Back to development after 3 months

In this non-technical podcast episode, the host reflects on the challenges of getting back into the routine of software development after a break. They discuss how taking time off can make tasks that were once seamless feel unfamiliar and laborious. The host shares examples of how even simple processes like recording a podcast or fixing a bug can become more difficult after a break. They emphasize the importance of staying connected to the industry and finding one's comfort zone when returning to software development.

Takeaways

Taking even a short break from software development can make it challenging to get back into the routine.
Tasks that were once seamless can feel unfamiliar and laborious after a break.
Staying connected to the industry and keeping up with new developments is important.
Finding one's comfort zone and understanding how long of a break can be taken without feeling uncomfortable is crucial.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview

03:17 Challenges of Getting Back into Software Development

08:11 The Laborious Process of Tasks After a Break

09:40 The Importance of Staying Connected to the Industry

13:31 Finding Your Comfort Zone in Returning to Software Development

Podcast

Check out on Spotify.

Summary

Recent Focus & Work

The host shares details about the team’s focus over the past few months, including working on non-typical aspects like generative AI, and how they are building new APIs, with a focus on their presence in API hubs like AWS Marketplace.

Evolving Engineering Practices

Insights into how the team is shifting to newer ways of building solutions. The speaker talks about exploring new tools, how the industry is evolving, and how he’s been doing less coding personally but focusing more on strategic development.

Challenges in Staying Up-to-Date

Discussion about how taking a break from regular coding makes one rusty. The speaker talks about how even routine tasks, like publishing podcasts, took longer because of the break.
He reflects on how easily tasks like generating image and video assets for the podcast were in the past compared to now.

Difficulties with Mobile and API Development

The host delves into challenges faced in bug fixes for their mobile app (built on Flutter and Dart) and other backend systems (Ruby, Golang, JavaScript).
He emphasizes how much harder it feels when you return to the development after a break.

Language and Framework Hurdles

Explanation of the difficulties faced while working with Flutter and its dependencies, including updating the framework.
The host shares his team’s struggle with backward compatibility issues and how different frameworks, languages, and dependencies contribute to the complexity.

Experience of Building New APIs

The host reflects on their experience building a new Golang API in a short period last year, compared to how slower things have felt recently due to the lack of active coding in the past few months.

Effect of Breaks on Productivity

A detailed explanation of how taking a break, even if it’s not for vacation but for exploring other tools, can slow down the process of coding and development. The speaker stresses the importance of consistency and how even publishing a podcast after a break felt harder.

Upcoming Plans & Tools Exploration

The host hints at future collaborative and solo technical podcasts and mentions new tools they’re exploring, such as VV8 for vector databases and how MongoDB supports these databases.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

The host wraps up by emphasizing the importance of keeping in touch with one’s work to avoid getting rusty.
He shares an anecdote about struggling to recognize his own code after a break and encourages listeners to stay connected to their work.