Year 4

0. Looking Back

The difficulty actually lies in accepting oneself and conscious growth; it's easy to get buried in technical details.

Another year has passed in a flash, traveling further along the professional path.

Learning Harvest

Among 51 blog posts:

Backend knowledge system: System design from a scalability perspective x15
Node.js: Underlying principles x4
React Native: Inside and out x5
React: New features x3
Ideas/Concepts: Frontend rendering models x1, Software architecture x1, Cloud computing x5, Micro-frontends x2, Microservices x1, Cloud IDE x1
VS Code: VS Code extensions x3
Libraries/Frameworks: immer x1
Tools: Hot Reload principles x3
Small toys: string-to-file-stream x1, imer x1, EmbeddedBrowser x1
Specifications: ESn x2, TC39 workflow x1

I have established a broad framework for a backend knowledge system, touched upon Node.js underlying principles, and finally got to know RN from the inside out. React seems not to have been updated for a long time, and the promised Concurrent Mode is yet to be released.

The undercurrent of cloud computing has swept in, already creating ripples in some fields. I continued the indissoluble bond with VS Code; tools and toys are all gravitating toward business needs... There has been little effective conversion of business value; knowledge boundaries are deliberately extending backward and downward.

Goal Completion

Backward: Established a backend knowledge system.
Influence: External influence seems to come from outputting historical experience in customized IDEs; internal influence has diminished to almost nothing.
Thinking power: Under deliberate strengthening, I've thought about many small points in combination with business, but I lack deeper value excavation.
The art of public speaking: Stalled after half a year of persistence; team sharing x1.
Downward: Barely a beginner in Node.js C++ extensions; it currently seems like a "dragon-slaying skill" (impressive but rarely used), so it's on hold.
Expression: Attempted active expression several times with some effect, but it hasn't become a habit yet.
Absorption: Learned very little, and put even less into practice.

I stuck to the general direction of moving backward and downward. Some minor changes were made in terms of influence with slight success. I am thinking consciously, but the frequency and depth are far from enough, and there is still much room for improvement in expressive ability.

P.S. After changing the "soap style" (generic style), adding the carefully designed "Frontend Backward" brand, and using sensationalist headlines and cover images, the number of followers on the WeChat official account has started to grow rapidly.

Growth Experience

Among 50 mood logs:

Expression: speak consciously x2, Voice control x2, Active expression x1, Pausing x1
Communication: Guiding x2, Stating facts and feelings x1, Paranoia/Obstinacy x1
Action: Pragmatism x2, Creation x2, Start doing x2, Plan then act x1, Bold attempts x1, Absorption x1
Life: Acceptance and respect x1, Earnestness x1
Thinking: Value thinking x1, Carving out time x1
Gains: Insights x16, Experience x11

There is a slight improvement in communication and expression. The pressure of life has gradually begun to hem me in. Between thinking and acting, there are both gains and confusion.

1. Insights

"Thinking" and "Doing"

Ideas are just like the problems you encounter; others have likely thought of the same points as you.

The difference is that some people actually did it and succeeded:

Thought of it	And did it	Others did it too	What happened later
Scraping rental info from reliable channels, building a credit mechanism to keep the community healthy	credit (2016 startup project, started but stopped due to overtime)	Douban Renting (Official)	Ceased operations on April 4, 2019
Open-source IDE rapid customization solution	Refactoring, decoupling, pluginization (Nov 2018)	VSCodium	Started in Aug 2018, became popular in April 2019, currently nearly 10K Stars
E-commerce integrated with RPG elements, 3D virtual fitting	Started WebGL in 2015, installed Maya (wanted to model 3D characters, do skeletal animation), but nothing after graduation	Taobao Life (Launched May 29, 2019; mix-and-match linkage already has the prototype of fitting)	The application of 3D graphics technology in interactive entertainment scenarios has a great future
Open-source a set of universal web page building and generation solutions	icebrick (Started end of 2017, stalled in Feb 2018)	vision (Standardized building platform)	One of the 4 core modules of Low-Code; the future is promising

Furthermore, at the end of the 3rd year (July 2019), I proposed backward and downward professional paths, and in April 2020, I saw familiar ideas:

Even though SFF (BFF) has become the trend, broadening the boundaries of thinking and understanding server-side knowledge remains essential.

Yes, someone else thought of it too, someone else did it too, and someone else succeeded.

Success Depends on the Right Person

First there is the matter, then there are the people, and only then is there room for technology to grow.

From this perspective, technology is actually the least important thing.

To dive into newer and deeper technical fields, one must first find the connection point between technology and commerce. Where is the business model or scenario that fits the technology?

This soil may have been waiting for a long time, or it may not have appeared yet. But even if fertile soil is found, technical seeds do not take root and sprout immediately; they also need the right person—what is called "success depends on the person." It's not as I once naively thought:

Who does it isn't the key; if there's an idea and it can be implemented, it will succeed. Just fit the business and carve out a unique path.

Technical seeds need careful tending to grow a truly valuable foundation, and then flourish and bloom perpetually.

Therefore, what a technical person needs is not just unique skills and dedicated craftsmanship, but also a seed of possibility, the flowerpot, sunlight, and rain of the early stages, a piece of soil and continuous watering in the middle... as well as the judgment to foresee abundant fruit from a single seed and the influence to help secure all these resources.

Paranoia/Obstinacy

When discussing problems and listening to opinions, it is suggested to stand in the other person's shoes more, to improve your multi-perspective view and inclusiveness toward things.

A shortcoming I had never realized was finally pointed out. I've finally stepped out and can see similar problems in others.

Examining oneself objectively is often the most difficult task because the standard model is built by oneself, with various parameters adjusted based on self-identification. Under such a standard model, one is always perfect; even the wrong is right, even mistakes are excusable. If no reason can be found, one can still blame it on mood or personality:

I won't... I don't want to... I just won't...

Thus, the self in the mirror is always imperfect, while the self in the heart is always flawless. Boxed within one's own evaluation criteria, one will never notice, because:

You don't know what you don't know.

But as long as there is a mirror, these hidden shortcomings can easily be exposed. It could be a sharp reminder or self-reflection using others as a mirror.

A Single Tree Becoming a Forest

Can a single tree become a forest?

Yes. Like a giant banyan tree:

A single tree is a "Bird's Paradise," a single gun is an army, and a single person can form a technical barrier.

But what if it's a young "giant banyan"?

At this stage, a lone tree certainly cannot hold up a corner of the sky. But if it connects with the trees around it, given time, they will grow into towering trees that dominate their respective areas, pointing straight to the stars.

2. Goals

Year 5

Influence: 3,000 followers on the WeChat official account, more than 10 internal presentations.
Frontend Engineering: Since I'm still doing this, I'll do it beyond expectations.
Learn how PMs work: Finish reading "Everyone is a Product Manager" and apply it to 3 actual scenarios.
Reach Out: Maintain 14 links with the inner circle.
Self-reflection: Review and summarize once a month.
Observation: Establish my own "view on people and things."

Continuously Managing Influence

Even the finest wine fears the deep alley.

At Mengge's strong suggestion, I made some improvements to the official account that had been left to grow wild for several years:

Rename: Changed from the profound but mouthful "黯羽轻扬" (Anyu Qingyang) to the catchy "前端向后" (Frontend Backward).
Positioning: Knowledge is finite, boundaries are nonexistent; let's head into the deep-water zone of frontend together and explore the magnificent beauty beneath the iceberg.
Design cover images: Abandoned the generic soap-style cover images and carefully selected/designed headlines.
Design advertising slogans: Transformed into an entry-level clickbait master.

In addition, I opened a Zhihu column, synchronizing some blog articles across multiple channels, which has already shown some initial results.

The VS Code-related articles output over the past two years have already generated some slight influence. Opportunities have started finding me actively, which is the first time in 6 years of blogging that I've felt a return, confirming the value of influence and the necessity of continuous investment.

Analyzing Oneself, Conscious Growth

The process of analyzing oneself is quite bloody and painful.

Spreading out a blank sheet of paper, I wrote down three major shortcomings:

Paranoia/Obstinacy: Self-righteous, sticking to my own opinions.
Research-oriented personality: Studying a point thoroughly brings me joy, but the time cost of thorough research is getting higher and higher.
Introverted: My writing is much deeper than my speech; deep words have continued from my primary school compositions to this day.

Obstinacy is the biggest problem, especially in technology. My research-oriented personality allows me to know deeper but makes it easy to fall into the trap of self-righteousness:

Self-righteousness means always thinking you are right, believing your views and methods are correct, and not accepting others' opinions.

Coupled with my introverted clumsiness, several emotional arguments over the past year have almost all ended with the same sentence:

Anyway, everything you say is right, and everything I say is wrong; that's just how it feels to me.

I hope this year I can get rid of the habit of sticking to my own opinions, listen and self-reflect with an inclusive attitude, and look at problems from multiple perspectives.

A research-oriented personality is not a bad thing, but it's easy to stop at underlying principles, hindering thinking about business scenarios. This is a major reason for slow growth. Therefore, I must restrain the abnormal desire to dive down and shift my gaze upward.

Introversion manifests as resistance to active communication. It wasn't that serious, but introversion plus self-righteousness is like a double barrier, completely sealing oneself off. I must dispel the resistance in my subconscious and take the initiative to speak.

Doing Things with PM's Mature Methodology

The essence of a need is a problem; problems come from the gap between ideal and reality.

After going around through operations, interaction, and design aesthetics, I finally realized that product thinking is the most valuable.

Listen to the users, but don't do exactly as they say.

Wisdom such as this consists of mature methodologies tested by PMs in practice. They are not only applicable to product design but can also be applied to various problem scenarios faced daily.

3. Plan

Main Quest

Influence
Focus on the field of frontend engineering

Side Quest

Learn the PM's way of doing things

Dailies

Reach Out
Self-reflection
Observation