It's been a few months since I was at Handmade Seattle - and a couple of realizations are starting to solidify for me.

Right now, I work as a mobile developer, doing React Native for money. In my personal time I work on actual native development using C as a shared code base between Objective C and Java. I would much rather develop using this lower level process, but the very real critique against my method is that if I were to do this kind of thing for a client, they'd have a hard time finding other developers who could work on it after I left.

From what I see, Javascript's domination in mobile development work is justified by this argument:
"We can't hire people to solve the problem we have, so let's create a different problem that it's easier to find people to solve."

The future of the path we're on is to spend the next 5 years mastering all the trivia and bugs that come with each new version of React Native and it's myriad of unsupported dependencies, and then after year 6 when React Native is sunsetted, forget it all and relearn everything again with whatever the new React Native is. All the while supporting the current system of development which prioritizes worker-replaceability over the creation of solutions which provide some benefit for humanity.

So that's the path we're on.

Or, if we work to create a visible, organized collection of developers, locally and internationally who believe in this handmade code movement and want to work on solving the actual problems we have instead of the made up problems, then we can collapse the hiring argument, and create a small foothold of sanity, by which we can build a competitive movement against the current tide of garbage programming. And create some software that solves a real problem rather than a made up one.

Okay so what am I actually talking about here?

I want to be able to visit any city in the world, and know that there is a handmade club of some kind there, with monthly in-person meetings where people discuss and share projects which show off low level code, handmade code, data oriented programming, compression oriented programming, 8 bit computing, etc.

I live in Detroit, and am working with a friend to create something like that here, but would love to do this as part of a collective - something repeatable and growing, with sister organizations that connect with each other and collaborate.

If you've started up a local Handmade community, or are thinking about it, let's chat!

- Seth Detroit (subtext)

Currently having some more thoughts on this on the discord Handmade Network Meetup Channel:
https://discordapp.com/channels/239737791225790464/424523844016144394

This sounds amazing. I think my experience has generally been that in-person community interaction is definitely a good way to become a better thinker, have thought-provoking conversations (that are higher bandwidth than textual ones), and obviously to have a lot of fun. It also has the possibility of kicking Handmade out of the "obscure unorthodox thing that a few people online believe in". Would you agree that in-person organizations with real, demonstrable results are good ways to legitimize perception and adoptability of a set of ideas?

We've brainstormed some things on the team about aiding in-person meetups with the site, and giving them streamlined ways to be organized. If this were paired with regular city-based meetups, it could really enhance the community and further the promotion of our general ideas about programming. I am totally on board.

Ryan

In an e-mail to close friends yesterday:

I want low-level programmers to thrive and feel connected and empowered. My approach is to create a conference that stands as a strong alternative to the behemoth that is JSConf. It'll take years of growth and hard work. Casey started the cons, and I intend to make them mainstream.

However, that may not be enough. When the speakers, developers, and attendees disband, the only thing we have for the year is online stuff (which is important of course.)

If you've started up a local Handmade community, or are thinking about it, let's chat!

In Seattle I've met with a few developers gauging interest for monthly meetups. I have rather ambitious plans for Handmade Seattle 2020, so whether I can actually coordinate this is an open question. But if I can't, for sure one of these developers would take the mantle. E-mail me so you can count on a Seattle chapter.

Delix
We've brainstormed some things on the team about aiding in-person meetups with the site, and giving them streamlined ways to be organized.

I dream of the day I travel to some state (or country!), go to Handmade Network, and see there is a nearby Handmade Café Session on a Sunday morning :-)

Awesome!

To stoke the imagination, I've created a spreadsheet where people can put their location and the city the club is located in, and we can see a map:

https://docs.google.com/spreadshe...XLMOVfGWYZvhocnw/edit?usp=sharing

Delix
It also has the possibility of kicking Handmade out of the "obscure unorthodox thing that a few people online believe in". Would you agree that in-person organizations with real, demonstrable results are good ways to legitimize perception and adoptability of a set of ideas?

...If this were paired with regular city-based meetups, it could really enhance the community and further the promotion of our general ideas about programming.

Yes, I love this as a central goal! Time to bring this movement into the light.

abnercoimbre

In Seattle I've met with a few developers gauging interest for monthly meetups. I have rather ambitious plans for Handmade Seattle 2020, so whether I can actually coordinate this is an open question. But if I can't, for sure one of these developers would take the mantle. E-mail me so you can count on a Seattle chapter.

Will do - I'll send you an email from seth at doercreator.com

abnercoimbre

I dream of the day I travel to some state (or country!), go to Handmade Network, and see there is a nearby Handmade Café Session on a Sunday morning :-)

Yeah that would be ideal!

3/7/2020 - Saturday 3-5pm - Cafe 1923, Hamtramck, MI


The humble beginnings of Handmade Detroit's first gathering! (2 out of 3 attendees pictured here) Great session of giving project feedback and discussing handmade hero, compression oriented programming, data oriented programming, and 8 bit computing. Left with some great ideas, and challenges to rise to!

Nice. I've sent another e-mail your way with plans for the Seattle chapter and who will be coordinating it. Hopefully the other cities got in touch with you too (or you with them?).

Exciting stuff -- I can't wait to attend these things.

abnercoimbre
Hopefully the other cities got in touch with you too (or you with them?).

Just reached out to everyone!

We're definitely just starting out here, but something that's on the horizon of possibilities is the idea of starting an official Association or Alliance:
http://www.greydancommunications.com/2011/08/starting-from-scratch/

If we decide one of the goals is to formalize and make this movement more official, this could be a good direction to head... Or it might just create an unnecessary bureaucracy! Curious if anyone has any experience here.

It's just an idea - at the very least, proceeding as if we were starting an association could provide us a set of questions for pinning down what this movement really is all about. ..Purpose and mission and all that good stuff.

I think Handmade could end up having a tradition of spawning independent entities until most needs are met. Handmade Hero; this Network; conferences; and now Meetups (or Alliance or whatever you call it) are each offering something that together might break us into the mainstream.

As for "making it official", IMHO I recommend taking the time to encourage city-based meetups to do their thing. Let the experience build over the coming weeks and months and share it among the chapters. Be fairly light on planning and structure for as long as possible. Let people attending meetups feel it will always be informal, yet friendly and helpful enough they will want to return.

Above all focus on developing relationships -- friendships outlast procedures. Once it's clear which cities are in it for the long-haul, then (and only then) should you tighten structure and vote on formalizing an alliance.

I’ve had similar thoughts to this recently! It was awesome to meet and talk about handmade topics and see what everyone works on with people when I was in Seattle, but I haven’t had the opportunity other than the discord since I returned.

I’m in Boston (well Cambridge but close enough) so if anybody else is in the area and would be interested in getting something going I’d be happy to coordinate. Really just gauging if anyone else is in the area.

Hey! I remember you from Handmade Con in Seattle this year.

Your story is almost a carbon copy of mine. I work as a mobile developer. In my spare time I work on cross-platform games with a mostly C codebase that calls into native Objective-C wrappers.

I too have witnessed the intrusion of Javascript and Web into the mobile landscape, and I have found few people who are interested in looking at mobile development (or native development in general) from a different angle.

I'm in the Salt Lake City area. I met another guy at Handmade Con in my area, so maybe he and I can collaborate on that, at least here.

Also, if you're interested, my current employer leans more towards native methods. I'm working covertly to shake them out of the OOP mindset, and it has been mostly productive so far. Fast working software built in a fraction of the usual dev time speaks for itself. I just wanted to throw that out there in case you wanted a mobile dev job that isn't all React Native and Javascript.

Anyway, cool to know there's another person with a similar story

-Ted

I agree with Abner. I think it is important to let these things develop organically to what they want to be.

I think it is important that we make use of proper nomenclature and utilize the word "Guild" so that I can finally, in the year 2020, be part of a non-fictional guild.

Great initiative BTW, I really hope to start seeing HMN folk pop up in my area.

tedbendixson

I too have witnessed the intrusion of Javascript and Web into the mobile landscape, and I have found few people who are interested in looking at mobile development (or native development in general) from a different angle.

Also, if you're interested, my current employer leans more towards native methods. I'm working covertly to shake them out of the OOP mindset, and it has been mostly productive so far. Fast working software built in a fraction of the usual dev time speaks for itself. I just wanted to throw that out there in case you wanted a mobile dev job that isn't all React Native and Javascript.

-Ted

I also count myself fortunate to be working in the mobile space firmly rooted in native development. And given the demands of our product, I don't anticipate any threats towards moving towards anything web-based for our mobile apps. Fortunately all the developers I work with all agree that native is the way to go 100%, so that's refreshing at least.

I have a harder time convincing my colleagues about the perils of OOP, but I'm the principal developer on the iOS app, which has minimal amount of OOPness in it, so I'll let that stand as an example. :)

Great initiative here!