I started drafting some posts for CodeCurious today. While looking at Rails7 and what's new, important maps stick out. So I started digging into import maps and how they work. Why is this special? Why is this possible now, why wasn't it before? (of course DHH has written about it and I've read all of those leading up to Rails7 launch and starting from NEW MAGIC but I am still left with loads of curiosity and an urge to dig deeper). What I really want to do is explore Rails history with Javascript – ending at import maps. But starting from turbolinks, pjax? I don't know yet where it'll start. I am pulling at this thread and digging into it, writing down everything I learn.
Before I even do that, how about I write down my history with Rails. I just purchased a domain backtorails.com. I haven't been doing Rails in production in the last 4 years at least. For tiny personal projects it's the my go to framework but that is all.
So I learned Ruby on Rails in 2012. I had decided to transition to web development that previous year. Until then I was doing firmware engineering embedded C and some C++ for implanted medical devices. So not software but I was writing firmware. I taught myself Rails along with Ruby and HTML5/CSS3/JS and MySQL and Heroku within a couple months. It was not more intellectually challenging but it was very different. (I don't want to make it seem like I taught myself programming and got a job all within 6 months. I knew programming and computer science already. It is web stuff I didn't know. For example I had never used a database or written a SQL query in my med device world.)
[thought/hesitation - I don't want people to assume or conclude that I know more than I do. Or that I've a lot of hands-on coding than I actually have. My 15 years of experience sounds like a lot but it is not on one thing. I do feel like a jack of all trades but master of none. The mastery, the deep expertise is something I value and desire but don't feel that I have yet. Of course, confidence and evolved mindset I do have. I know and believe that I can figure out anything having to do with programming. With enough time. I am not fast. and I don't want to be. I like slow coding. Taking my time to understand and explore and not just make the thing work. Although I can make it work fast when needed. Though it's less satisfying]
I used Rails versions 2, 3, and 4 from 2012 to 2016. Then it was Java, Spring Boot and Microservices. Then it was Rails again briefly whilte integrating with Jiff's codebase. Then Kafka.
Then back to Rails for habit tracker. That was before webpacker and as a result npm and node were required to build a rails project?