2022 Year-End Review

2023 is here. Looking back at 2022, it’s time for my annual summary.

Work

1. First Half: I primarily focused on business-oriented projects. While the technical skill gain wasn’t massive, there were some notable achievements:

   • Wallet Extension Development: This gave me deep insights into dApps, the gRPC communication protocol, and Node.js support for ES modules.

2. Second Half: The focus shifted to WebShell development. This project was technically intensive, and I learned a great deal about terminal emulation and secure communication.

Growth & Contributions

Open Source

2022 was even more productive than 2021. Here are the highlights:

• Alfred Workflows: Developed 30+ new workflows, reaching 446 stars. This represents a growth of 300 stars over last year. The project has entered a virtuous cycle:

  • As a power user myself (regularly using tools for OCR, Gonfeng, Whistle, and Surge), I naturally discover bugs and feature needs that drive iterative development.
  • The project solves real pain points. I’ve seen active Issues, PRs, and even Sponsors. Some users liked the tools so much they voluntarily submitted them to the official Alfred Gallery for review.

    

  • The repository’s infrastructure is maturing, including weekly CI-generated star statistics, automated versioning, README auto-generation from metadata, and standardized GIF recordings.
  • Maintaining this repo has also earned me free licenses for 1Password and JetBrains IDEs, saving me over 1,000 CNY annually.

• dash-docset-tcapi:

  • Since I frequently use Tencent Cloud APIs, I created a custom Dash docset. This has made API lookup significantly faster.
  • Integrated with CI to ensure the docset automatically updates whenever the official documentation changes.

• toolbox-browser-extensionx:

  • JetBrains’ official browser extension doesn’t support Tencent Gongfeng. Since I use both WebStorm and VS Code, I modified the official extension to add Gongfeng support and other personalized tweaks to speed up repo cloning.

• iterm2-trigger:

  • iTerm2 supports triggers to open files. I built this tool to dynamically choose the right editor: Go projects open in GoLand, JS projects in WebStorm, and individual files in VS Code.

• v2ray-docker:

  • Managing proxies across different machines used to be a chore. I encapsulated my preferred setup (WebSocket + HTTPS) into a Docker-based tool. Now, I just submit a simple form to generate a config package and run it.

• github-issue-bot:

  • I use GitHub Issues as a personal knowledge base. To make cross-repo searching easier, I built a Telegram Bot. Now, I can search all my summarized solutions using simple keywords.

    

Blogging

• I published 88 articles this year, bringing the total to 528. Most are reflections on technical problems I’ve solved. Writing remains my way of “leaving footprints in the snow.”
• Monetizing the blog remains difficult. Total referral income was under $20, and AdSense only brought in a few dollars. I might need to explore video content on YouTube to supplement this.

WeChat Official Account

I maintain a low-frequency account called “Alfred Road to Refinement” (Alfred打磨之路). It has 121 followers. Paid knowledge sharing is tough when so much quality content is available for free.

Learning

I read very few books this year across design, programming, or history. This is something I definitely need to improve in 2023.

Tools

My hardware and software setup is nearing saturation. For a detailed breakdown of the few pieces of gear I did acquire, see Gear Review 2022.

Travel

Despite the ongoing pandemic, I managed to get out a bit:

• August: Handan, Hebei.
• October: Xianning, Hubei.

Review of 2022 Goals

1. Marriage/Buying a Home: Only partially completed. This is now a 2023 priority.
2. Career Advancement: Due to the pandemic and company-wide furloughs, this was a difficult year. I did my best given the circumstances.
3. Open Source Growth: Exceeded expectations in both quality and quantity of output.
4. Monetization (Mini Programs/Official Account): Still a work in progress.
5. Medium Monetization: Abandoned due to the difficulty of linking a bank account without overseas citizenship or identity info.

Final Thoughts

• The second half of the year involved a lot of overtime. Reflecting on this, I realized some of it was due to inefficient methods leading to a vicious cycle. I need to adjust my workflow in 2023 and communicate more proactively with management.
• With the current economic climate and benefit reductions, I need to think critically about my long-term career path. Value is only created when there is growth and the benefits outweigh the costs.
• I’m another year older and looking to start a family. My plan is to get married this year.
• My fitness routine stalled over the past two years. With restrictions lifting, it’s time to get back to the gym. Health is the foundation of everything.