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This project marked my initial foray into development. Previously, my coding experience was limited to C and C++ during my college years. However, for this Microsoft project, I had to dive into JavaScript and subsequently TypeScript. Learning these languages was imperative for the project’s success. Additionally, mastering git branching practices was essential before I could contribute any code.

Navigating promise handling was a significant challenge, and I found myself initially grappling with callback hell. To bridge this gap, I dedicated three months to intensive preparation, often putting in extra hours at the office to ensure I kept pace with the project’s demands. Initially, progress felt sluggish.

I familiarized myself with Knockout.js and developed a sample project, which I later presented to my skeptical boss. Despite her doubts, I surprised her with my grasp of the material, proving that reusing others code as a learning tool could be effective.

After that, I transitioned into a “shadow” developer role, tackling tasks assigned to colleagues while they focused on more complex assignments. This arrangement was facilitated by our employer’s convenient business model, which invoiced clients in dollars but paid us in Argentine pesos.

As my skills improved, I began handling more challenging tasks independently. However, I encountered my first communication hiccup when a task depended on a departing team member’s work, causing delays and prompting reprimands from management. Despite diligently informing the team of the issue, blame ended up being directed at our project leader.

Following this incident, my relationship with the project leader soured, and the project itself started to unravel as the client sought services elsewhere. Amidst this transition, I was tasked with compiling project documentation, a task that required me to learn about components I hadn’t directly worked on. Despite expectations of failure, I successfully completed the documentation, earning praise from the Microsoft representative.

Without any recognition from my former team or management, I persevered and seamlessly transitioned to a new project, armed with the lessons learned from this challenging experience.