We are already in 2025. 2024 passed very quickly 🥹 (btw. I have an inevitable feeling that the older you get, the faster the years go by, do you agree with me?). So, it’s time for the annual summary and to check what was achieved from the original plan. We can also prepare a new plan for 2025 😇.

First of all, 2024 was still a tough year for the IT industry. From my observations, due to the weak supply of new projects, most companies are still in a downward trend (which unfortunately means layoffs). I also felt this on my own skin because the startup I worked for said goodbye to a significant part of its employees. This, in turn, meant that I needed to find a new employer quickly. The story ended happily, and I am currently a member of the Riverside team.

During the preparations for recruitment, I focused more on system architecture. I managed to get through the book System Design Interview. This book discusses proposed architectures for systems of various scales in subsequent chapters (for example: S3-like Object Storage, Hotel Reservation System, Digital Wallet). Additionally, I completed a course in this area from the Zero To Mastery academy. This allowed me to better understand the challenges for large-scale projects, and concepts such as High Availability, CAP theorem, BASE/ACID will stay in my memory for a long time.

I also have very fond memories of the Next.js 2024 congress, which took place in February in Warsaw. Great organization, interesting lectures, and above all, the opportunity to talk face to face with well-known people from the industry, all of this makes me eager to go there again!

My plans for 2024 were included in this article. Let’s check what was achieved or not from the original plan:

• Next.js - first of all, I managed to complete the Next.js course with a certificate for the best project! A lot of knowledge was acquired during the several-week course with an emphasis on the practical part, making this technology no longer just a curiosity for me,
• Android - at the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024, my tasks in my then job focused on developing applications for Android, so I decided to learn more about this topic. The results of my work can be seen on the Qualcomm website (at the bottom of the page, point 9) - an application for measuring PM2.5 concentration using a sensor from STMicroelectronics and a proprietary MobilePhysics algorithm. The home page of the application was largely created by me. However, this does not mean that I feel like an outstanding Android specialist 😁😁😁,
• WebGL2 - I completely gave up on this topic. It is definitely something I would like to return to in the future. However, the turmoil caused by changing jobs and practically no opportunity to 'consume' the knowledge effectively discouraged me from delving into this topic,
• Astro - I think I also managed to develop in this area. Interestingly, the conference I mentioned earlier was largely devoted to this topic as well. There are a few things I would like to improve on this blog using Astro's functionalities.

Now, a few things I would like to focus on in 2025:

• Nest.js - not to be confused with Next.js 😅😅😅, which is a backend framework for Node.js. We are currently using it at work, I already know a bit about it, but there are still many things I would like to learn,
• VR - last year I became the happy owner of Oculus Meta Quest 2 VR goggles. As you might guess, this is not a coincidence because I would like to improve my skills in writing applications for VR,
• more blogging - 2024 did not abound in new posts - only 4. I would like to publish a new post at least once every 2 months. I want this to be a space to share new things I am currently learning.

2025 will also be another year of dynamic changes driven by the development of AI. I am curious where all this is heading … Let’s check it out next year!