Wow! I can’t believe it has already been 3 months and 3 weeks since I joined Zone01. Time really does move fast.
When I joined, I came in with a mission: to become a strong DevOps engineer.
I also had a bigger vision for myself — to write code that is clean, flexible, maintainable, and sustainable, while continuously learning and contributing to the developer community.
And, of course, I wanted to prove something to myself: even with AI becoming a huge part of software development, there is still a place for developers who understand the fundamentals, can solve problems, and know how the systems they build actually work.
Getting my hands dirty with Go
One of the biggest things Zone01 has pushed me into is Go.
Before joining Zone01, Go was a language I had never worked with — honestly, I had barely heard about it.
Three months later, I have built three projects using Go.
The biggest difference isn't just that I learned the syntax. I've started understanding concepts around:
- HTTP servers and routing
- APIs
- File handling
- Concurrency
- Data structures and algorithms
- Testing
- Dockerizing applications
- Working with the terminal
- Reading and debugging other people's code
There have definitely been moments where Go made me question my life choices. 😂 But that's also where most of the learning happened.
Learning from the people around me
One of the things I appreciate most about being in a developer-focused environment is the constant exposure to other people's work.
Everyone is working on something different, solving problems in their own way and pushing themselves in different directions.
That environment keeps me on my toes.
You might think you're doing well until you see someone else building something that makes you think:
"Okay... I need to learn that too."
And that's a good thing.
Apparently, Docker isn't a programming language
Another funny discovery: Docker.
When I first heard about Docker, I honestly thought it was another programming language I needed to learn.
Now I'm starting to understand containers, images, Dockerfiles, networking, ports and how applications can be packaged and deployed consistently.
And I'm only getting started.
Two hackathons later...
I also had the opportunity to participate in two hackathons during these first few months.
Both experiences pushed me beyond simply writing code.
They required working under pressure, collaborating with others, quickly understanding a problem, making technical decisions and actually building something within a limited amount of time.
Definitely challenging — but definitely worth it.
What's next?
I still have 8 months and 1 week left in this journey.
If the first three months have taught me this much, I'm excited to see what the remaining time will look like.
For the next 2 months and 1 week, my focus is:
1. Build a bakery management project with Go
I want to take what I've learned so far and apply it to a practical project involving things like inventory, sales, payments and reporting.
2. Go deeper into DevOps
My focus will be on:
- Docker and containerization
- Linux and terminal proficiency
- Networking fundamentals and protocols
- Understanding how applications are deployed
- Improving my understanding of CI/CD and infrastructure
There is still a lot to learn.
But that's exactly why I'm here.
3 months down. 8 months and 1 week to go.
Let's see what happens next.
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