Status Report: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I took some time away from the computer to enjoy the holidays with my family. We had a great time! I was happy to have the freedom to spend time with them.

Now it's time to figure out what I will focus on for this coming year.

What went well?

I was able to complete all of Advent of Code this year without help! I got a little stuck on part 2 of day 22, but I am happy with how things went overall. I see a big difference in how I approach problems now compared to when I started in 2019 since becoming more experienced with Python.

Speaking of Python, I started working on a new tutorial that uses Pyscipt to allow people to learn Python without installing anything on their computers. I am hoping to have a couple of lessons ready within a week or two. PyRVA had some of the contributors of the Pyscript library at their last meetup, which lined up nicely with my plans to start working on this tutorial.

I finished the painting in the bathroom and it looks great! I am happy with how it turned out and it was nice to have dedicated time to work on it.

My wife had her first couple of craft markets and they went well. She sold a bunch of cute creatures and has been filling her shop with more.

What did I struggle with?

I expected to be able to get work more done over the holidays, but I was happy to be able to spend time with my family.

One of those things that I didn't get to at all was visualizations for Advent of Code. I'll have to think of a better way to do that next year. I wanted to have something in the browser, but I think that was what blocked me from doing anything. Possibly using PyGame would have been a better option, and the PyScript contributors mentioned that someone is working on a PyGame port.

Things I used and discovered

  • Pyscript - Run Python in the browser.
  • PyGame - A Python library for making games.
  • PyRVA - A local Python user group for Richmond Virginia.

How am I feeling?

I am excited about this coming year and all of its possibilities. I am looking forward to getting back to work on my projects and learning new things. hopefully, I will be able to work on things I am interested in and continue to have the freedom to do so.