For my final post I feel like a collection of thoughts is in order. I am deep it trying to finish our project, too deep to pay close attention to much else. So here goes…

I attended Dockercon 2022 last week. It was completely virtual, so attending meant viewing live presentations on various stages for different topics from the comfort of my office. It was about what I expected, with a mixture of good lectures with useful information, broad topic lectures that we not so useful, and product sales pitches. Having used Docker off and on for the past year and a half it is nice to see Docker Desktop advance to a useful tool, and the new extensions look very promising. I like Docker a lot and hope that it continues to be as helpful and available to the ordinary developer as it has been so far.

For the past few weeks of our project my main impediment has been connecting our application front-end (the dapp) to interact with deployed contracts on a blockchain. This is not tremendously difficult as there are tools to aid in this. Almost all of them are like the vast majority of web development tools and frameworks in that they are javascript libraries that abstract some of the details and make things easier for development. As such, and since they appear to utilize React or React-like features and syntax, I decided to spend a good chunk of time this past week to learning React. Our dapp is developed with Next.js which is a React derivative, and the state management was not clear to me. I am happy to report that this time has been well spent, and I feel that I am in a much better position to finish my project strong.

After last week’s post, some comment on the cryptocurrency market is warranted. Status: Nothing to See Here. I am actually a little surprised that the markets have held up as well as they have so far. Most commentators are bearish for sure. If there is one thing I have learned from observing these markets for a long time it is that there really are no surprises. Lose forty percent of value in one day. No surprise. Go on a big run, gaining in leaps and bounds. Happens. Many times without obvious warning. There are many more ‘what had happened was’ stories that come out after the dust settles than accurate, before the move forecast stories it seems. Personally, I think we are in for more carnage, then a long period of sideways action that makes nearly everyone lose interest before a massive run up that gets people moving. This is definitely NOT financial advice. This is what alway happens. The time scale varies, and more people are invested this time so it may not take so long to cycle. The people involved in the Terra LUNA/UST debacle appear to have some heat on them. Korean authorities are getting somewhat involved. I am skeptical there will be any real punishment. But, lawsuits are surfacing from various Asian investor groups which I think is the best possible way to address the problem.

Finally, I want to write a few words about my time as a student (this time around). I have thoroughly enjoyed it! If there is one course of study that should be available completely online, it is computer science. I mean that should be obvious. Having received an undergraduate and a professional degree through traditional on-campus study, I did miss some of the camaraderie that occurs when you take in-person classes. But, early on (back in the Slack days), I was lucky enough to form a small group that quickly blossomed into real friendships which I value dearly. I will finally meet, in person, two of the three next month when I take my family to the commencement ceremony(ies). I really would like to make the school specific ceremony and reception being held on June 10, but that is a long shot at this point. Current air schedules, and more to the point, airline ticket prices make flying out in time to make the ceremony improbable. But, I’m still trying. If you know a good travel agent please let me know. 😉