---
title: 2019 year in review
date: 2020-01-03T00:10:01.889Z
edited: 2020-01-03T00:10:01.889Z
author: Ismail Ghallou (Smakosh)
canonical: https://smakosh.com/blog/2019-in-year-review
reading_time: 2 min (517 words)
Tags: career, web-development
---

# 2019 year in review

![2019 year in review](/assets/blog/2019.jpg 'Follow me on Instagram to see more : https://www.instagram.com/smakosh19')

I managed to achieve in 2019 much more of [what I've done in 2018](/2018-year-review), here's an overview of what I have learned, created & some random facts.

## Learning

### Dev

- React hooks
- React native navigation
- React native config
- Fastlane
- SSR, static SSR, CSR, Pre-rendering
- Styled-system
- Theme UI
- ZEIT now
- Semantic commits
- Removed redux & recompose, switched to Hooks & Context API.
- Tried React VR (360)
- Tried Ruby and Ruby on rails
- Configuring Nginx, redirecting http to https after generating and adding the SSL cert
- Circle & Travis CI
- Detox and cypress for e2e testing
- testing-library (for React and React native)
- Apollo client
- Airtable
- Contentful
- GraphQL
- Tried Docker
- Pagination with mongoose-paginate
- tried Redis
- Mixpanel
- tried Sinatra

### Life

- Decisions are made based on:

  - The environment
  - Experience
  - Bias & intuition

- Team & project management
- Laundry & cooking
- Negotiating
- Saying "No"
- Expenses/Income management
- Being rich isn't being wealthy
- Giving a good feedback

### Design

- UX can be improved based on analytics & user behavior using tracking events
- Wireframing is an important milestone
- Design systems
- [Little experiment I did, CSS in GraphQL](https://github.com/smakosh/gatsby-design-system-experimental)

## Creating

- Contributed in building 3 platforms at my previous job, Barmej, Pawp & a foundation's website that support up to 6 languages using Gatsby & Contentful as a headless CMS while working for Obytes.

- Continued adding features, fixing bugs & improving Beaf until I decided to shut it down and [open source the code bases](https://github.com/smakosh).

- Built & shipped [Ai Hashtags](https://ai-hashtags.com), an Android & iOS app to generate precise hashtags from your pictures & Instagram posts.
  Contributed more to Gatsby & few other JavaScript libraries, got some free swag in return.

- Decided & managed to write an article a month, that's a total of 12 articles!

- Gave 3 talks about Gatsby js, in Casablanca & Penang island.

- Mentored few folks on Twitter who managed to get their first jobs.

- Created [react-flex-ready](https://github.com/smakosh/react-flex-ready)

- Created a Gatsby theme [gatsby-theme-portfolio](https://github.com/smakosh/gatsby-theme-portfolio)

- Bunch of Gatsby starters

## Random facts

- Resigned from my first job, after 2.3 years working as a remote front-end developer
- Replaced my Nexus 6p phone with Google Pixel 2
- Traveled to Southeast Asia for 2.5 months, visiting Kuala Lumpur, Penang in Malaysia and Bali in Indonesia.
- Visited grandma
- Joined a new company as a full stack developer.
- Fell in love
- Got the opportunity to talk with ZEIT's CEO who's also the creator of mongoose & socket.io along with his team, to try out ZEIT now & share my honest feedback, then they decided to sponsor one of their community meetups here in Morocco.
- Moved from my parents' basement to a new place, got a new monitor, desk (adjustable height), chair & macBook pro.
- Got many offers which I declined in a respectful way but recommended my friends who I trust could do a great job.
- First time invited to speak at a Moroccan podcast about the JAM stack
- Made 2515 contributions on GitHub

## Data about this blog during 2019

- 57 312 page views 👀
- 20 508 users 📈

- 5032 are based in 🇺🇲
- 2536 🇫🇷
- 1630 🇩🇪

- 15 501 use Chrome
- 2460 use Safari

- 5992 use Windows
- 4882 use Macintosh
- 3721 use Linux

- 3483 use Android
- 2276 use iOS

> Will keep editing this article until January ends I usually do.

---

_Originally published at https://smakosh.com/blog/2019-in-year-review_