Build in Public, it's Worth it

I didn’t build this site because I needed a blog. The world has enough Medium articles, and I have enough unread newsletters.

I built this site because I was bored. I built it to learn something new. I also built it to escape the Leetcode grind.

The LeetCode Wall

If you’ve looked for a software engineering job recently, you know the drill. The industry has standardized on a specific kind of hazing ritual: months of grinding algorithmic puzzles that have little to do with day-to-day engineering.

I tried to play that game. I really did. But staring at a Hard dynamic programming problem, I felt a distinct lack of joy. I wasn't becoming a better engineer, I was becoming a better test-taker.

I wanted to prove I could build systems, not just invert binary trees. I wanted to show, not tell.

"Sheer Boredom" as a spec

The initial commit for this repository wasn't driven by a grand vision. It was driven by boredom. I had free time, and I had an itch to learn Go properly, not just the syntax, but the ecosystem, the standard library, and the constraints.

I decided to make a game out of it. Could I build a fully functional, production-grade platform without the "bloat" of modern web development?

• No Docker.
• No heavy frameworks.
• No expensive cloud bills.

I treated this website like a product. I built a custom static site generator. I optimized the runtime to sit comfortably in 11 MB of RAM.

The "Decryption Effect"

The goal was partially to impress recruiters, but it was also a defense mechanism. I figured if I built something interesting enough, I wouldn't have to explain my resume gap. The code would speak for itself.

And it worked.

I recently accepted an offer to work as a Senior Software Engineer at Rectangle. During the interview process, the employer cited this blog as a large part of the reason they leaned towards "yes."

The Lesson

It turns out, demonstrating that you can navigate ambiguity, manage a project, and ship production code is often more valuable than memorizing patterns.

If you are stuck in the tutorial hell or the LeetCode grind, try building something instead. Build it because you're bored. Build it to learn a new language. Build it to show off.

Build it because a portfolio that runs on 11 MB of RAM speaks louder than a certificate that says you know how to reverse a linked list.