Joseph Wolfe

Code

Solving Problems

I am a passionate software developer and technical lead who likes to build products that solve problems. My wife ♥️ is a Product Manager, and we talk about process a lot.

For me, code is a tool. I engage with software development as a craft rather than as a science or art. I want to write maintainable code that respects users and delivers practical value. Privacy and security are always first-order concerns.

The Bigger Picture

My years of experience in politics and education before I learned to code help me see the bigger picture on my own and in an organizational context. I like to know why we're building something; who we think it will help; the scope of benefit we should expect to sustainably provide; and the potential costs, broadly construed, associated with the project.

A rising tide lifts all boats, and I believe that free, open source licenses and decentralized, platform-independent formats and protocols both empower users and benefit companies through the collective advancement of technology.

I support organizations like the EFF and FSF that advocate for privacy, security, and civil liberties in the digital space. I spent years running Mastodon and PeerTube instances and a Tor bridge relay. I even ran a Zcash node before cryptocurrency became a meme. This website and the dozens of my other projects you can find online are open source with copyleft licensing.

Managing Humans

Software problems are often people problems, and communication is one of the more underrated skills in software development. Everyone is better off when technical teams are fully aligned with product and business stakeholders.

In a manager or technical lead role, I keep in mind the ingredients of flow state that I learned from studying game design. For a software developer team to achieve a productive flow state, they need:

  1. Clear Tasks
  2. Immediate Feedback
  3. Balanced Difficulty
  4. Minimal Distractions

The Tea

It can be tricky to get everything I like in once place. 😉

Uses

Go-To Technologies

React Redux TypeScript Node.js Next.jsKoa Koa Tailwind CSS PostgreSQL

I Also Use

Rust C#MDX MDXApache Kafka Apache Kafka Elasticsearch MongoDB DockerCaddy CaddyNGINX NginxNetlify NetlifyVercel VercelVultr Vultr

Game Engines

Godot Engine GodotUnity Unity

Environment

Vim Visual Studio CodeDebian DebianZsh Oh My Zsh

Productivity

Nextcloud NextcloudObsidian Obsidian FirefoxSignal SignalLibreOffice LibreOffice

See the Colophon for what I used to build this site.