Old Year, New Year, Old Stuff, New Stuff!

Old Year, Old Stuff

I have been an independent developer for over twelve years, using a variety of tools, platforms, and languages. I really love being on my own, even through the slow periods when I wondered if I would find any new projects to work!

Breaking away from corporate life might not be for everyone, but if you are thinking about it, I encourage you to keep working towards that goal. Being independent while my kids were growing allowed us to do many things as a family that I would not otherwise have been able to do. It also put me in a position to work on some very cool projects for different clients over the years.

Old Year, New Stuff

Twelve months ago, I set a goal of having close to half my work be iOS based by the end of the year. I did not quite reach that goal, but I can definitely see it happening in the near future.

I have really matured in my iOS development by hanging out with very smart and sharing people at 360iDev conferences, local user groups and meetups, and through twitter. Thanks to all who taught, wrote, or otherwise shared great stuff!

New Year, Old Stuff

I have gone through many changes in life, both personally and professionally, but very few have been abrupt ones. I still expect to continue on in some fashion with projects I have been working this past year. As some major projects from the past year wind down this year, it will be interesting to see what comes next.

New Year, New Stuff

This coming year will be one of those gradual changes as I move into more and more mobile development, both iOS and Android, over the coming months. I anticipate being very busy for the first few months of the year, and then seeing what happens.

iDevBlogADay.com

Today’s post marks four complete months for my participation in iDevBlogADay, and with the new work I will be involved with over the next few months, this seems an appropriate time to hand over my coveted Sunday slot to the next victim. I’ve really enjoyed being a part of iDevBlogADay.com — it has been the primary support technique to get me writing regularly again, and for that I am very thankful.

Participating has taught or reminded me of several things:

  • Just like software, good writing is work;
  • Writing usually takes longer than I think and rarely turns out exactly like I planned;
  • There is nothing like a deadline to motivate me to action;
  • Writing about what I am learning helps me understand it better;
  • The developer community in general, and the iOS developer community in particular is great!

Thanks Miguel!

Miguel, thanks so much for the work you put into setting up and maintaining iDevBlogADay, I appreciate it very much. For those who have read, commented on, and retweeted my posts — thank you, I hope you found some useful nuggets along the way.

I still plan on posting twice a month, though not on Sunday. You should subscribe to my blog and hold me accountable to this.

Please follow me on twitter if you are interested in what comes of all this new stuff!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!