💻 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞 - 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟬𝟵: 𝗞𝗶𝘄𝗶 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀

Daniel Robledo — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Welcome back to 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 (𝗥𝗙𝗦)—my weekly dev blog where I share my journey transitioning from game development to full-stack development.

🛠️ 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱

This week, I rolled up my sleeves and dove deep into building the infrastructure for my app—yep, it’s getting real!

📦 Docker for Local Deployment
🔄 CI/CD with GitHub Actions
☁️ DigitalOcean VM + K3S Cluster

I also set up Ingress and Services so everything can talk to each other, and the app can be accessed seamlessly. It’s all running on Kubernetes now, so I’m feeling pretty high-tech. Big thanks to José Carlos Rodríguez Mora, Álvaro Galisteo Álvarez, and Javier Robledo Zarco for the help—I couldn’t have done it without you guys! 🙏

🌱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿

In between setting up servers, I took a break and finished reading The Pragmatic Programmer. This book is hands down one of the best reads I’ve ever had, not just for programming, but life in general. It’s like a treasure chest of wisdom.

If you're interested, I’ve compiled all the action points and hints I took from the book for anyone who wants to check it out. Trust me, it’s totally worth it. 📚

🧠 𝗞𝗶𝘄𝗶 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁: 𝗔 𝗗𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘅 𝗔𝗽𝗽

Big news! I’m officially part of a project with Charlie Sánchez and Sergio Ruiz —we’re building a dopamine detox app (codename Kiwi Project). The idea is to help people regain control over their habits and lead healthier, happier lives.

It’s going to be a public repository (not open-source, but feel free to check it out!) and we plan on having something usable in a couple of weeks. If you're interested in playtesting, keep an eye out for the sign-up form on my feed. It’s going to be exciting! 🎮

👨‍💻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 (𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁)

Besides all the coding, I spent some time researching companies I want to work for. I’ve narrowed it down to six countries:

• Spain
• UK
• Ireland
• Australia
• Canada
• Amsterdam

I picked one or two companies per country and now it’s time to get my resume out there! I’m also targeting front-end, back-end, and Android jobs as well. Can’t wait to get those interview jitters back! 😅

📅 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀

This week, I also attended a few more full-stack events (gotta keep learning, right?). And, just to top it off, I signed up to be a volunteer at Madrid codemotion. If you’re going, let’s definitely meet up!

Thanks for reading, and as always, if you’re on a similar journey or just want to chat about programming, drop me a message. What’s been the most exciting project you’ve worked on recently? 🤔

With love,

𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶 <3

🚀 Road To Full Stack: My Pivot From Game Development (So Far)

Daniel Robledo — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 13:15:16 +0000

read time: 05 minutes

Welcome back to 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 (𝗥𝗙𝗦)—my weekly dev blog where I share my journey transitioning from game development to full-stack web development.

Since I just joined this community, I wanted to give you a little bit of an introduction to my ongoing dev-blog series. And tell you what's been happening so far in the last seven weeks.

☑️ Today's Summary:

I tell you why I decided to pivot from making videogames to coding webapps
I explain my 12-week plan for doing this career change.
I summarize everything that has happened so far in the last seven weeks.

Chapter 01: The Journey Beggins

Hey there! 👋

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Dani—a 24-year-old computer engineer. I’ve spent the past five years developing games and worked as a gameplay programmer for two years until I got laid off.

During this unexpected break (which also included recovering from surgery), I spent a lot of time reflecting, reading philosophy, and stumbled across the Japanese concept of 𝗜𝗸𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗶—the idea of finding purpose by aligning:

• What you 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 💙
• What you’re 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘁 🏆
• What you can be 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 💰
• What the world 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 🌍

That hit home. It made me rethink my career, take up teaching part-time, and most importantly, pivot toward web app development.

Let’s be real: 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿. But beyond that, web development offers a great balance of 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹, 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

📖 𝗠𝗬 𝟭𝟮-𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡

After digging around, asking for advice (thanks, y’all! ❤️), and weighing my options, I narrowed my choices to two tech stacks:

𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔: React.js + React Native + Node.js
𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕: React.js + Kotlin + Java & Spring

I went with 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕 for the depth of learning, but I’m still unsure about Kotlin. If you have thoughts on that, let me know in the comments! 🤔

Now, about my learning style: I know myself 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹.

I buy a course, a book, or a workshop.
Do a few lessons, get bored, and ditch it.
Start building something myself and learn on the fly.

Instead of fighting it, I’m embracing it. I got myself some videos and courses and starting reading "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗲𝗯 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿" — solid read so far. 📚

Since I need to start working again by late June, I’m on a tight schedule. Here’s the rough roadmap:
📚 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝟭, 𝟮 & 𝟯: Learn the Tech Stack
🛠️ 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝟰: Build a simple web app
📩 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝟱: Apply for jobs

Of course, this plan 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. If I hit a roadblock or get great feedback (which I’d love from you!), I’ll adjust as needed.

Chapter 02: My First React Webs

I decided to start my full-stack journey with frontend because, honestly, it excites me the most! As a former gameplay programmer, I love the intersection of logic and design, and frontend development gives me that same creative spark.

But first—𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁.

I’ll be real: I barely touched JavaScript in college, so I took a step back and brushed up on the basics before diving into React. I went through tutorials, crash courses, and docs to get comfortable with:

JavaScript syntax
The concept of the DOM
SPA, SSR, CSR, SSG & ISR models
HTTP requests & Fetch API
JSX and React coding standards

Armed with the fundamentals, I took 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 at 2x speed (because, why not?). It was a game-changer for understanding React’s core concepts.

💡 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦! 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬.

🔥 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀-𝗢𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁

Theory is great, but 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.

I discovered 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗮’𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟵 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲—and wow, I wish I had found it sooner! It blends IDE functionality with video lessons, making learning feel 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 and 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴. Seriously, if you're learning React, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.

So far, I’ve built 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 to put my learning into practice:
1️⃣ 𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁 – A simple SPA to grasp the basics of components and JSX.
2️⃣ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 – Focused on loading data dynamically and managing components.
3️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 (𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜!) – Integrated Claude AI to generate recipes using forms, conditional rendering, and API calls.

📂 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗶𝘁𝗛𝘂𝗯—𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲! (https://github.com/DCRobledo)

Chapter 03: I'm Done With React

I just finished the scrimba course I was taking and I built three projects:

• 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 – Using the ImageFlip API to dynamically generate memes.
• 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 – A dice game where the goal is to get all dice to match, focusing on state initialization and effects.
• 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 – A digital Hangman game to master hooks, side effects, and references.

The biggest challenges were for sure keeping my code organized, state initialization and effects were tricky, and references felt counterintuitive—I officially hate JavaScript, yeah.

Despite the struggles, I’m proud of these projects because they were self-taught and built from the ground up. The full code, complete with explanations, is on GitHub. (The Link is in the first comment.)

💡 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜’𝗺 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁
React is powerful, but I didn’t vibe with JavaScript’s loose typing. Coming from C++, I prefer a more structured, organized approach, and JavaScript felt too messy.

That’s why I’m considering:

𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 – For strong typing within React’s ecosystem.
𝗔𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 – For its strict architecture and TypeScript support.

I haven’t decided yet, but one thing’s clear—I need type safety to keep my god-damn sanity.

🚀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽: 𝗞𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗻 & 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱
With React done, I’m diving into Kotlin and Android development. I’ve always wanted to build mobile apps, and Kotlin seems like the perfect blend of Java’s robustness and React’s modern patterns.

I’m ready to learn through courses and tutorials, just like I did with React. People say Kotlin’s experience is not as awful as JavaScript's, and I’m excited to see how it compares.

🎯 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Learning React took longer than expected, but that’s okay—learning is unpredictable. If you’re on this journey, set flexible timelines, and don’t be too hard on yourself.

Transitioning from gameplay programming to web development has been smoother than I anticipated, and I now feel more confident in my ability to adapt and build.

The road to full stack is long, but each step brings me closer to my goal.

Chapter 04: I'm Loving Android

I started my week with a 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗧𝘂𝗯𝗲, followed by an 𝗨𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆 course that walked me through building simple Android apps. From the get-go, I felt comfortable.

First impressions of Kotlin? It’s like 𝗖 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗱—but instead of inheriting all their weird quirks, it took the best parts of both.
✅ Readable syntax
✅ Less boilerplate than Java
✅ No need to have an astrophysics career for compiling code like in C

On the tooling side, 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 immediately felt familiar. Since it’s built on top of 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗝 𝗜𝗗𝗘, it reminded me of working in 𝗨𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲—and having a built-in emulator to test apps right inside the IDE is just 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘧’𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴.

Then there’s 𝗝𝗲𝘁𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲—Android’s declarative UI framework. What surprised me was how much 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀.
🎮 Define a UI component
🎨 Style it directly in code
⚡ Add interactivity in the same place

🤔 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 & 𝗧𝗵𝗲 (𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗹𝘆) 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆
The biggest downside I noticed? Code clutter. Since Jetpack Compose mixes UI elements and interactivity, things can 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗹𝘆—especially when styling is deeply nested inside modifiers. There’s probably a best practice for this, but I haven’t explored it yet.

Another thing? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀. I kept seeing people throw around terms like 𝘔𝘝𝘝𝘔 and file names 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 like it’s a secret club. While I get the idea—separating UI, logic, and data—it feels like we engineers sometimes overcomplicate things just to sound smart (but that’s a rant for another post.)

📱 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝘀
To put my learning into practice, I built two mini-apps focused on UI interactivity (𝘎𝘪𝘵𝘏𝘶𝘣 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵)
1️⃣ 𝗔 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽 – This one loaded JSON data and displayed it dynamically.
2️⃣ 𝗔𝗻 𝗔𝗣𝗜-𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 – I leveled up by fetching data from the MealDB API and integrating it into the UI.

Chapter 05: Spring Boot Surprised Me

Before diving in, I thought Spring Boot was some kind of complex framework that would 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 more than help. Turns out, it’s the opposite. It’s just a clean way to 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗯, and it takes care of 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 for you.

Need a CRUD API? Done. Need a database connection? Easy. Pair it with Maven, and you’ve got a super smooth workflow.

I'm halfway through 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘆'𝘀 Udemy course and I'm loving it.

🎮 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃 𝘃𝘀. 𝗪𝗲𝗯 𝗗𝗲𝘃: 𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱
One thing that keeps hitting me: 𝗪𝗲𝗯 𝗱𝗲𝘃 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱. They’ve been solving the same problems for decades, so everything is optimized.

Compare that to game dev: Take 𝗨𝗻𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 (𝗚𝗔𝗦). It’s a powerful tool, but you still need tons of work before you get anything functional. In web dev, you import a framework, and boom, you’ve got an API.

Also, testing. Web dev has tons of tools, while in game dev, we barely take testing seriously. That’s something we could definitely learn from.

Moreover, I never thought I’d say this, but after years of fighting with C++, 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗮𝘃𝗮. Maybe it’s 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘮 𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦, maybe it’s just the relief of not dealing with pointers, but I have to admit—it feels refreshing.

🏗️ 𝗡𝗼 𝗨𝗜, 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗣𝗜𝘀
This week was all about back-end fundamentals. No flashy UI, no front-end magic—just databases, APIs, and structured code. Not much to show, but I’ll drop a GitHub link in the first comment if you’re curious to check out the code.

Chapter 06: Prepping For Job Hunting

After weeks of diving into the backend world, I’ve completed @chaddarby Spring Boot course. And I have to say—𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁. He did a great job of making the learning process engaging and structured, which is something I truly appreciate when going through self-paced learning.

Here’s what stood out the most:
✅ 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 – Learning where to start and how to take small, incremental steps instead of getting lost in all its features.

🎯 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
With my next full-stack project on the horizon, I decided to 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯-𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. I’m the kind of person who likes to tackle job searching methodically—without overwhelming myself—so I set a simple rule: no more than one hour a day.

This week, I focused on two main things:

📄 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘆 𝗖𝗩 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗧𝗦 & 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆
I completely rebuilt my CV from scratch, focusing on ATS-friendliness and clarity. Here’s what I changed:
🔹 𝗦𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗮𝗧𝗲𝗫 – ATS parsers struggle with design-heavy formats, so I went for a simple text-based approach.
🔹 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 & 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 – Added an address field, a clear professional summary, and a one-column work experience layout for better readability.

💡 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗩 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

🌍 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀
I divided the countries I’d like to work in into four tiers, starting with my top choices:
📍 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟭: Amsterdam, Canada, Australia

Within these, I started researching companies that 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀, particularly those focusing on:
✅ Education
✅ Fitness
✅ Mental Health

My strategy?
🔹 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 with employees in relevant companies and positions via LinkedIn
🔹 Joining LinkedIn 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽s to interact with the community and share my journey
🔹 Signing up for 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 (both local and remote) to meet people and learn more

Chapter 07: My Own App

This week was a bit different. I traveled to 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗼𝗯𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗱, which meant less time for coding but more time for 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀. I took this opportunity to step back, analyze what’s working (and what’s not), and 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 for how I’ll tackle full-stack development moving forward.

🎯 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻: 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀
✅ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 – I’ll dedicate 4 hours a day to developing my own app. Right now, I’m exploring a few ideas:
• A 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 & 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 app that gamifies habits (or focuses on one aspect, like meal planning).
• A 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆/𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 organization tool to make preparation and applications easier.
• Collaborating on either a 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲 Wiki (for Brandon Sanderson fans) or a social media 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘅 app.

✅ 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 1 hour a day engaging with developers and tech communities. I’ll be active on LinkedIn groups and attending meetups (both online and offline). I firmly believe networking is one of the best ways to learn faster, discover opportunities, and stay motivated.

✅ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 1 hour a day focused on acquiring the missing technical skills I need as I go. First on the list? TypeScript, since I want to transition from JavaScript to TypeScript in React. However, I also plan to solidify my understanding of Docker, AWS, and other backend essentials in the coming weeks. This way, I’ll continuously improve while working on my app.

✅ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – 2 hours a week dedicated to sharing my journey and insights. My weekly dev blog will continue, but I also want to create more educational content—breaking down what I learn into useful posts, guides, or even interactive discussions. I’m still figuring out how and where to share it, but it will likely be a mix of my feed and LinkedIn groups.

🚀 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻?
Because full-stack development isn’t just about writing code—it’s about 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. I don’t just want to learn in isolation; I want to build, share, and engage with the community.

Now, the next big step is deciding 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱—I’ll make that call soon and update you next week!

Next Steps

And that's it! I'm so excited about this new path and I'll keep you posted :)

With love,
Dani <3

DEV Community: Daniel Robledo