Where is Algorithmically Speaking?

What I've been up to this past few months and where things are heading.

Hello there!

Yes, I’m back after a while, and I’m here to tell you all about what I’ve been focusing on for the past months and what can you expect from this newsletter from now on.

If you are here because you enjoy algorithms, and computer science-related stuff I still have you covered, but also I want to connect with you in different ways. I’ll tell you all about it in a moment.

But first, here’s the main reason that keeps me motivated for writing in this newsletter:

You guessed it. The main reason is you. And we are close to being a 1000+ awesome community. I thank you all for that.

Now, let’s talk business!

---

A Break in the Summer 🌻

If you have been following this newsletter since the beginning, you might have noticed that I broke a streak of weekly publications that I have managed to keep going from April to July this year.

In those four months, I published around 20 posts and got a surprisingly good reception among all of you. The newsletter was growing fast, and I was motivated by an urge to publish at least one post per week.

Unfortunately, burnout syndrome is a thing. And it can affect us all.

Trying to keep up with my weekly publishing schedule while also having a full-time job as a software developer was a bit too much over time. So, I decided to take a pause, and gradually build back a life routine that I could sustain more easily for a longer time.

I kept things simple. Cut off everything, and add back things into the daily routine one by one.

I started with the obvious one: the full-time job is my main source of stability, so it makes sense to prioritize it. I spent weeks only trying to focus on my work at the office and relaxing after working hours and weekends.

The next thing, I kept my workout routine going but this time I tried to include at least one sport a week to change activity from the usual gym. I also included climbing sessions, more on that when I think I’m good enough to show something to all of you 😅.

I think you get the idea by now. Start slow, one thing at a time, until you feel you can manage the current load of things you want to do. When that happens, add a new thing to your routine.

And finally, it was time to add Substack back to the equation. Here we are, and this is what’s coming!

What now?

Since I’ve been gone for a while, there are many of you subscribed who might not know how things used to be around here before I stopped publishing weekly. Also, long-time subscribers who have stuck around might be wondering if things will work the same way as before.

Don’t panic. This is what’s coming:

1) No fixed publishing schedule 📅

I tried publishing at least once a week for months and it was too much. That doesn’t mean I will just casually post something and then you will have to wait a month to hear from me again, but it certainly takes away some pressure from me so I can focus more on the quality of the content.

2) Technical Content ⚙

Since the main topic of this substack is technical content related to algorithms, computer science, and software engineering of course I will continue to publish about those subjects.

A small peek into the future includes:

• A collaboration about Binary Search with my great friend

  José J. Rodríguez
  , author of Under the Hype.

• A collaboration about geospatial data science, and some cool visualizations with

  Pawel Jastrzebski
  . We met recently and we have some exciting plans. Check out his substack It's all about the code.

• How to create your own Substack dashboard.

• Why plan for refactoring code?

3) Meta Content 🌠

The main change I want to make from now on is to start including more content that is not that hands-on on technical topics. That does not mean that the motivation for these subjects cannot come from technical topics as well, but they will be a bit all over the place.

Some upcoming articles include:

• A collaboration with my dad

  Carlos R. González Jiménez
  exploring the topic of how to communicate with extraterrestrial life.

• How to balance your life to be more productive and happier.

• How to be the ultimate team player.

• How playing a musical instrument is beneficial for a software engineer.

As you can see, I have a plan, and I already started to work on it. I will keep doing my best to come up with ideas to share with you and to bring those ideas to life with the greatest possible quality of my writing.

Nevertheless, the most popular topics on this Substack have always been the ones that you requested me to write about. So, always counting on you to comment below and let me know what you think about every post and what you would like to see more about.

---

And that’s it for today! If you are finding this newsletter valuable, consider doing any of these:

1) ✉️ Subscribe to the newsletter — if you aren’t already, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

2) 🍻 Read with your friends — this newsletter grows because of readers sharing. I don’t use social media too much to advertise my writing. I’m counting on you!

Have a great day! ☀️

Alberto