Numbers. Gifts. Money.

In 5 hours, a new year will start, 2014. But let’s take a look at 2013 first.

I wrote 15 articles, including this one—this is fewer than the previous year (18), even though one of my goals for 2013 was to blog more. However, more than 70,000 unique visitors read my thoughts. That’s amazing! Even better, on Tuesday, July 30, 2013—the publication date of From STUPID to SOLID Code!–this website attracted over 6,000 unique visitors.

The three most viewed posts were:

• From STUPID to SOLID Code! (20,652 views)
• On Open Sourcing Libraries (11,779 views)
• DDD with Symfony2: Folder Structure and Code First (9,035 views)

It is worth mentioning that REST APIs with Symfony2: The Right Way received 59,723 unique visitors this year—even though the article was written in 2012.

These three blog posts explore Open Source and web development topics. Today, I must confess that I am not a PHP/web developer, I am not even a developer. I am a PhD student. My daily job is related to industrial computing and software testing. I don’t do programming, and if I would have to, I would use C#/.NET.

During events like SymfonyCon Warsaw, I have encountered individuals who find it challenging to understand why I contribute so much to Open Source projects. I engage in such contributions during my spare time purely out of curiosity, and it’s pretty addictive too. But apart from that, I am not too sure what I should be replying. Like, who would do that otherwise? Not everyone is allowed to do Open Source at work, and Open Source relies a lot on enthusiasts/hobbyists. I am certainly not the only person who contributes to Open Source for fun.

Talking about Open Source, Geocoder reached 1200+ stargazers, while Negotiation has been installed more than 116,000 times, and BazingaJsTranslationBundle has been installed more than 77,000 times. This means that BazingaJsTranslationBundle is my most-used Symfony bundle under my GitHub account (“my” most used bundle would actually be FOSJsRoutingBundle). My next most-installed project is probably JsonpCallbackValidator. Also, Anchorify.js remains my most-starred JavaScript library.

According to this list, I am the 47th most active GitHub user. Cool story, bro! Anyway, all this Open Source work takes time and energy. So, next time you wonder why I’m doing all of this without being rewarded or without using it myself, please don’t ask :)

I’m rewarded every single day. Most of the time because people use my stuff, and sometimes, they even appreciate it! I receive emails or tweets with heartfelt messages weekly. This is incredibly gratifying and truly rewarding! This year, I even shared my Amazon Wish List on Twitter, and I had the pleasure of receiving gifts for Christmas:

In no particular order, I would like to thank @pborreli, @weaverryan, @leannapelham, @lsmith, @mathiasverraes, @toin0u and @youb_s for these awesome gifts!

I know that money in Open Source is always a tricky topic. Be sure that I won’t get paid twice for the Open Source work I am doing. I am not sponsored by anyone, and over the last three years, I’ve never asked for compensation. I don’t need money to create new projects or to maintain them. However, domain names, GitHub account, etc. aren’t free ;-)

Next year, I plan to continue my Open Source contributions and explore new opportunities for growth. While I have exciting ideas for improving REST support in PHP/Symfony, I also want to expand my knowledge into new programming languages. Why not share what I learned with a new community? Who knows where it might lead? Additionally, I have a number of books to read and am committed to writing thoughtful reviews for each one.

On a personal plan, I lost 15 kilograms in 2013. This was part of my new lifestyle changes. I stopped drinking alcohol. I’m also getting into flexitarianism. I feel much better now and enjoy a more balanced diet. My fitness routine includes running, mountain biking, squash, and soccer.

I have three goals for 2014:

• run 10 kilometers in under 40 minutes
• swim faster and improve endurance (~2 km)
• compete in a triathlon

Other goals include:

• reading more books
• writing more, possibly authoring a book
• speaking at conferences
• improving my English
• dominating the world¹

Wishing you a Happy New Year. Best wishes for your family and yourself! I look forward to seeing you next year!

Thank you ♥ ♥ ♥