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“I’m writing a book about Typescript. It’s called TypeScript Gamified, and its goal is to help people learn TS the fun way.”

— Paula Santamaría (@pau.codes) on Threads

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I believe you, @pau.codes, became a developer right out of high school. Can you explain how that happened and what preparation you did?

Hi @ryan.swanstrom , thanks for having me!

That’s right, I was building ugly animated sites with Flash & PHP for small clients since around 2008.

I’d became interested in animation as a kid. Used to build silly animations on PowerPoint for fun. So my dad got me a copy of Macromedia Flash and printed a huge manual for me 😂.

Later I realized I could use it to build websites. Used that skill to make some money. Eventually realized that I needed to learn more and went to uni.

What development work do you currently do and how has your career led to that?

I’m a freelance developer. My focus is mostly on software architecture and backend development, but I’m a generalist, I love getting my hands on anything software related.

So, I started as a freelance web dev with flash, then got a job at a software company where I worked with .NET mostly. After 5 years there I decided to go freelance again in 2017.

Working at a company was essential to put what I was learning in uni into practice. And to build a network that later helped me go freelance.

What is your ideal type of client?

One that understands boundaries! I’m extremely protective of my time so I want to work with people that respect that.

I don’t have an issue working hard and even long hours to meet prearranged goals, but if you text me on a Saturday with a non-emergency I’m going to be mad.

Also important that they trust my ability make tech related decisions on the project. I want to be able to do the work I was hired for!

You are writing a book, @pau.codes, correct? What is the book about and when can we expect it?

That’s correct. I’m writing a book about Typescript. It’s called TypeScript Gamified, and its goal is to help people learn TS the fun way.

It includes game-related examples, achievements, and challenges where you apply what you learned to build a small web or terminal based game.

It’s been available on “early access” since December. I’ve been updating it regularly adding new chapters. This week I’m releasing the final version 🥳

For anyone interested: typescriptgamified.com.

I have never used Typescript. How does it compare to JavaScript? What types of development projects are best suited for Typescript?

Great question! TypeScript builds over JavaScript. It includes all existing JS features and it adds a type system with type-checking. Thanks to that, when you use TS you get better intellisense and highlighted errors when you’re misusing a type.

If you know C# and JS, it feels like a mix between those. It takes the best of JS and its dynamism and adds a bunch of tools over it to help you mess up less.

You can really see the benefit of TS in medium/big projects with more that one dev. That’s when having a type system really saves you time.

That being said, I used to choose vanilla JS & node for my personal projects, and sometimes I miss the simplicity of it. But after learning TypeScript I just can’t go back. And I’ve heard the same from many other devs.

For a developer considering going freelance, what are some tips you would have?

Networking is key! A strong network will get you great leads, and being recommended is the easiest way to get your first gigs.

Also, build a good routine. Being your own boss means you can often pick your working hours, but that can go very wrong if you procrastinate. A good routine (even an unconventional one) and discipline are key!

Finally, probably not for everyone, but minimalism really helped me out. Not only to reduce expenses, but also to focus on what’s valuable in my life.

What are a few resources/tools which are essential to your career right now? These can be Websites? SaaS Apps? People? Anything?

This one really made me dig into my brain! 😂

I quickly grew fond of GitHub Copilot. Feels like having a tool that reads your mind and types for you. Only be careful to read what it types!

I also visit open source projects to see how they solve certain issues when I feel AI is not good enough.

To keep up with tech news I go to both dev.to and hashnode regularly.

Finally, my life partner @mauro.codes is my rock. He and my sisters listen and encourage me on all my crazy ideas.

This has been great. How can people find you elsewhere online?

Thanks for having me and for the excellent questions! This was a blast.

You can find me on Instagram and paulasantamaria.com

See the original Interview on Threads: @ryan.swanstrom • Threads Dev Interview #8 I am finding developers on Threads and interviewing them, right here on … • Threads