About Me
Hi, my name is Pink. I'm a self taught programmer with many years of experience.
My Dev Journey
I first found my passion with Minecraft—or more specifically—the technical side of the game. Very quickly after getting the game I started learning the built in scripting language of the game. This taught me some basic concepts about computer science.
I worked on many small projects that only I ever saw. It wasn't until I joined CurseForge in which I started to create projects for other people. In 2018, I started off by recreating the Tardis from the popular show Doctor Who. This used many of my skills with the builtin scripting language.
A video game's scripting language will only get you so far. I decided to put an effort towards creating something both a larger demographic would enjoy and utilize an actual programming language. This put me towards Classic 3D, my now most popular project.
Classic 3D, is an addon for Minecraft that improves the visuals of the game by adding more detailed models. It extensively relies on a build tool to reduce the verbose nature of resource packs. When I first built Classic 3D in 2019, I started creating a script called Resource Pack Packer (RPP). RPP started off as a small python script, but later turned into a full program.
Throughout 2018 and 2019, I learned how to use Unity, but I never shipped anything significant. I did learn C# which felt like a better Java. Later, I would abandon the engine since I disagreed with Unity's decisions.
During 2021, I took my first computer science class and promptly didn't learn anything new. Surprising that after "studying" for three years prior, I would get a 5 on a AP course.
In 2022, I started learning how to create Fabric mods for Minecraft. These are written in Java and can anything about the game. I started off by creating a small mod called Commands+. This built on the scripting langue in Minecraft.
After getting experience with Fabric mods, I started a bigger project. Later I would put it on the back burner, but I created Apollo. It's my own take on a space mod for Minecraft.
By 2022, I had experience with websites, C#, Java, and Python. I only learned these as a way to get something done, not because I enjoyed using them. I learned of Rust from YouTube and was very interested. I liked Java for it's static nature, but it was overly verbose and non-native. Python made most tasks simple, but heavily relied on runtime checks with little static analysis. Rust felt like a balance between these two worlds. I decided to make an investment into learning Rust.
RPP, my resource pack build script for Minecraft, was overly bloated. Fairly quick, I came to the conclusion that Python was getting in the way. Anyways, I would have to rewrite the entire program from scratch to debloat it. So I start rewriting RPP in Rust. First, I attempted it in 2022 and later in 2023, but I lacked a good enough understanding of Rust. It wouldn't be until mid-2024 in which I would start building a working spiritual successor called MCPacker.
While RPP had a strong focus on an inheritance based workflow, MCPacker focuses more on a composition workflow. A resource pack is comprised of many "bundles". Each bundle can be used in many different builds of a pack. For instance, Classic 3D Redux1 has a bundle for each version of the game to allow for supporting a wide range of Minecraft versions.
My Current Skills
Primarily, I'm a Rust developer. I also have experience with the Minecraft modding API known as Fabric using Java.
My Rust libraries
I'm able to use Python, but I tend to avoid it for anything more than simple scripts.
Nuxt/Vue is my side adventure. I don't like the web ecosystem, but Vue is well made. I only learned it to make this website and nothing more.
I use Linux2 and the terminal extensively with every project I work on. Neovim, Git, and VSCode get me through the day.