Why Write a Blog?#
This is my first post, which naturally leads to the question: why write a blog?
Motivation#
Let me take the risk of stating the obvious. For me, starting this blog is motivated by the following reasons:
Synthesizing my thoughts somewhere: No other medium allows me to express my thoughts about open-source projects, new libraries, or techniques in such a structured way.
Sharing knowledge: I have been a long-term advocate of Python in a scientific context. I have created tools like Spyder, Python(x,y), and WinPython, which have played a pivotal role in making Python a leading language for scientific computing. So, it might be worth sharing my thoughts and experiences with the community.
Connecting with the community: I have been involved in the open-source software community for a long time, but I have always been more of a “silent” worker. Writing a blog is a way to connect with the community in a more direct way.
Trigger#
I always have been reluctant to start a blog. My main concerns were
Time: I was afraid that I would not be able to post regularly. I still am, but I decided to give it a try anyway.
Ego: The idea of writing a blog is so ego-centric. To clarify the fact that I really don’t think of my as a reference in any field, I almost named this blog “The Ego-Centric Blog” or “My Humble Blog”… but I thought that would be too much of a cliché, or even counter-productive, so I decided to stick with the current name which is more neutral.
SciPy 2024 Conference kicking off, at the Great Tacoma Convention Center (WA, USA)#
The trigger for starting this blog was my attendance at the 2024 SciPy conference. I gave a talk on my 15 years of experience with scientific Python and the lessons I have learned along the way. Preparing for this talk made me realize that I may have a lot to say about the subject. One of the contacts I made at the conference (hey Paul!) suggested that I start writing about things I haven’t been able to present in my talk due to time constraints. Challenge accepted!