Wednesday June 13th

GSoC, RustReach Day 31 and Progress

I was up until minutes to 3 in the morning working on code, and then took about an hour’s nap before heading to work. I don’t usually drink coffee, but today I had one cup…because I was tired.

I got about 6 out of the 26 constructors printed to the screen, and it’s actually pretty awesome to see Haskell in the Browser. It’s so awesome being a part of that.
My sprint at work had a break in the morning, so I spent the time re-working the types section (chapter 5?) of Haskellbook. It’s crazy how much better and easier it is for me to work through now. Weird.
I think once I get used to working through type errors and composition more, I’ll be in much better shape. But the whole process is challenging and fun. I have Haskell experience y’all! And as a student! :D

I’m really, really appreciative and satisfied with all of my mentors this summer. They’ve all made a huge difference and I’m really thankful. Chris moved across the country, and still maintained a schedule at all hours so that if I needed help, he could help me. Gabe just came back from Zurich and is dead tired, but has invested so much into helping me. And these people have jobs, maintain libraries and have lives. I don’t know how they do it. So I’m really thankful they’re just good, solid people. Aaron, my Rust mentor, is also really solid. So, I’ve mostly been going through the Rust book, so I’m not doing the flailing thing yet, but I’m confident when I do, he’ll be there to assist.
I’ve been on the other side of mentoring (as a mentor) virtually, but it really does take a certain type of person to be a good mentor. Having empathy and patience. I’ve just been really impressed by how positive and how much great advice I’ve gotten from everyone.
The programming community (well, Rust is pretty friendly, but the Haskell community does have some rotten apples) isn’t always the friendliest because you get all sorts, but my mentors have really done a great job at shielding me from negativity so I have a great experience, and being a source of support for me. In turn, it’s really helped me to mature and see the forest for the trees. And I’m super thankful for that.

I’d like to continue working with Haskell however I can. I realized that an opportunity I thought was set up as “open source” was really not that at all, but there are other options, so I’ll keep contributing to my GSoC and RustReach projects moving forward, and continue to look for opportunities to commit code.
I hope someone gets something out of that advertised opportunity, even if it’s not me. It’s really a huge disservice for someone to advertise an open source opportunity (and in Haskell!) and then not have it as really open to the community. There are legit people who want experience in Haskell and would love an opportunity to get their feet wet in Haskell open source, which can be super intimidating.
For GSoC, I’d like to definitely stick it through the end so my organization gets money. I’d like them to be chosen next year, too, so more people can get an opportunity to work on Haskell. GSoC has been a great opportunity.
For Rust, the community seems particularly friendly; I’d like to continue to be a part of that community, also.

I was chosen as both a student volunteer and a scholarship recipient for PLMW. So I’m excited about attending. Plus, it’s in Philly, and Ben said he’d be there. I’m not sure if I mentioned I had been helping him get contacts for some research a while ago. Since he’s at UPenn, it’s easy for him to get to PLDI, and it would be a nice opportunity to catch up. He’s a really nice guy in person! Gabe said he went to school there and he hadn’t met him, and here I am, on the other side of the country, chatting with the guy LOL.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get the points Constructors (eg those that require points) to work and be seen in the browser
I also plan on spending Friday morning and Saturday on Rust, since Fridays are off for me :D
Also, I have that Medium article to write.

Written on June 13, 2018