Life as Code. A year in the life of a software developer (DevOps) gone backpacking…

 

The title is inspired by a term I came across while DevOps-ing my way into MyParcel.nl

 

Infrastructure-as-Code

so… “Life as Code” or maybe even “Live as Code”

 

This blog is set to be posted at 2016-12-31 23:59:00 CET (GMT +1, Amsterdam) (1 minute before 2017)
[ That is 2016-12-31 22:59:00 UTC (GMT +0, Greenwich) ]

 

 

Be flexible, extendable, reusable, recyclable, reducible, stateless though understanding and being able to listen to others.

Live life as code, never finished, always fun, improvements every single day, enjoy life like it is the only life you will lead. (Unless you believe in reincarnation!)

 


Errors in Life

 

Whether you are building software for a webshop, an atomic bomb, an apache combat helicopter or anything else in IT always remember your target audience is HUMAN.

Errors could cost lives in ways you couldn’t imagine. So live your life with pride and treat others how you would like to be treated. Then and only then we can truly change the world.

The lame saying states “Changing the world starts with yourself…”

Well… it’s harder than I imagined but nonetheless it is the only way to really make a change.

Whether it’s visiting and celebrating life (Weddings) in Romania and Egypt, surfing in Bali or jumping out of a plane in Australia… I try to live life to the fullest, every single day.

Being a DevOps engineer isn’t easy from time to time. The most important thing to know is how it works and where we can improve things. And there is always room for improvement.

Automation is something beautiful; it is said that Software Developers are the wizards of the 21st century, and that’s probably correct. But my job isn’t more important or less trivial than the person who makes sure my office is cabled, the lamps are hanging in the correct spot and makes sure the office is a clean and great environment to research and innovate.

 

Sometimes I claim that I don’t have a real job… which might be true. Sipping coffee and discussing issues all day, always doing less work than I’d like to do. But the only way I make sure that I don’t go completely crazy is knowing that I can make a difference.

And to only have that vision while at work would be shortsighted. It has to apply my entire life be it programming a feature or raising a kid… two totally different things!

But if you do so with passion and care, the end-result can be the same: a legacy which lives on long after I’ve turned into dust and been rendered obsolete.

I realize that not all people are this philosophical. But there is only one way to grow and improve in this world; that’s by learning and education.

And whether it’s a 2000 year old book or a blog that was just posted 25 minutes ago…

It’s all human legacy
And we should be proud of it (yeah, yeah, there are enough things NOT to be proud of in history), but in the end, mistakes are the best way to learn. So let’s learn from the mistakes of others, yourself and grow together as one big collective human brain.

Human goals

 

Let’s care for each other and help each other

Look after the planet

Look after the species on it

Take what we need, but don’t be greedy

Treat others like you want to be treated yourself

Help each other

 

Some things you can do yourself, like painting a wall. Anybody can do it but a painter made it his/her profession and as a non-professional in that field you can never get the same level and quality.

He/she is a professional, you may be a ‘professional amateur’ but still… an amateur. But you probably excel at something else; my field of work is IT but it is such a broad field that I need other professionals to help me out where I’m a professional amateur (Networking, Hosting, etc.)

Don’t be afraid to show that you need some help from time to time. Anybody can do everything, I’m pretty sure about that, but do you NEED to and WANT to?

If you have the money to spare, (which hopefully  you earned by doing what you love), why not give someone else the chance to show what he/she is capable of?

Sure that wall is probably painted anyway, but isn’t it way more satisfying to say, “that wall is painted near perfection, and I could’ve never done it myself. Thanks!”.

Then I can focus on building him/her a cool website, which any painter can do by him/herself, but still, never as good as I could do it.

A speech

 

A speech during the Christmas festivities in December reminded me one by Wubbo Ockels.

Both had emotion, passion and a clear vision. Whether it’s your last day on this beautiful planet or not, that’s not the point, treat every single day of your precious life like it’s the last. Because who knows… it can be.

 

And I want to tell you all how I feel about the World, our Earth
But there is someone who can do that better: Wubbo Ockels