Software engineer
in the making.
C++, Python, and the road to FAANG.
I'm 37. Two years ago I committed to learning to build software. This site is a workbook — what I'm shipping, what I'm reading, the dead ends I walked into this week. No flourish. A bit about how I got here.
Eddie Donalds
37 · Brooklyn, NY · learning in publicI spent fifteen years in restaurants — line cook, sous, eventually running a small kitchen in Brooklyn. I liked the work. I liked it less at 37 than I did at 25.
Two years ago I started teaching myself to code on my days off. C first, because someone on a forum said it would hurt and they were right. Then C++, because I wanted to understand what was happening underneath. Python because I needed to ship something.
Three things, on repeat: fundamentals, problem solving, shipping. I'm not in a rush, but I'm not playing either. Below is what I'm reaching for daily — the tools I actually use, not a wishlist.
Stack
- C++ 20primary
- Python 3.12tools
- SQLitestorage
- Neovimeditor
- Linux (Arch, btw)os
- Git, make, gdbdaily
Reading Stroustrup, ch. 17 on the F train. Slowly. Concept-mapping each section into noteq.
Refactoring chess-eval's move-gen so I can profile it properly. The branch hasn't merged in three weeks, which I'm choosing to find motivating.
Forty more LeetCode mediums to hit my July target. Currently pacing one a day, two on Sundays.
Trying to write here every other Thursday. Trying.
Things I'm building.
Small, finished things over big, half-done things. Repos linked where they're readable.
noteq
A tiny CLI that grep's a folder of markdown notes by tag, date, or fuzzy title.
View repo →chess-eval
Toy chess engine — minimax, alpha-beta, a hand-rolled bitboard. Beats me. Loses to Stockfish.
View repo →leetcode-log
My personal LeetCode tracker — solutions, time-to-solve, retry queue, and a heatmap.
View repo →raycaster-cpp
A Wolfenstein-style software raycaster. Pure SDL2, no GPU. Mostly an excuse to draw pixels.
View repo →untitled-allocator
A simple bump & pool allocator in C++. Writing it to understand what malloc actually does.
Planneduntitled-shell
A toy POSIX shell. Pipes, redirection, job control. Until then: this card stays here.
PlannedAn interactive 3D version of this site is in the works.
Same content. Walkable. Each project is a room you can step into. Right now it's a folder of notes and a half-finished WebGL scene — check back.
Six rooms, one corridor. Walk in, click a wall to open the project.
Say hi.
I read everything. I reply to most things, eventually.
What I'm open to
- Internships and junior roles in C++ or Python (US, remote-friendly).
- Pair programming with anyone working through similar material.
- Mock interviews. I'll do them all day.
- Honest feedback on the projects above, especially if it stings.