My Year 2020 In Review

2020 has been a tough year for most people all around the globe. It hasn't been easy for me and my family during this period of covid-19. I feel lucky and blessed that non of my family members tested positive with covid-19.

As a freelance web developer, finding new work has been a challenge more especially in my country as most companies are reducing their costs, the economy is bad! and all these restrictions to keep everyone safe from the virus.

Not all has been bad.

I just realized that this year, I have improved my web developer skills faster than any other year in my career.

Though the projects may be smaller than usual, I have actually engaged in more meaningful work this year than any other year. I discovered that meaningful work does not always mean good money (Even though money is a good motivator). Sometimes just building something that makes a difference in a user's or client's business or lifestyle is very fulfilling. Seeing that they are happier using your product than what they used before feels great!

The lockdown gave me an opportunity to start learning new skills and technologies in web development. I had more time to learn the skills I had always wanted and I can safely say I have become better, though not at my best yet. I had enough time to search around for courses, books and other resources that helped me sharpen up my skills.

I'm very confident that 2021 will be a better year. For that reason I would like to share the resources that helped me and kept me busy during the pandemic period.

Books I Read

1. Bible
2. Only the brave triumph
3. (That's it! I don't read much)

Video Courses

Free

1. MongoDB developer path from mongoDB University website
2. Building an API with Express from
3. Design with Tailwind CSS Masterclass
4. Drive Traffic to Your Website With Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Paid

1. Learning Functional Programming with JavaScript ES6+ from LinkedIn Learning
2. Building RESTful APIs with Node.js and Express from LinkedIn Learning
3. Advanced Node.js Scaling Applications from LinkedIn Learning
4. JavaScript: The Hard Parts, v2

Websites

1. https://scrimba.com
2. https://www.freecodecamp.org
3. https://openclassrooms.com
4. https://css-tricks.com
5. https://csx.codesmith.io
6. https://developer.mozilla.org
7. https://web.dev
8. https://caniuse.com
9. https://egghead.io
10. https://frontendmasters.com

YouTube Channels

1. freeCodeCamp.org
2. Program With Erik
3. Fireship
4. Debbie O'Brien
5. Web Dev Simplified
6. Dave Gray
7. Kevin Powell
8. Traversy Media
9. Codesmith
10. Adam Wathan
11. The Net Ninja
12. Svelte Society
13. snorklTV
14. The Coding Train
15. Dev Ed
16. Academind
17. Jason Lengstorf
18. Gift Egwuenu
19. Svelte Mastery
20. Fun Fun Function (Old content but my go to when I need JS refresher tips)

People

1. @willsentance
2. @youyuxi
3. @Rich_Harris
4. @snorklTV
5. @Atinux
6. @IamNuxt
7. @debs_obrien
8. @mpjme
9. @Una
10. @wesbos
11. @stolinski
12. @traversymedia
13. @NinaLimpi
14. @mlwebco
15. @thenetninjauk
16. @johnlindquist
17. @chriscoyier
18. @sarah_edo
19. @adamwathan
20. @giraud_florent
21. @dawntraoz
22. @lauragift_
23. @aerotwist
24. @nraboy
25. @ireaderinokun
26. @addyosmani
27. @jaffathecake
28. @swyx
29. @stolinski
30. @steveschoger

What I love to work with

Programing Language

1. JavaScript
2. Typescript
3. Node.js

Web Frameworks / Libraries

1. Vue.js
2. Nuxt.js
3. Express.js
4. Socket.io
5. Tailwind.css
6. Vuetify.js
7. Svelte.js

Backend Services

1. Firebase
2. MongoDB Realm
3. Vercel
4. Netlify

CMS

1. Nuxt Content
2. Strapi

I would like to say thank you to every who stayed positive through out the year.

Happy new year and all the best!!