Be a Happy Coder

When starting my new coding journey I was hopeful, I remember telling myself that I would rock my bootcamp, that I would make this and that project, probably have a side project to have a side income, that I would go to many conferences, etc... etc...

Truth is, frustration and deception arrived very quickly. I didn't rock my bootcamp, I finished it having learned many things for sure, I had miles and miles of opened tabs to tools, tutorials, discussions... everything to help me find answers to my questions. But I didn't reach the point where I could help someone or explain something because I wasn’t understanding anything well enough.

For many months I was just telling myself that one of the reasons developers are well paid is that companies need to keep them on the job while unhappy because coding is just about negative feelings.
These "HAAA" moments are not happening often enough to satisfy anybody, so yes of course companies need them to be well paid so they keep doing it.
And I had proof to validate that theory: have you been on tech Twitter? Everybody is depressed, burned out, frustrated...

I searched for a community of devs where I could find support not only on technical subjects but in general. We are not just devs, we are people with feelings, with stories. In the community I have found we are all different but we are searching for the same things: being happy with what we do, receiving support as much as providing it, promoting people, and having fun.
Turns out our group is a magnet for very cool people. We are very lucky.

I joined the community while I was in an internship, about to start my job search. I was miserable, I receive a lot of help, I got results, it made me more confident.
And what helped a ton as well was to be in contact with people who were happy with their work, with their projects, who found that coding was something fun and was very motivated to share about it.

There was one person in particular who was the happiest coder of all time. The kind of person who always shares the good stuff they find, always smiling, they know the cool tricks, and all of that is positively contagious!
This person helped me and many others with coding challenges, learning, debugging, interview prep..., and was also a gaming buddy because remember: we are not just coders!

This person left us today and will leave an empty hole behind them. It is a horrible and sad day for our community, and it will affect many many more when the news will spread.

I guess my intention with this article was to give an homage to this happy person, I hope they knew the impact they had on so many people. I wish the tech community has more people like them.

If you think you are a happy one too, remember that you can probably change someone's day by sharing a little bit of your shine.
If you are not, find your happy coders and I hope they will help you go through your coding journey, and find some fun in your work.

Goodbye friend, Docker doesn’t make me happy yet, but I am happy to have known you :)