About two years ago, two of my coworkers approached me with a request to lead a side project to level up their skillsets. At the time, we were all working at an international digital services consulting company where skill-sharing among coworkers was common. These two colleagues were exceptionally talented in their fields—one an outstanding project manager and agile coach, the other a top-notch QA professional. Given our long-standing friendship, I agreed to explore potential projects.

Knowing their advanced understanding of agile processes, I brainstormed practical tools that matched their programming levels. Despite initial setbacks and sidetracks, one idea eventually stood out: a meetup midpoint calculator. The concept was simple—input two locations, and the app finds a geographic midpoint for a meetup.

Initially, I thought it would be a quick project, something I could complete in a month and even turn into a class or talk. However, I soon realized the complexity involved, especially when considering more than two people. This led me to rethink the problem and approach it from a different angle.

The idea of a midpoint calculator seemed straightforward at first. You input two locations, and the app calculates the midpoint. Easy, right? But as I delved deeper, I realized there were many factors to consider. What if there are more than two people? How do we account for different modes of transportation? What about geographical obstacles like rivers or mountains? These questions made me realize that the problem was more complex than it initially appeared.

I started by breaking down the problem into smaller, manageable parts. This approach helped me understand the various challenges and plan my solution more effectively. Instead of rushing to write code, I took the time to understand the problem thoroughly and plan my solution carefully.

In the upcoming posts, I'll delve into the thought process and challenges of creating a midpoint calculator. I'll share the insights and solutions I discovered along the way. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, this series will offer valuable tips and practical advice for building your own midpoint calculator. Stay tuned for an exciting journey into the world of problem-solving and programming!

Before I go into how I fell into polyglot programming, I want to emphasize that I didn’t come up with this term nor did I know what it was or the fact that it existed until well into my professional career. In fact, like a lot of things in life, it just happened to occur organically by happenstance.

I would love to tell you that I became a developer through divine intervention.

In my infinite wisdom, I was a visionary who saw the potential in computers. Somehow, through the grace of God, I followed a hunch that the internet would become one of the most important innovations the world has ever seen and that’s what drove me to pursue a career in tech.

But I can’t.

Honestly, I didn’t really know what people on the reporters on TV, the VJ, or the radio announcers were talking about for an embarrassing amount of time. I didn’t know that the internet was going to be the innovation that could promote an unfettered access to knowledge which in turn would be used to strengthen worldwide economic trade. This economic trade would lead to higher profits and an exponential increase in sciences, arts, and humanities which would uplift disenfranchised individuals around the world and unite the world in a way humanity never even knew was conceivable. I didn’t know that an untethered access to all the knowledge of humanity was ever going to fit inside of a person’s pocket. The reality is a lot less grandiose and lavish.

I kind of just fell into being a polyglot developer through a series of serendipitous parlays.