I turned 40 today. For [my 35th I did principles](https://www.swyx.io/35-principles), but for my 40th, I wanted to offer perhaps more useful reflections.

Swyx offers insights into software engineering, developer productivity, and career growth, providing articles, talks, and resources to help developers level up their skills and advance their careers in tech. By exploring Swyx's curated content, developers can learn about coding strategies, learning methodologies, and networking techniques for becoming more effective and successful in their profession. Whether you're navigating your first job search, mastering new technologies, or aiming for leadership roles, Swyx offers resources to support your personal and professional growth in the software industry.

swyx

swyx (Shawn Wang) reflects on turning 40 with a decade-by-decade retrospective of his career transformation from hedge fund analyst to AI Engineering advocate. He traces his journey from 2016 — when his finance career ended and he barely knew how to code — through learning to code via FreeCodeCamp, becoming a developer advocate, building the Latent Space podcast, founding smol.ai, and organizing the AI Engineer World's Fair. He shares both wins and honest failures, and closes with the Bill Gates observation that people underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years, encouraging self-belief and defining your own path.

What you can do in a decade