Learnings from 2026 January 3-9

Source: Dev.to

Recap

• Participated in my first hackathon in San Francisco, building an ed‑tech tool for homeless youth in California during Hack for Social Impact 2025.
• Dug into HTML details I was unfamiliar with, such as “ and character entity references.
• Learned about the core logic of large language models, thanks to renowned AI researcher Andrej Karpathy’s series Neural Networks: Zero to Hero.
• Shipped a frontend MVP for a stealth startup in the power‑tech space, helping them secure their first paying customer.

Learnings This Week

• JavaScript task queues: A Promise is prioritized over setTimeout. The event loop processes tasks in two queues—micro‑tasks first, then macro‑tasks—after synchronous code runs.
• Joy of experimentation: I heard a software engineer discuss her focus on the “joy of experimentation,” which contrasts with the results‑driven pressure of “having to ship.” It reminded me to leave room for joy despite deadlines and requirements.
• Claude code integration: I started exploring how to better utilize Claude code and will begin implementing ideas from Sarah Deaton’s recent post.

Closing Thoughts

I’m considering using this space not only to share learnings but also as a “professional diary.” It’s valuable to capture reflections without the pressure of clout or engagement metrics. Happy 2025 and onward to a great 2026.