IT iron man to help finish the game experience

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Today marks the final day of the Ironman competition. I feel that the conclusion of my work wasn't very well executed, and there were many parts that, due to time constraints, I couldn't fully elaborate on.

The challenge of posting continuously for 30 days is indeed not an easy feat. I've come to realize that if I have similar opportunities in the future, I must prepare in advance to avoid rushing to finish up my articles when unforeseen circumstances arise.

This time, the challenge focused on topics I had never tackled before: webGL and 3D graphics. I initially thought that the first 10 days of learning would be sufficient to grasp the basics. However, to truly understand the applications and writing of webGL shaders, as well as effectively using the three.js API, a solid foundation in graphic theory is essential to wield these frameworks with confidence.

Yet, 10 days of learning was simply not enough. Just understanding GSGL writing takes considerable time, let alone applying it in practical computations. Even though there are frameworks that handle the underlying operations for us, to utilize them in more advanced or powerful ways, a deeper understanding of the underlying processes is necessary.

As for aframe, I will find time to gradually catch up (if I have time, that is QQ). I hope to continue advancing along the 3D path in the future, enriching the visual presentation of front-end interfaces.

This absolutely requires time accumulation and practice, and it's even more challenging than previous front-end development. Nevertheless, these 30 days have indeed taught me a lot of knowledge that I previously found daunting. What once seemed intimidating, like shaders, I can now write and comprehend; I have a basic understanding of the three.js API; and I also took a look at the development of webVR and got to know the aframe framework.

These 30 days can be considered the most fulfilling month yet (laughs). I know there are still many incomplete aspects in this series of articles, but I hope that readers can gain some knowledge from them, even if just a bit!

Postscript

I received a commendation. Consider it my summary for 2016! There are so many things I haven’t documented properly.

When I saw the registration notification, I actually struggled quite a bit because it's easy to imagine how many people are writing about react and redux this year in the front-end community. Given that, why not try something I’ve wanted to explore for a long time but have never touched: webGL?

I've always been very interested in interactive visuals, but for an engineer, dealing with animation logic can be frustrating and tedious. Although the things I learned this past month are worlds apart from web development, and rarely applicable to actual development (with tight deadlines, who has time for special effects?), being able to acquire this knowledge and broaden my horizons is certainly a good thing.

More and more companies are demanding front-end capabilities in data visualization. What was once seen as boring and tedious is now gaining attention in the era of big data. The expectations in this direction focus on skills with canvas and webGL, but there are now many frameworks that help handle the underlying APIs. However, as a front-end developer, having a fundamental understanding of the underlying processes is still important. Otherwise, one day, the complexities of abstraction will inevitably catch up with you.