Seven months ago, I started my tenure as a frontend developer at Knack. My time here has been a journey to say the least! Getting acquainted with our impressive monorepo structure, learning several new frameworks and languages along the way, and ultimately taking new features from the design stage to production felt like climbing a mountain at times. Luckily, the Knack Pack is not only committed to building an amazing product, but also to providing a great environment for growth and support in the process.
As a bootcamp graduate who transitioned from the dental profession, my path has been untraditional. I’ve felt my share of imposter syndrome along the way. It was refreshing to know other engineers on the team have also arrived here at Knack with a similar story. Their support and guidance has been instrumental in my own development as an engineer.
I joined Knack with experience in JavaScript and React/React Native, but there was still a fair bit of learning ahead of me. Getting acclimated with TypeScript and its syntax took some time, but it’s become one of my favorite tools to date. Leveraging TypeScript helps our applications stay reliable and readable - and it’s fun to use!
Another new tool I spent time learning in-depth is GraphQL and Apollo. It was a fair hurdle to jump at the beginning, so the team encouraged me to do an online course, Apollo Odyssey, which was an immense help. What seemed scary and foreign at first has become beloved to me! As a frontend developer, having the kind of control that GraphQL/Apollo provides is an awesome addition to my tool belt.
I had been a VSCode user for a few years prior to joining Knack, but I had no idea how powerful of a tool it could really be. I highly recommend this VSCode Power User course by Ahmad Awais to anyone using VSCode. This provided incredible value to me as I cherry-picked many of Ahmad’s suggestions into my own IDE setup and routine. The small things really added up here - code font size, advanced keybindings, strengthening usage of the command palette, and some handy extensions to name a few. I’ve been way more productive since incorporating what I was missing and un-learning some bad IDE habits alike.
Overall, the constant learning involved with being a new engineer at Knack is worth it. Every day, I’m left with the feeling that I’m building an awesome product and doing it right, which in itself is largely fulfilling! I get the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with many talented folks, together on a mission to do something good for the world. Go Knack!