So no updates in a while. All I can do is apologize. This is still a project I’m excited about, but life has been challenging on many fronts, so one must prioritize.
In some ways, it’s a good thing, because in the meantime a couple things have happened:
The GDPR entered the picture and changed, well, everything. I would have had to refactor quite a bit of code to comply.
July was pretty rough personally, but I did manage to get a little development time in. Here’s what happened:
GraphQL appears to be the future, so I created a new endpoint (/query) that will support it. It will actually make writing the front end simpler and less resource intensive. It’s only basic support for now, meaning no mutations or authentication, but it works.
A few other low-level things. Check out the GitHub repos for details
I got three development days in since the last update and actually made some meaningful progress.
My biggest conquest was figuring out how to translate the front end. If you go there you will see a language switcher next to the login button. Changing that translates all the visible text! Magic! (Note that the authentication stuff won’t work because the back-end server is only online while I’m working on it.)
Two words: development hell.
For a sense of what it feels like to write even moderately complex front-end code, read this Medium post. I love talking to computers. I love figuring out how to make them do my bidding, but I’m not a fan of the scaffolding required to get to the stuff you actually care about (e.g., actually coding freaking games). This is one reason I love short coding challenges like Project Euler and CodinGame.
I’m finally back on the development train. I have a few banked days, so I’ll keep plugging along.
I made some more progress on the login code. This is one of the more complicated systems, and of course it’s essential, so that’s why it’s taking some time to fully develop. Also, though, front-end web development is hard :) JavaScript is a very, very messy language. I’m dealing with libraries using three different syntax versions that only work because of the magic of Babel polyfills, so my brain hurts more than a little after a session.
You’ll notice there hasn’t been an update in a couple of months. Don’t worry. I’m not fading. We’re shorthanded at work, so things have been very busy. I’ve banked a few development days that I hope to use shortly. I’m also taking some time off this month, so I may even be able to do some development then, too. I just wanted to let you know that things are still happening.
This summer has been frustrating, development wise. Work has been crazy busy, and I’m not slacking off at home either! So I’ve had minimal coding time again. I’m really hoping things open up a little in the fall, and I’m looking forward to some serious progress over winter vacation.
Result’s for the day’s coding? I finally have front-end authentication working, so that’s a big win. Baby steps!
Please visit the Super Duper Games Google Group if you have questions or suggestions.
July has been a difficult month. Not only has work been extremely busy, we’ve a number of deaths in the family, which brings with it many family gatherings. As a result, I’ve had no extra development time.
With the time I’ve had, I’ve started beter understanding how React and Redux work. The front end can communicate with the back end now, and I’ve settled on Saga for handling the asynchronous components.
Another exciting month! Not as much visible progress, but my brain is definitely smoking. Here’s what happened.
The GitHub repositories are up! And there’s actual code there! If you’re a developer and want to see how things are going, take a look. I’m no pro, so I’m open to pull requests.
In order to start testing the back ends, I needed to start working on the front end, so that’s where I spent most of my time this month.
Here’s the first monthly progress report.
First, let me say how exciting it has been to return to this project. It was always a labour of love, and it has saddened me to be away for so long. It feels great to dive back in. It has also been very challenging (which is part of the fun!) because I am committed to making the highest-performing, most scalable platform that I can.
