A Dream that I Had 20 Years Ago: “develop a cool C++ app”​ Has Been Finally Realised

On 2020–10–13, I opened the book “The C++ Programming Language” that I bought 20 years ago, found out a hand-written line on a back blank page: “develop a cool C++ app”. This was a dream back then, and I have totally forgotten.

In 2000, I worked as a software engineer (Java) at a research centre. Under my tech lead’s advice, I learned C++ and developed a small C++ utility (bought the book at that time). I was very impressed with the C++ speed (comparing to Java). However, C++ was a lot harder to program for me, as I got used to Java’s memory management. My writing “develop a cool C++ app” on a blank back page showed a lack of confidence.

After I left the research centre and went on to work as a contract Java programmer, I put the goal of ‘developing a C++ app’ totally behind me. It was really like a dream that faded gradually.

Years later, my interest moved onto Test Automation and Continuous Testing. As I faithfully practising test automation (and CT) for a few months, I noticed my productivity as a programmer greatly increased. About a year later, my productive gain was not double or triple, is more like 10x+. This gave me the confidence to start developing my own apps in my spare time. I developed a few apps in my spare time: TestWise, ClinicWise…