What was your win this week?!
Jess Lee

Jess Lee @jess

About: Building DEV and Forem with everyone here. Interested in the future.

Location:
USA / TAIWAN
Joined:
Jul 29, 2016

What was your win this week?!

Publish Date: May 30
51 85

👋👋👋👋

Looking back on your week -- what was something you're proud of?

All wins count -- big or small 🎉

Examples of 'wins' include:

  • Getting a promotion!
  • Starting a new project
  • Fixing a tricky bug
  • Showing up to brand practice on time 🎵

cats in a band

Happy Friday!

Comments 85 total

  • Anita Olsen
    Anita OlsenMay 30, 2025

    Here are some of my highlights:
     
    📰 I published a new post on DEV! ✨

     

    📰 I got featured on DEV's Facebook page! ✨
    My last post got featured on DEV's Facebook page 

    💟 I received 3 new badges on Codecademy! ✨
    3 new badges

    You can read about all my wins, here:

  • Fyodor
    FyodorMay 30, 2025

    Finished rustlings 😅

    rustlings’ final boss screenshot

  • Ben Halpern
    Ben HalpernMay 30, 2025

    I came second in a baking competition. I made a chocolate cheesecake.

  • Glenn Trojan
    Glenn TrojanMay 30, 2025

    set up some great personal automations I'd been meaning to do

    • Anita Olsen
      Anita OlsenMay 30, 2025

      Awesome! It must feel great to finally have done that!

  • Lars
    LarsMay 30, 2025

     Wrote Python classes to automate Cisco Switch configs via SSH

    def main():
        load_dotenv()
        ip_address = os.getenv("IP_ADDRESS")
        port = os.getenv("PORT")
        ssh_user = os.getenv("SSH_USER")
    
        asw1 = Switch(ip_address, port, ssh_user)
        ssh_connection = SSHConnection()
        config_pusher = ConfigPusher()
    
    Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

    This is the main.py where I instantiate my objects. I plan writing a detailed post about this project, because I'm really passionate about it. I love the fact that my code can control real physical hardware.

    Started Exercism JavaScript track and completed 16 exercises so far

    I'm diving deep into JS for a couple of weeks, because I want to become proficient enough to land an internship as a Backend Developer. Python and Go would also be great choices (especially for DevOps route), but I think it's best to focus on one thing at a time...

    Wrote my first post about how to pass the CCNA exam

    I recently passed the CCNA exam with a score > 90% and I wanted to share how I prepared for the exam and what mistakes I made.

     The week's not over yet

    I have a few other things planned for this week:

    • Prepare for an Ansible exam I have next week
    • Continue writing JavaScript
    • Learn about HTTP on MDN
    • Write my first weekly blog post about my Backend 💻🔙 x DevOps journey
  • Matt Eland
    Matt ElandMay 30, 2025

    Another new article, reviewed 6 chapters for Manning, and sent final visuals for a pair of books I'm contributing to for early next year.

  • Dotallio
    DotallioMay 30, 2025

    Finally got a stubborn Zod validation to work on my latest feature - feels good! What was your favorite win this week?

  • MFM-347
    MFM-347May 30, 2025

    this week went a little bit boring, I had no idea about what to code.

  • Nevo David
    Nevo DavidMay 30, 2025

    been cool seeing steady progress - it adds up. you ever notice what actually keeps you showing up week after week? habit or something else?

  • Anthony Max
    Anthony MaxMay 30, 2025

    I walked through a beautiful spring meadow

  • Alex P
    Alex PMay 30, 2025

    I have implemented 2 tasks and fixed 1 bug fully by AI 🤖 ...

    And run just for fun this service waf.secmy.app/

  • PatrickBastosDeveloper
    PatrickBastosDeveloperMay 30, 2025

    I was recognized by the PM for the progress of an implementation in which I am a feature lead. Note: I am a Dev Jr. and this is my first time leading a team project.

  • MilesWK
    MilesWKMay 31, 2025

    Actually I had a loss: Glitch.com, the project hosting and IDE I used for my projects announced they were shutting down.

    • Richard Robbins
      Richard RobbinsJun 1, 2025

      That's frustrating. Good luck getting back in the win column!

  • Yahia Bakour
    Yahia BakourMay 31, 2025

    launched a zapier integration for brand.dev!

  • Best Codes
    Best CodesMay 31, 2025

    Well, it was kind of last week (but I got it updated on my site this week), but I finally wrote another article on DEV :)

  • fast-d3v
    fast-d3vMay 31, 2025

    I reached 100K views on my account. ✨

  • Pratham Gupta
    Pratham GuptaMay 31, 2025

    I made an AGI Blueprint
    Seriously
    DM for more information

  • Alessandro Pischedda
    Alessandro PischeddaMay 31, 2025

    I've published on GitHub repository a ,toy, Python library to build CLI application which has only standard libraries as dependencies.
    The code is still under development due Is very basic. The repository is github.com/Cereal84/mustiolo

  • Song Richard
    Song RichardMay 31, 2025

    deployed two mini-projects

  • 𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚑 𝚁𝚊𝚒
    𝚂𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚑 𝚁𝚊𝚒May 31, 2025

    This week I finally shipped the new version of Resume Matcher.
    A new website, and got back into the development of the product again.

  • Ivan Arellano
    Ivan ArellanoMay 31, 2025

    I fixed a guitar myself, although it's not a luthier-level work I think I did it pretty well hehe

  • Tim Lorent
    Tim LorentMay 31, 2025

    This week turned out to be one big win, quite unexpected to be honest!

    1. I got featured in the top 7 posts of the week!
    2. Wrote an article that many people enjoyed, Choosing Your Developer Path: Tech, People, or Both? and decided to turn it into a series to help as many people as possible who are navigating their developer career
    3. Had another great Free Developer Growth Call (if you're interested: Free Developer Growth Coaching (Yes, Really!) )
    4. Launched my own platform 'Campfires.dev', which offers coaching, guidance and peer support for devs who want to go beyond just writing code.
  • Mohamed Ashiq Sultan
    Mohamed Ashiq SultanMay 31, 2025

    4 people forked my recent repo in GitHub.

  • Parag Nandy Roy
    Parag Nandy RoyMay 31, 2025

    Taught my nephew to make paper boats...thats a win

  • Maksym Kunytskyi
    Maksym KunytskyiMay 31, 2025

    Registration on Dev to :D

  • @codingsh
    @codingshMay 31, 2025

    I sent the second milestone of papi simulator check here:
    papi-simulator.aipop.fun

  • Nish
    NishMay 31, 2025

    I created my Dev++ account :)

  • Gabriel
    GabrielJun 1, 2025

    Got First Blood (winning 1st place) in a Hacking CTF, $1.000 reward 🔥🏅

  • Carlos Chao(El Frontend)
    Carlos Chao(El Frontend)Jun 1, 2025

    I built an AI-powered assistant that generates visual designs to be applied to products like paper cups, boxes, and bags. The assistant guides users through extracting their brand information and provides tailored design suggestions based on their inputs.

  • logarithmicspirals
    logarithmicspiralsJun 1, 2025

    Published two blog posts to multiple platforms. The posts are about semantic similarity analysis using text embeddings. Very happy to have been able to publish the articles so quickly. Got some feedback on my website, and it sounds like I have some work to do if I want to build it for better search engine performance.

  • Roberto B.
    Roberto B.Jun 1, 2025

    My win this week: I published a live coding session on YouTube where I built an AI agent using PHP + Neuron AI. No edits, just raw dev in real time!

    It was both exciting and nerve-wracking to share the actual process.
    But the feedback so far has been great, and I learned a ton by just putting it out there.

    If you're curious, here's the link: youtube.com/watch?v=-_e16azMyn4

    Would love to hear what you think, and if you've ever built an AI agent yourself! 🤖

  • ShatilKhan
    ShatilKhanJun 1, 2025

    Generated my first MCP server from a large code base, previously I had almost no idea about MCPs. I generated a robust API documentation using swagger & generated tool definitions, it was an exciting experience.

  • vAIber
    vAIberJun 1, 2025

    Great question! Our win: launching TechLink Hub - a community for sharing top-notch tech links! Check it out: #TechCommunity #NewProject

  • L Black
    L BlackJun 1, 2025

    Started writing again, after almost a decade.

  • 魔眼天王
    魔眼天王Jun 1, 2025

    Found a job after being unemployed

  • Simon Green
    Simon GreenJun 1, 2025

    My win this week is work finally gave us access to GitHub Copilot.

  • Karo Yousefi
    Karo YousefiJun 1, 2025

    I built my own habit tracker because everything I tried sucked. It was more challenging than I thought, and it still has a lot of issues, but it's exactly how I wanted a habit tracker to be!

    You can check it out here:
    the-best-habit-tracker.vercel.app/

  • Maksym Kunytskyi
    Maksym KunytskyiJun 1, 2025

    Finally released my 2 month-prepare topic
    30 things I wish I knew before I started web dev on dev.to

  • johan steijvers
    johan steijversJun 1, 2025

    I started my first flutter app and can finally see the result of all my practicing,
    I am pretty proud of that so that`s a good win!!!.

  • Hardik Gohil
    Hardik GohilJun 1, 2025

    My first win this week was getting the first paying customer for Startups Lab! 🎉

    Startups Lab is a platform that helps founders showcase their products, connect with the right audience, and grow their user base. It solves the problem of visibility and early traction for new startups by providing them a dedicated place to get discovered.

    Check it out here: startupslab.site

    Every small step like this keeps me motivated to keep pushing forward.

  • Hardik Gohil
    Hardik GohilJun 1, 2025

    My first win this week was getting the first paying customer for Startups Lab!

    Startups Lab is a platform that helps founders showcase their products, connect with the right audience, and grow their user base. It solves the problem of visibility and early traction for new startups by providing them a dedicated place to get discovered.

    Check it out here: startupslab.site

    Every small step like this keeps me motivated to keep pushing forward.

  • Fernanda Graciolli
    Fernanda GraciolliJun 1, 2025

    Deployed a small debate bot prototype (open source!) and submitted a grant application (Cosmos x FIRE) to build it out.

  • Igor Assis Passos de Souza
    Igor Assis Passos de SouzaJun 2, 2025

    I got hired for my first junior dev position.

  • James Moro
    James MoroJun 2, 2025

    Really happy with all the learning I’ve gained in just one month, after publishing my sixth challenge! 🚀🙌 Looking forward to many more! 💪

  • Post Night
    Post NightJun 2, 2025

    ** portal membantu pelajar mengaplikasikan pengetahuan untuk menyelesaikan masalah dunia sebenar. Ia adalah sistem dinamik yang mesra pengguna, memastikan d2.delima pengalaman pembelajaran yang lebih cekap dan menarik. Ketahui cara untuk mendaftar dan log masuk untuk memanfaatkan semua faedahnya

  • Post Night
    Post NightJun 2, 2025

    Platform ini membolehkan pelajar dan guru mengakses bahan pembelajaran pada bila-bila masa, id-delima.my/ di mana sahaja, menggunakan akaun Google mereka. Dengan menggalakkan pembelajaran inovatif

  • Chirag Aggarwal
    Chirag AggarwalJun 2, 2025

    It was making a submission for ongoing devto challenge :D

  • Estevão Machado
    Estevão MachadoJun 2, 2025

    It was my birthday

  • davinceleecode
    davinceleecodeJun 2, 2025

    Many opportunities have come my way, just waiting for the results now😉

  • HeetVekariya
    HeetVekariyaJun 2, 2025

    1) @jess Liked my blog: dev.to/heetvekariya/a2a-and-mcp-co...

    2) I made my first AI Agent and it is for Dev.to itself.

    It access Dev.to data such as:

    • Blogs
    • Articles
    • Comments
    • User information
    • And even publish new blogs

    Blog: dev.to/heetvekariya/devto-ai-agent...
    GitHub: github.com/HeetVekariya/devto-agent

  • Dhamith Kumara
    Dhamith KumaraJun 2, 2025

    I recently created my Dev++ account and developed a personal habit tracker project. While I playfully referred to it as "vibe coding," it was a hands-on process where I manually debugged and resolved every issue myself.

  • 呂駿宏
    呂駿宏Jun 2, 2025

    Finished my side project's dashboard page demo!

  • AquaScript Team
    AquaScript TeamJun 2, 2025

    We make advertisement page on aquascript.xyz. Link Of Page : aquascript.xyz/Advertisement.html
    We advertise products on the website and more 10+ websites, 4+ social media Apps, and by using email newsletter In very very reliable packages.

  • Phenny Mwaisaka
    Phenny MwaisakaJun 2, 2025

    I just published my first article on Dev.to :)

  • Adobe Holly
    Adobe HollyJun 2, 2025

    Finally squashed that one bug that had me doubting reality for 3 days straight. Debugging is self-care now

  • Qareena
    QareenaJun 2, 2025

    Big win this week: understanding how Agentic AI can shape the future of work! 💡
    Curious? Read more here:
    🔗 agamitechnologies.com/blog/future-...

  • Sharanu N Dibbadamani
    Sharanu N DibbadamaniJun 2, 2025

    Understanding MQTT protocol + implementation of same in application using ESP32-S3 with wide scope of data.

  • saber
    saberJun 2, 2025

    EVERYTHING ON DECK
    Fake Bank Notes, cloned cards, ecstasy pills, C.o.c.a.i.n.e, guns, driver's license, crystal meth, p.s.y.c.h.e.d.e.l.i.c.s, money transfer,
    w.e.e.d, vape carts, THC Gummies, mushrooms,
    CONTACT Email=========((thompkingss@proton.me))
    WhatsApp=========+19782197392
    TELEGRAM....@thompkingss

  • Insung Hwang
    Insung HwangJun 2, 2025

    The issue I had been contemplating for the past month was easily resolved! So, I deleted the web app I had been working on for a month. 🥲 Take a look at what I'm creating villanono page.

  • Antonio | CEO at Litlyx.com
    Antonio | CEO at Litlyx.comJun 2, 2025

    | ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄|
    | Refactoring Litlyx.com Code. <3 |
    |________________|
    \ (•◡•) /
    \ /
    ——
    | |
    |_ |_

  • Jackson Kasi
    Jackson KasiJun 2, 2025

    My 4-Day OCR Migration Journey: A Story of Persistence and Learning 🚀

    When my client told me our OCR system was taking 10-15 minutes and they needed it fixed in just 4 days, I thought it would be a simple switch from GroundX to Google Document AI. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 😅

    The Beginning: Overconfidence Meets Reality 🤔

    I started confidently, reading through Google Cloud documentation and thinking this would be straightforward. The local implementation worked perfectly, and I was already planning my victory celebration. 🎉 But when it came time to deploy, everything fell apart. 💥

    My first major challenge was with Docker and my pnpm workspace setup. I spent an entire day fighting with containerization issues - the symlinks in pnpm workspaces were causing chaos with Docker builds. After countless failed attempts and different Dockerfile configurations, I realized I was approaching this wrong. That's when I discovered esbuild bundling as an alternative, which let me compress everything into a single deployable bundle without the Docker headaches. 🛠️

    The esbuild Complications 😤

    But even esbuild brought its own set of problems. I started encountering Node.js abort signal issues that weren't happening in my local development environment. These were frustrating runtime errors that would randomly break my processing functions. 🐛 On top of that, since I was trying GCP services for the first time, I was constantly running into authentication issues - setting up service accounts, managing IAM permissions, and understanding how different GCP services communicate with each other was a steep learning curve. 📚

    Cost-Driven Architecture Decisions 💰

    Throughout this entire process, I was doing cost calculations every single day before choosing any technology. I couldn't afford to go all-in on AWS or all-in on GCP because of budget constraints, so I had to create a hybrid architecture using the most cost-effective services from different providers. 🔄 For workflow step monitoring, I chose Upstash Workflow. For main storage, I used R2. For temporary OCR processing, I set up Google Cloud Storage with auto-delete policies to minimize storage costs. For the actual OCR processing, I split between Vertex AI Gemini for small PDFs and Document AI for larger files. 📊

    The Load Balancer Reality Check 💸

    When I was setting up domain mapping for Google Cloud Run, I initially planned to use GCP Load Balancer for proper traffic management. But when I worked out the costs, it was shockingly expensive - way beyond what our project budget could handle. 😱 That's when I decided to switch the deployment region to Thailand, which was the nearest location to my country, to get better latency without the hefty load balancer costs. 🌏

    The Documentation Trap 📖❌

    Just when I thought I had solved the deployment issue, I hit another wall. I had been testing with small PDFs locally, but when I tried processing real hospital documents, I got hit with a "15-page limit exceeded" error. I couldn't believe it - I was sure Google Document AI supported 200 pages. 🤦‍♂️ That's when I realized I hadn't read the documentation properly. I had chosen the wrong processor type, and the one I selected only supported 15 pages maximum.

    This mistake forced me to completely rethink my approach. I tried switching to async processing, but that introduced unpredictable response times, which wasn't acceptable for our use case. The client needed instant results, not "it'll be ready when it's ready." ⏰

    The Vertex AI Pivot 🔄

    Desperate for a solution, I decided to try Vertex AI Gemini for OCR processing. This meant learning an entirely new API, different authentication methods, and a completely different workflow. But even this wasn't straightforward - Vertex AI doesn't accept direct URLs, so I had to build a complex pipeline: download files from R2 storage, upload them to Google Cloud Storage, process them through Vertex AI, then save the results back. 🔗

    While implementing this, I ran into more Node.js fetch abort controller issues that seemed to appear randomly. These weren't simple bugs - they were affecting the reliability of my entire pipeline. I spent hours debugging timeout problems and implementing proper error handling. 🔧

    The Dual Strategy Solution ⚡

    Eventually, I realized I needed two different approaches. For smaller files under 15MB and 500 pages, I could use Vertex AI Gemini and get results in 12-15 seconds. For larger files, I had to fall back to the async Document AI processing with proper queue management using Upstash Workflow. 🎯

    The Sacrifice and the Grind 😴💪

    Throughout these four days, I was working 14-16 hour days consistently. I'd code until 2 or 3 AM, then wake up at 7 AM to continue. Weekends didn't exist - Saturday and Sunday were just more coding days. I was surviving on minimal sleep, constantly switching between learning new Google Cloud Platform services, doing cost calculations, solving authentication problems, debugging esbuild issues, and implementing solutions under pressure. ☕

    The hardest part wasn't just the technical challenges - it was the constant uncertainty. Every time I thought I had found the solution, another problem would emerge. I was rewriting the entire architecture multiple times, learning GCP services I'd never used before, debugging issues I'd never encountered, and making cost-optimization decisions on the fly. It was a cycle of trying, learning, failing, and retrying that felt endless. 🔄😵

    The Breakthrough 🎉✨

    By the final day, I had built a smart routing system that analyzed file size and page count to determine the best processing method. Small files went through the fast Vertex AI route, while larger files used the async Document AI processor. The entire system was a carefully orchestrated hybrid architecture designed around cost efficiency - using the best service from each provider while keeping expenses manageable. 🏗️

    When demo day arrived and I uploaded a test document, watching it process in just 15 seconds instead of 15 minutes felt incredible. The client's reaction was everything - they went from being frustrated with our product to being genuinely excited about its capabilities. 😊🚀

    The Real Achievement 🏆

    Beyond just making the system faster, I had accomplished something much bigger. In just four days, I went from being completely new to Google Cloud Platform to having a deep understanding of multiple GCP services - Vertex AI, Document AI, Cloud Storage, and Cloud Run. I learned more about cloud architecture, error handling, system optimization, cost management, and multi-cloud strategies in those four days than I had in months of regular development. 📈

    The technical achievement was impressive - going from 10-15 minutes to 12-15 seconds is a 40x improvement. ⚡ But the personal growth was even more significant. I proved to myself that I could learn new technologies under extreme pressure, solve complex architectural problems, make smart cost optimization decisions, debug obscure runtime issues, and deliver results even when everything seemed to be going wrong. 💪

    It was really hard - the constant cycle of trying, learning, failing, and retrying was mentally exhausting. 😤 But finally having it all work together, seeing the client's satisfaction, and knowing I had built something both fast and cost-effective made every sleepless night worth it. 🌟

    Now I'm finally able to rest, but I'm also excited about what I've built and learned. The sleepless nights and weekend coding sessions were worth it, and I now have both a happy client and expertise in an entirely new cloud platform that will serve me well in future projects. 😴✨

  • Gabriel Pecci
    Gabriel PecciJun 2, 2025

    I got a promotion! So, I am pleased about this :))

  • DevOps Daily
    DevOps DailyJun 2, 2025

    Shipped a new feature for the DevOps Daily website!

    devops-daily.com/exercises

Add comment