This is an article about the mental journey of an independent developer.
What is a digital nomad?
Digital vagrant refers to those who use Internet technology to work remotely and are not restricted by geographical location. They can travel around the world and complete their work through the Internet. Digital nomads typically engage in jobs such as programming, design, writing, and consulting.
What is an independent developer?
Independent developers refer to those who are independent of large companies or organizations and engage in software development, application development, or other technical projects on their own. They are usually freelancers, entrepreneurs, or members of small studios, responsible for the entire process of project conception, design, coding, testing, and release.
So supporting the lifestyle of digital nomads with the skills of independent developers, achieving a free balance between work and life.
Why do you want to become an independent developer
In May 2023, I came across a blogger's document about independent development. I read a lot about independent development to achieve economic freedom on the Internet, and some of them can at least support daily expenses.
Considering the future development path of a programmer, I think I can also prepare to engage in this aspect in the future.
Later, I planned some technologies I could learn, such as Swift Flutter Rust Web3 Golang, etc. I always feel that I can't find a direction now, so I can at least lay a good foundation for technology first. If I can find opportunities later, I can seize the opportunities.
After learning for a while, I started to follow many people on Twitter. They have their own websites, portfolios, and developed programs. I think they are all good. How did they find this track? Later, I kept paying attention to Twitter to see how they operate, how they promote, and how to attract traffic.
Later, I started to write some App frameworks in Swift from scratch, starting with a chat software, similar to Xiaohongshu and ins, which are more inclined to picture and text apps. I didn’t know how to write it, I just wrote it. Maybe my original intention was to practice. Then I started to build the background, buy servers, and familiarize myself with the background deployment process. After a while, I found that it didn’t work. I still had no goals and no clear plans. I was like a headless fly, unable to find any direction.
