with this emoji: 🏚.


##### 20 years ago
- QBasic 🏚
- I found a QBasic IDE on some computer games magazine's disk. I was immediately caught and wanted to learn more about programming. I started by printing out source code and read it. A few weeks later I started by coding a simple quiz application.

##### 19 years ago
- Visual Basic 6 🏚
- As my parents realized that I really like computer programming, they bought me a book like _Visual Basic for Kids_. I spent every minute learning Visual Basic. Eventually, I wrote an application that split large files into smaller chunks (floppy disk were still a thing in 2000), which was featured in a computer magazine 🥳

##### 17 years ago
- Blitz BASIC, HTML and CSS
- Because I already was familiar with the BASIC dialect, I looked for a way to write computer games, so I discovered [Blitz BASIC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_BASIC). It was easy for me to write simple 2d graphic games. A benefit of learning Blitz BASIC was, that there was a very active and helpful community in Germany.

##### 15 years ago
- PHP, MySQL and JavaScript 🏚
- I launched my first website fifteen years ago (a platform where anyone could upload replays of [Pro Evolution Soccer 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Evolution_Soccer_3))

##### 14 years ago
- Linux and server administration
- I ordered my first virtual server to install a Counter-Strike game server and an IRC bouncer.

##### 13 years ago
- Network administration, Active Directory
- I began an apprenticeship as IT administrator in late 2006. No coding was involved, I didn't really like that job, but it taught me many computer science basic which are still helpful.

##### 10 years ago
- Java, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, MSSQL, C++, C#, Assembler
- Sounds like I learned a lot in this year. I started studying computer science after I finished my apprenticeship. It was very practical and I learned many programming languages and database systems.

##### 7 years ago
- Java, Java EE, Spring Framework, Apache Tomcat, JBoss
- I landed my first job as software engineer in 2012 🥳. Everything I learned so far was nice and came helpful, but when you start working, you realize that you know nothing.

##### 6 years ago
- AngularJS 🏚, jQuery 🏚, REST APIs
- Only backend coding make me go crazy. I wanted to learn some technologies where I actually was able to show what I've done. I started learning AngularJS with an online course from CodeSchool.

##### 5 years ago
- Node.js, Docker 🐳
- My first contact with DevOps technologies, more precisely Docker. 

##### 4 years ago
- Jenkins, REST APIs, Swift 🏚, Android 🏚
- I started working for a new company where I developed the backend system for a mobile application. Because I wanted to have some basic knowledge of the apps, I started to learn Swift and Android.

##### 3 years ago
- Docker 🐳
- Docker again, but this time a little more specific.

##### 2 years ago
- TypeScript, Angular
- I have again changed to a new employer. 
- This time I learned TypeScript and because I am doing more full stack work, I also had to learn Angular.

##### 1 year ago
- Kubernetes, React
- When Docker Cloud was shut down last year, we were looking for a new way to host our services, we decided to go with Kubernetes. I don't regret this choice so far.
- I also did some more front end development, React ⚛️ has replaced Angular a bit.

##### 0.5 years ago
- GatsbyJS ❤️, Headless CMS, JAMstack
- I built some websites for friends and local businesses. In my opinion static site generators and headless content management systems are the state-of-the-art nowadays.

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