Over the years, I have seen a lot of developers pen down their achievements and contributions of the previous year. This activity makes them evaluate themselves and set goals for the very next year. So I thought that I should also take part in this tradition and see where it leads me.
I have been super busy during the first quarter of 2018 and today I finally got the time to finish this post. 2017 has been no less than a joy ride for me. I grew as a developer, a writer, and an open source contributor. Let’s jump right in and take a look at everything that happened during 2017.
ⓦ My Life as a WordPress Developer
WordPress has been huge a part of my life as a developer ever since the beginning. From joining Ahmad Awais as an apprentice to getting a job as a lead developer in a WordPress Security Agency – 🎉 Surprise! – WordPress has always been there.
🌍 COMMUNITY
ⓦ WordPress Core Contribution
In 2017, I decided to step up my game as an open-source contributor and what better way to do it than to contribute to the WordPress Core itself, right? WordPress 4.9 was right around the corner, so I started visiting WordPress Trac and attending WordPress New Contributors’ Meeting on Slack.
With the help of some great developers, my first patch was committed in the core in September 2017. Hats off to my mentor Ahmad Awais, WP 4.9 Release Lead Mel Choyce, and Delicious Brains for all the help during the whole process.
✍️ Part of WPCouple Editorial Team
One of the great deals about this year was that I got to be a part of the editorial team of WPCouple. As a developer, I was not really good at writing stuff and this opportunity gave me a kick start to improve myself as a writer.
During my time at WPCouple, I learned how to formulate the structure of an article, how to write reviews about plugins, themes, and businesses, and most importantly how to get straight to the point while writing an article.
Although my work is not anywhere near perfect but it is still much better than what I used to write before. I am also looking forward to improving this situation in 2018.
⚡️ Organizing Meetups
A great deal of being part of the WordPress community is getting to know fellow WordPress developers at local meetups. During 2017, I helped WPCouple organize three local community meetups in Lahore, Pakistan.
Our last meetup was a great success with over 50+ participants. You can read more about these events over here:
→ Organizing WordPress + DigitalOcean Meetup Lahore
→ Hacktoberfest Open Source + WordPress Meetup
→ WordPress & JavaScript: Let’s talk Gutenberg!
👨💻 JOBS
🙌 Said Good Bye to Inspiry Themes
I had been a part of the development team of Inspiry Themes since June 2016. I was their lead developer on several client projects and WordPress themes. As much fun it was to work alongside these guys, a really great opportunity came knocking on my door – hard to say no to!
So I decided to say goodbye to my old company at the end of October 2017. I left with nothing but plenty of good wishes for a bright future from their founder and the rest of the team.
🎸 The Great Opportunity
Ahmad Awais introduced me to Robert Abela in late 2017. Robert was looking for a developer who can reverse engineer his plugins – WP Security Audit Log & its add-ons – to improve already present features and add a few new ones.
This opportunity led me to get hired by Robert as his Lead Developer in WP White Security at the start of November 2017. I have been working alongside him now ever since.
✅ OTHER STUFF
💻 Purchased MacBook Pro
I have been meaning to shift to Mac OS from Windows since forever. The main reason behind this was because of the ease of workflow of Mac OS and the ability to use almost every available development tool on Mac OS.
I made the jump on 17th February 2017, when I purchased my first MacBook Pro using almost all of my savings. I purchased early 2015 model with the fifth generation i5 processor, 8 gigs of RAM and 128GB flash drive.
✈️ Exploring Northern Areas of Pakistan
I love recreational tours and trips and I always look forward to attending more and more of them. At the end of 2017, I decided to take a break from my routine and explore the northern areas of Pakistan. I went on a week-long tour along with some of my friends.
It took us a week to explore the majority areas of Northern Pakistan. Here is the list of areas which we visited during our tour:
✔ Altit & Baltit Fort, Hunza Valley
✔ Khunjerab Pass, Pak-China Border
✔ Naltar Valley, Gilgit Baltistan
✔ Shigar Fort Residence, Skardu
✔ Upper & Lower Kachura Lake, Skardu
👉 Pictures at the end of the post.
🔥 Resolutions for 2018
Like everyone else, for 2018, I am also aiming to learn, improve, and explore a lot of areas both in development and in my personal life.
→ Exploring the JavaScript Community
Gutenberg is imminent in WordPress 5.0 and a major part of it is written in JavaScript / React. So I am aiming to explore the JavaScript community and learn new frameworks and tools like React, Vue, Node, Express, etc.
→ Improving Myself as a Writer
I am also resolving to improve myself as a writer in 2018. I will try to write more often on my personal blog than I did in 2017.
→ Maintaining the Habit of Jogging
For the past two years, I had been constantly ignoring my physique and diet. This has resulted in the increase in my weight a little over the line of my required BMI – hence currently I am overweight.
This led me to develop a habit of jogging – which I never dreamt of doing in the first place. I am hoping to maintain this habit – from now onwards – which will help me get back in shape.
✅ Wrapping Up
That’s it! In the end, I would like to give a huge shout out to all of those people who were there for me in 2017. I would also like to specially mention to my dear friend and mentor – Ahmad Awais – for every opportunity that he gave me to lead a better life. Kudos to you, brother!
How was your year? And what are you expecting to achieve in 2018? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below. Cheers!
Ahmad Awais says:
Keep it up buddy. I’m proud of you. Stay motivated, keep working, and do maintain a good healthy life style. I’m envious of how many places you got to visit.
Peace! ✌️
March 19, 2018 — 7:15 pm
Ashar Irfan says:
Your appreciation means a lot to me. Thank you very much 😇
Trying my best 👊
March 20, 2018 — 12:10 am