Life as of Today and Beginning my Mobile App Development Journey - Kevin Uriel Fonseca
I graduated on June 23, 2024, with a B.A.A.S. in IT from Tarleton State University. My expectations for landing a job were high, but I knew the reality of the job market—especially in IT—was daunting. Despite my hopes, the only position I secured was with Amazon as a delivery driver. Yes, I was the one dropping your packages at your front porch, garage, or even inside those black trash cans as requested!
While I enjoyed the job, I faced a setback when I had an accident while out on my route. The extreme Texas heat caused me to pass out, which ultimately led to my dismissal. This incident has been the most significant event in my life since graduation.
On a technical note, I discovered that my authentication issues on this website stemmed from having my front-end hosted on Vercel while my backend runs on Heroku. Apparently, cookies can’t be shared between different domains. Although I could tinker with the settings, I prefer to keep my Next.js app on localhost since it’s my portfolio and totally free!
New Coding Adventures
Amidst all this, I realized I couldn’t just sit around playing video games. I decided to take action and created my first NPM package, import-alias-file. According to the README (authored by yours truly), its purpose is to “ease the process of importing files within a Node.js project.”
It took me just over 24 hours to complete and launch it on the expansive NPM network. As noted in the README, you’ll need Node.js pre-installed to use its internal libraries. I’d love for you to give it a try!
npm install import-alias-file
A New Journey Begins: React Native Development!
A few years ago, I dipped my toes into React Native and enjoyed the learning process, but I never built a full application beyond the standard tutorial projects. This time, I was determined to create something unique and straightforward. I dedicated 48-72 hours to develop Anonymous Secrets. Here’s a glimpse of its purpose:
Introducing Anonymous Secrets: a mobile app that allows users to share secrets freely and securely. With options to password-protect messages and set a 24-hour expiration for added privacy, it ensures your confidential thoughts are shared only as long as you wish. Join a trustworthy community where secrets are kept safe!
While the app appears simple, building a drawer menu was quite the challenge; I spent nearly 8 hours perfecting that single component. A key element of my development process was Expo Router, a tool that streamlines navigation in React Native apps. Expo Router is simply impressive!.
What is Expo Router?
Expo Router employs the same system as NextJS does, a file-based routing system, which means your app’s navigation mirrors the file structure of your application. For instance, a file named index.js in a home folder automatically becomes accessible at the /home route.
Having used Expo Router, greatly reduced my learning curve and building Anonymous Secrets could not have been more easy!. I’m also excited to announce that I’m preparing the for the launch date, during which I aim to gather around 100 testers as required by the Google Play Console website. If you’re interested in being among the first one to try out the app, send me your emails at kuaf1998@gmail.com and stay tuned for more updates!. Your feedback will be invaluable in refining the experience before the official release!.
As always, thanks for reading! Bye Bye!