I look back to what this year was. I clearly see a continuation of what was 2024: a struggle for professional stability and challenges, while rethinking about the way that we Engineers should work from now and on.
That makes me wonder, when I hear individuals talking and discussing the new horizon of Software Engineering with AI, not just inside my job, but as well in my (beloved) XalapaCode community, with so many questions and thoughts. And speaking of which, it was a huge year for us, from events to their organizations, gathering more people than we ever thought, and also preparing tech talks: sharing a bit of what we are seeing right now, in a world that is moving so fast.
I also had some personal experiences and new adventures, and to be honest, it would be a quite tough year without it.
With all that being said, here are some highlights, of a productive, yet challenging year.
It takes so much to find a good job these days
Several people, ultra qualified, fighting for a job to make their ends, many with a family to maintain. The market is rough these days, and such scenario, is really discouraging.
When living abroad, you got no choice. There's much more than a rent to pay, economically and emotionally speaking. One is fighting for acceptance and approval, of the skills that were crafted for so long, of the quality we can deliver in a variety of circumstances. The "AI phantom" came so strong, yet not delivering what it was promising, but it was sufficient to shake the foundations of questions like "How many engineers I need for X product ?", all over the industry.
Took me a couple of months and multiple interview processes, to finally find Yext. Can't find the right words right now to describe how difficult the whole process was, but finally, a formidable company with a variety of products, from brand visibility to compliant text and voice solutions for financial firms, like Yext Relate.
We had some nice off-sites between Mexico City and Scottsdale, AZ. It was pretty fun and refreshing, having in-person sessions with coworkers and managers.
Offsite in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Trekking, Climbing: Trails and Mountains that I love
Just as the life itself, are mountains. Sometimes, the conditions are not favorable, and you might find yourself in situations that are bigger than you or maybe too risk or expensive. There might be a better time for trying again, in a different circumstance or maybe not.
Matlalcueye, "La Malinche", could be difficult to climb in the winter. Rainy days, make the soil so slippery, and some storms might happen as well.
On the first attempt in January, me and my fellows couldn't finish the climbing.
In June, came another opportunity and I went alone. This time, I realized that on the first attempt, I just made halfway: the trekking and climbing that was ahead, was much more than I could imagine.
The sightseeing is not bad, but I wish it could be a sunny day, then watching the woods down there, from the summit.
You might be impressed that, in some occasions, dogs climb mountains too (specially if you have some food).
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Also in Estado de México, Parque Los Dinamos, was a great experience:
Just as the 2nd time climbing on Sierra Negra:
Where it has a beautiful view to Citlatépetl:
10 years of XalapaCode
In 2018, when I was looking for folks that were into Technology, Cloud Computing, Software Engineering, Open Source, etc. in Xalapa, I thought there were no one, until my first gathering with these nice people.
We went through the pandemic and different structures, making events with a lot of support and money from our own pockets, and this year, from organization to tech talks, we reached our 10th anniversary. The event was quite fun, with SWAGs, Tech Talks, food and good memories from past years.
This year, wasn't different. To organize events, reviewing proposals of tech talks and facilitating discussions. I think it's fair to say that our events were very strong, and the number of attendees were quite impressive, from students and academic personnel to engineers, enjoying and having some fun.
I guess we share the same feeling of pride, for all that we have done this year: it makes us all happy.
Have I made enough Shellscripts?
It's been years, here and there, doing short ones and some a bit more complex. It's a world that I know pretty well, yet I always learn one trick or another. Ritchie, Kerninghan, Thompson: all Unix philosophy and the POSIX standard, are great things we have. And thanks to you as well, Linus (of course).
Great to be part of the FLISOL 2025 at Universidad Veracruzana, among my buddies from XalapaCode. To talk about Shellscript, is a passion that will never fade away for me.
Not a Silver Bullet, but under supervision, A.I. can deliver
I still have my concerns in regards to this tool, from political to environmental aspects (we should all have), but sincerely, I have seen great power under proper supervision and experience. It can assist in Software Engineering and Business Architecture, although it cannot fully do it (should it, someday?)
Many situations that I went through, saving hours (if not days) of code, from Unit Tests for endpoints to modules and libraries of all sorts, from professional to personal projects. LLMs can help you to create great amounts of code, but some proposals could be so off. It can easily lead you to a never ending spin of malfunctioning services. Without supervision, trust at your own risk. Indeed, It's a matter of experience in Software Engineering and seasoning in programming languages, to detect gaps and "hallucinations". With that in mind, you'll able to deliver incredible results. Without it, there could be dragons.
Can we live without AI for coding? Yes, we have been doing this since the dawn of Software Engineering. But not these days... These days, the market is ferocious in regards to AI, and all companies embraced this reality: truth be told that some of them, blindly.
Until the bubble bursts, I can say that, was an interesting year, having Copilot beside me, doing some amazing things (really), but yet causing some inevitable and remarkable headaches. I won't deny that I use it a lot for planning studies and presenting different scenarios of architecture, expecting insights and key information for a better decision making, but I cannot put my life on its "hands".
Maybe we might have a year more "sober" for AI, with some surprises (positives, I hope?).
Arizona: another side of Mexico
Fortunately, some nice folks from Yext, took us in a one day trip to Sedona, AZ.
Some beautiful landscapes, indeed. Things that you might only see in movies, in my opinion.
In Phoenix, I went to the Botanical Garden. A variety of Cactus species and ecosystems, showing a bit of the environment that you may see in the Sonoran Desert which starts in Sonora, Mexico, all the way up to Arizona.
More than scientific, I dare to say that the experience was "spiritual" in some way.
I always wanted to see a bit of the Sonoran Desert with my own eyes, and there I was, knowing about that ecosystems and the life forms that bravely endure the circumstances of the nature.