This is Freshman

Software Developer, Writer, Autodidact.

Greetings, and welcome to my technical blog! My full name is Ayooluwa Isaiah, but everyone just calls me Ayo (Ah-yuh).

My journey into the world of software development began in late 2014, inspired by my various tinkerings with WordPress and a loss of interest in the Electrical Engineering course I was studying at the time. Although I initially spent a year exploring various programming languages, I eventually found stability and direction through freeCodeCamp’s open-source frontend JavaScript curriculum.

While I continued to expand my knowledge by learning React, Vue.js, and other frontend technologies, I found myself growing disillusioned with the constant flux in that space. Seeking a more stable path, I shifted my focus to backend development, starting with Node.js and later delving into the world of Go. I now primarily develop web services and CLIs in Go, and I actively use PostgreSQL, Docker, and various observability tools.

Before embarking on my coding journey, I ran my own football website, where I wrote opinion pieces on the Premier League and managed a team of contributing writers. Although the website is now defunct, this experience coupled with several freelance technical writing gigs laid the groundwork for my current role at Better Stack. I am privileged to lead the technical content team, producing insightful articles on building and scaling reliable applications.

From my passion for writing, programming, and sharing experiences, Freshman was born in October 2016, and it now serves as the home of all my various thoughts and adventures in software development.

With computers

Hardware

I currently use a 2021 15" Dell Precision 5560 (11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11850H × 16, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD). It runs Fedora Workstation.
I also have a 2020 Dell XPS 15 9500 (i7-10750H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) which I keep primarily for running Windows-only software.
I use two 27" 4K LG BL85U-W monitors, and theyre mounted on the North Bayou H180 Desk Arm.
My keyboard is the Logitech MX Keys.
I’m a recent trackball convert with the Logitech MX Ergo Trackball.
I use the Samson Q2U Microphone for meetings and audio recordings.
My current headphones is the Anker Soundcore Q30.
The PreSonus® Eris® E3.5 Studio Monitor along with the Eris Sub 8BT Subwoofer covers all my desk listening needs.
My current phone is an iPhone 15 Pro Max.
I have two sturdy X&X BE01-S metal laptop stands.
My desk is custom made.
My office chair is Furgle Gaming Chair.

Terminal + Editor

The command-line is where I spend the majority of my time when I’m at my computer. You can see my dotfiles here.

Kitty is my terminal emulator of choice.
I’ve been using Fish shell since 2015, and currently use Starship as my shell prompt.
I use Neovim for both writing and coding.
Regarding monospace fonts, I use a mix of JetBrains Mono and Cascadia Code.
I use Zellij for terminal multiplexing// TODO: probably mention some CLI tools –>

Notable mentions

I use Hugo for building all my static websites (including this one). I also recently migrated from Netlify to Cloudflare Pages for hosting.
I use Hetzner Cloud for hosting my other projects.
Bitwarden manages all my passwords.
Obsidian takes care of all my note-taking needs.
I use NextDNS for system wide ad-blocking on both desktop and mobile.

Get in touch

The best way to reach me is through my email address: ayo at freshman dot tech. I’m happy to be emailed about technical inquires, projects and certainly any corrections or suggestions for material. I will usually respond within 24 hours.

I also maintain a presence elsewhere on the internet, most notably on GitHub, Twitter and Instagram. Feel free to follow me, and send a message if you want to discuss anything!