Self-education

— Last updated on Oct 31, 2021

This page records everything I’ve studied, learned or practiced since I left formal education in 2009.

If you want to chat about my experiences, or if there’s a book or course you’d love to recommend, get in touch.

2021

Refreshed my advanced SQL skills with specific focus on PostgreSQL.
Taught myself intermediate TypeScript.
Taught myself intermediate NestJS.
Taught myself intermediate SvelteKit.
Taught myself advanced PostgreSQL.
Taught myself advanced Google Apps Script.
Used Dart, Svelte, Sapper, and Tailwind CSS to build the MVP and first production versions of my new SaaS product for YouTube content owners, Observant.
Used JavaScript, Svelte, SvelteKit, PostgreSQL and Tailwind CSS to build the second production version of my new SaaS product for YouTube content owners, Observant.
Used TypeScript, NestJS, Svelte, SvelteKit, PostgreSQL and Tailwind CSS to build the MVP and first production versions of a Telegram community paywall platform, Levellr.
Used JavaScript, SvelteKit, PostgreSQL and Tailwind CSS to build a course teaching SQL to everyday developers, SQL for Humans.
Used Google Apps Script for various consulting work.
Re-read JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford.
Read Programming TypeScript by Boris Cherny.

Taught myself intermediate-level Svelte and Sapper.
Taught myself how to be proficient with Tailwind CSS.
Taught myself intermediate-level Go.
Studied Go via Exercism.io, completing the Go Track and engaging in several hours of mentoring to improve my code quality.
Studied Tech Writing 102, an internal course at Google.
Used JavaScript (mostly via Svelte and Sapper) to build the MVP of Exam Copilot.
Used Dart and Flutter to continue to add features to Spell Tracker.
Used Dart and Aqueduct to continue to work on the backend for Spell Tracker.
Used Typescript to prototype a browser clicker game, Humanitarium.
Used Svelte and Sapper to prototype a video game matchmaking app, LFG.
Read Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares.
Read Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Read 14 Habits of Highly Productive Developers by Zeno Rocha.
Read Zero to Sold by Arvid Kahl.
Read Lifespan by David Sinclair.
Read Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal by Terence Kealey.
Re-read Deep Work by Cal Newport.
Re-read The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.

Studied Haskell 101, an internal course at Google.
Studied Rust 101, an internal course at Google.
Taught myself expert-level Dart, a strongly-typed client-optimized language for fast apps on any platform.
Taught myself intermediate-level Flutter, a Dart-based cross-platform UI framework.
Taught myself how to incorporate a limited company, and started Caster Level Limited.
Used Flutter to continue to add features to Spell Tracker.
Used HTML, JS and CSS to build websites for Spell Tracker and Caster Level.
Read The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman.
Read Never Split the Difference by Chris Vos.
Read The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.
Read Writing An Interpreter In Go by Thorsten Ball.

Studied Tech Writing 101, an internal course at Google.
Taught myself basic Dart, a strongly-typed client-optimized language for fast apps on any platform.
Taught myself basic Flutter, a Dart-based cross-platform UI framework.
Used Dart and Flutter to rebuild Spell Tracker as a native mobile app for Android and iOS. Launched on both stores.
Read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Studied Machine Learning at Stanford University (via Coursera). Learned about supervised learning (parametric/non-parametric algorithms, support vector machines, kernels, neural networks); unsupervised learning (clustering, dimensionality reduction, recommender systems, deep learning); and best practices in machine learning (bias/variance theory; innovation process in machine learning and AI).
Studied the Machine Learning Crash Course, an internal course at Google.
Studied [Stuart Diamond’s Getting More Negotiation Framework] via an in-person workshop at Google.
Taught myself basic Go.
Taught myself basic Typescript.
Taught myself basic Angular.
Taught myself basic WebGL.
Used Angular.JS and Ionic to build the first version of Spell Tracker as a passion project.
Used Angular.JS to build Tegmark, a webapp to render planets using d3.js.
Used vanilla Javascript to rebuild Tegmark and replace d3.js with WebGL.
Used Go, Typescript, and Angular to build a prototype of Starlines, a realtime browser game with a backend and web socket compatible REST API.
Tried and failed to learn basic Rust.
Read Getting More by Stuart Diamond.

Studied Functional Programming Principles in Scala at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (via Coursera). Learned intermediate functional programming techniques and introductory Scala.
Taught myself basic and intermediate SQL and data analysis techniques at Google.
Read The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP).

Studied Programming Languages at University of Washington (via Coursera). Learned functional programming, recursion and other CompSci topics via ML, Racket, and Ruby.
Studied Startup Engineering at CS184 from Stanford University (via Coursera). Became familiar with topics including from DCVS, HTML/CSS/JS, wire-framing, market research, Node.JS, Postgres and basic devops.
Used Ruby to rewrite Sundial and deploy it on Heroku.
Used Ruby to write Grokily, a REST API to conjugate Norwegian verbs.
Used Ruby, HTML and CSS to migrate my personal site to Octopress.
Read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.
Read JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford.

Studied Codecademy — free online courses I used to re-learn HTML5, CSS and JS.
Taught myself basic Ruby and Ruby on Rails using Michael Hartl’s Ruby on Rails tutorial.
Used Ruby to write a prototype for Oh!vents.
Read Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling.

Taught myself basic Java.
Used Java to build the first version of Sundial and deploy it on Google AppEngine.