from Hacker News

Project I was excited about, then not excited about as I watched it crumble and fall apart completely. I wanted certain things to be true that were not true, and in my ignorance I committed myself to something I didn't completely want to do [1].

But I finished [2]. Even though it's completely distinct from what I intended to finish (apparently what I went through is called a "tarpit" idea) and not something I really want, I'm proud of it nonetheless. It's worth mentioning also that this is my first time deciding to do something long and hard on my own.

What I learned (in order of importance):

- Basics of html, css, js, py, useful js & py packages, git, using my mac terminal [3]

- AI helps me learn and produce at an astonishing speed [4]

- Open source is my best friend

- The projects I undertake are always new to me and so their success relies on some assumptions I'll always make about some (foreign-at-the-time) things. When I go about messing around with those things, I learn more about it and it always works differently or is way more complicated than what I thought - which has implications for my project's success. I've got to confirm things work as I expect them to work and if they don't (because they won't), I've got to adjust accordingly or take that information into account before I get all excited and decide to commit to building something (because there's no stopping that).

- The most valuable thing I have is time

[1]: I say this but building it was also the happiest I've ever been [a].

[2]: https://www.bytedrum.com/posts/art-of-finishing/

[3]: My life has a lot to do with aesthetics. How I feel when doing something is sometimes strongly related to how I would feel if I saw an identical me in my exact situation doing the same task = my 3rd person view on myself influences my 1st person feelings (which also influences my 3rd person view - think reading a book and seeing the mind of the character); and I can access both. That's why, I think, it feels better to mess around in bash than python. Because the aesthetic is way cooler.

[4]: I'm a little slow when it comes to learning anything complicated but I just need someone to stick with me because I'll stick with it. I've got a problem that I won't accept things easily [b] so I won't use things as tools if I don't understand them so I have lots of questions about it, which tires any teacher and isn't fair to other kids.

[a]: I say this, but working on the project also coincided with moving into college, being on my own for the first time, meeting cool people, etc.

[b]: I say this but there are plenty of things I accept without question (mostly because the alternative is probably not good).

Edit: Formatting