Jeremy's Blog

It’s really hard to believe it’s been so long since I started doing this. I’ve been programming for almost six and a half years, now. And I still vividly remember how it all started … But, no flashbacks today. I’ve been looking over some of my old stuff, and I found some of the old VortexBB articles from back in September of last year. It’s been that long?

It was late 2004 when I started to really think architecturally about software, and not just think about “building a better mouse trap” … And thus, the GU² Engine saw its first light. And its been my baby for two years, since then. It’s gone through a lot of major revisions and has become a very solid corner-piece to a lot of my development.

To think that it was sixteen months ago that I was working out of my bedroom at my own start-up company and being mildly successful. Back then, things were very different. I was programming for the sake of programming, not necessarily for money. I got to work on what I wanted, when I wanted, and nobody could tell me otherwise. And things were great, that way. Now, things have changed. I work for someone else, doing what I love to do, but I’m making better money doing it. I don’t get to do what I want, when I want… But, I still haven’t lost the architectural fire that was ignited in me two years ago.

Since I’ve been out in Colorado, I’ve architected and developed a handful of very major breakthroughs in the way software works, and how we think about technologies as old as things like XML. I’m doing great things with great people, and I couldn’t be happier with my work. Of course, there’s still a side of me that misses the old days. But, I have to honestly admit that back then I didn’t know half of what I know, now. And it’s been less than a year since everything changed for me. I’ve been around some very influential people in various aspects of software development, and I’ve learned a lot from them all. I would’ve never acquired so much knowledge so quickly, on my own.

Great things continue to happen, day by day. I got lost in a zone yesterday that produced some of the coolest work I’ve done with combining two technologies, and I’m very pleased that it’s going into the very Engine that I architected and revised into the framework that I love.

It’s been six long years, and I’ve seen and done a lot. I’ve worked with some very great people over the years … Sean Roth, Steven Harris, Sani Sarip, Justin Shreve, Lewis Wright, Scott Saniti, DJ Tarazona … All my old colleagues, and my new ones like Shaun Shepard, the most remarkable designer I’ve ever met in my life, over at Completely Unique … Dennis Liang, our System Admin, and generally a really cool guy … John Fisher, my boss and one of the closest friends and biggest inspirations in my life … And all of the people on the project I’m still not discussing here. You know who you are.

Moving on to bigger and better things. Here’s hoping to having someone special to share it all with in the future. And now, I leave you with one of my favorite software-related essays by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.: No Silver Bullet. Enjoy, and I’m looking forward to six more years and more in this industry.