This is something I've always wanted to do, but never did anything about. Probably because did not know where to start. Recently I came across Micro Zig which was the push I needed to finally commit to it. Mainly because it narrowed the hardware for me. I'm not sure If I have ordered the right hardware, but it was cheap enough to not worry about it too much. I've already made a list of things I want to get, after some initial testing with the Rasberry Pi Pico.
The order just arrived today and I already know what I'm going to do this weekend. There was a feature I wanted to get done this weekend for my product, I've done most of it, just a few bits to get done. So my weekend is wide open for some tinkering with hardware.
Expanding my horizons
One of the things that I want to do is to program anything. Not just within the confines of the browser. Yesterday I came across a few ways to build desktop applications with Golang and I've got a few projects lined up that I want to pursue. Both for fun and profit.
I'm feeling quite good about my tool-belt of programming languages. I've got the high level covered with JavaScript. For projects that need some decent performance and stability I use Golang and now for the low level stuff and where fine control is required I've got Zig or C. There is a long way for me to go with both Zig and C, but I'm on the path. It's an important first step. It's been a few months of programing with Zig and it has been fucking awesome. I've read about sixty percent of the language reference and part of a book.
A feeling of competence
With each program I write, each problem I tackle my confidence in programming and my abilities is growing. I have a concrete idea of what I can do and no longer feel like an impostor. If I do, I focus on the discomfort and try to face it head on. The first few times were a challenge and quite uncomfortable but over time I've come to accept this initial phase of discomfort.
Ever since making the singular decision of getting good at programming, I no longer need to make any small decisions. I know what direction I need to go in, no matter how long it takes. There is no paralysis of options, no shiny things to distract me either. Most of my time, money and effort is going towards programming. All forms of it. And I love it. I've been able to apply the same principles across other important facets of my life and it works like a charm.