10 years ago
Once upon a time…
10 years ago I landed my first WebKit patch 🎂:
Bug 107275 - [GTK] Implement
LayoutTestController::addUserScript
That was my first patch to a web engine related project, and also my first professional C++ patch. My previous work at Igalia was around web applications development with PHP and Java. At that time, 2013, Igalia had been already involved on web rendering engines for several years, and the work around web applications was fading out inside the company, so moving to the other side of the platform looked like a good idea. 10 years have passed and lots of great things have happened.
Since that first patch many more have come mostly in Chromium/Blink and WebKit; but also in WPT, CSS, HTML and other specs; and just a few, sadly, in Gecko (I’d love to find the opportunity to contribute there more at some point). I’ve became committer and reviewer in both Chromium and WebKit projects. I’m also member of the CSS Working Group (though not very active lately) and Blink API owner.
During these years I have had the chance to attend several events, spoke at a few conferences, got some interviews. I’ve been also helping to organize the Web Engines Hackfest since 2014 and a CSSWG face-to-face meeting at Igalia headquarters in A Coruña in January 2020 (I have so great memories of the last dinner).
These years have allowed me to meet lots of wonderful people from which I’ve learnt, and still learn every day, many things. I have the pleasure to work with amazing folks on a daily basis in the open. Every new feature or project in which I have to work, it’s again a new learning experience, and that’s something I really like about this kind of work.
In this period I’ve seen Igalia grow a lot in the web platform community, to the point that these days we’re the top world consultancy on the web platform, with an important position in several projects and standards bodies. We’re getting fairly well know in this ecosystem, and we’re very proud about having achieved that.
Looking back, I’m so grateful for the opportunity given by Igalia. Thanks to the amazing colleagues and the community and how they have helped me to contribute work on the different projects. Also thanks to the different customers that have allowed me to work upstream and develop my career around web browsers. 🙏 These days the source code I write (together with many others) is being used daily by millions of people, that’s totally unbelievable if you stop for a minute to think about it.
Looking forward to the next decade of involvement in the web platform. See you all on the web! 🚀