ex-mode VS govuk-form-builder

Some years ago I was on a shitty job - not technically, but the company turned out to be inhumane - at a Ruby shop, and on the side I was toying with mini_racer and I just upgraded to some macOS beta where it failed to build. A shitty +1-1 hack† for a compiler flag later and it was back flying.

A month later I received a cold email from a CTO to chat a bit about that PR, turns out they were using mini_racer heavily and forked it for their own purpose, and also created PyMiniRacer for the Python side of things. Next thing I know I got hired. Two years later the company got acquired.

Of course conditionally adding a compiler flag wasn't what got me hired per se, it only got my profile noticed. Probably side projects such as porting go by example to Ruby by implementing a ~1:1 CSP channel API[1], an Electron desktop client for Mattermost basically on a dare[2], ex mode for the Atom editor so that I could have that frackin' `:w`[3], leveraging Blocks to bolt on object-oriented-ness onto C because "closures are a poor man's object"[4], or reverse-engineering the Xbox One USB gamepad and writing a kext to turn it into a HID device on macOS from scratch on a lonely 7+h train ride with passengers judgementally staring at me sideways[4] probably contributed to it a bit.

My takeaway: luck is when preparation meets opportunity; but don't to side projects to get hired, because if you don't get hired then that time is lost. Rather, of all things, scratch your itch, have fun, embrace whatever quirkiness you fancy; no one can take that away from you.

[0]: https://github.com/rubyjs/mini_racer/commit/2086db1bbf2b5de4...

[1]: https://github.com/lloeki/normandy

[2]: https://github.com/lloeki/matterfront

[3]: https://github.com/lloeki/ex-mode

[4]: https://github.com/lloeki/cblocks-clobj/blob/master/main.c

[5]: https://github.com/lloeki/xbox_one_controller

I build and maintain some libraries that are used by teams working on GOV.UK projects in Rails. Have been inundated with offers since their release, and they've gone on to be used in some fairly high profile things.

https://github.com/x-govuk/govuk-form-builder

This is my side project, I'm a dev currently contracting at DfE. This library and the form builder[0] make working with the design system easier for Rails devs.

[0] https://govuk-form-builder.netlify.app/

If you dig around on GitHub you'll see most government departments have an organisation where they publish stuff. For example, here's the MoJ, DfE, Cabinet Office.

This is definitely the best approach in my opinion, providing the people writing the docs are capable of contributing directly.

One of my projects[0] builds and deploys a static documentation site[1] on every push to master. The static site generator (Nanoc, in this case) then pulls in the library and uses it to publish its own documentation. All the examples are snippets of code[2] that are both displayed as-is and eval'd into the final output.

The guide can never be out of sync with the library.

[0] https://github.com/dfe-digital/govuk_design_system_formbuild...

[1] https://govuk-form-builder.netlify.app/

[2] https://github.com/DFE-Digital/govuk_design_system_formbuild...