An Unprompted Testimonial

I was burned out. React and JSX were kicking my ass, and I questioned whether web development was for me. My mental model kept me stuck in the backend; I couldn’t replicate the frontends I admired on the web.

[Before working with John,] I had a sprawling schema with separate tables and columns for every individual rubric item—a big, slow mess. Then John [simplified everything by] storing the entire rubric in JSON. It never occurred to me that complex UI could be unlocked by the right data structures.

John’s implementation of the “functional core, imperative shell” pattern is another thing that stuck with me—code that’s testable and modular, separate from the UI. John read an article and then put it into practice. That inspired me to read more technical material.

And John’s logging strategies? Quality of life improvements that punch above weight.

All of that helped shift my perspective on frontend development. I used to think frontend was less serious than backend. Now I think frontend is more fun, engaging, and beautiful.

And finally—John’s lack of ego, his willingness to collaborate with my team regardless of skill level—it humbled me. Killed off whatever diva energy I had left. I’ve become a better builder because of John!