README.md - Woojun Jang

At last, I am publishing the first post on my technical blog. Since this is my first time writing a blog, I spent a lot of time wondering how to begin. For this opening post, I would like to briefly introduce myself and look back on my development journey so far.

Why I Started This Blog#

Life as a student developer has given me an extraordinary range of experiences. I learn new technologies, build projects, and occasionally spend an absurd amount of time chasing the wrong solution. As those experiences accumulated, I began to feel that I wanted to record them somewhere.

I thought they would be enjoyable for my future self to revisit, and I hoped they might offer at least a little help to others following a similar path.

On this blog, I plan to steadily document the projects I build, technologies I learn, and experiences—large and small—that come with software development.

My First Encounter with Programming#

I began writing code in earnest in 2020 because I wanted to create my own Minecraft server with PocketMine-MP. Until then, I had only experimented with block-based coding. That project drew me into the world of programming for real.

It happened to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of school took place online. I would finish the lesson videos and assignments as quickly as possible, then spend the remaining time coding. Watching ideas from my head become working software felt incredible. Every day brought another moment of, “You can do that?!”

Becoming the School's “Computer Person”#

At school, I was always known as the student who was good with computers. Teachers would call me whenever something went wrong, and I genuinely enjoyed that troubleshooting. Few things matched the satisfaction of solving the problem for them.

From elementary school through high school, I served on the technical crew for the broadcasting club at each of my schools. That experience showed me how closely IT and media are connected. Live broadcasts, in particular, continually expanded my technical knowledge.

Teachers had been barely managing live streams from their phones. Replacing that setup with proper software and gradually improving the broadcasting club's technical capabilities was deeply rewarding.

Running Minecraft Servers: Those Intense Years#

From 2020 through 2023, I was completely absorbed in operating Minecraft servers. Looking back, I miss that period. It was also when my programming skills grew at an explosive pace.

The most memorable project was a server called CrossFarm (crsbe.kr). I was incredibly fortunate that tens of thousands of people played on it. I developed plugins in PHP and transformed the experience so thoroughly that it barely felt like ordinary Minecraft.

I built a website for the server, connected servers through sockets, and managed data across multiple servers with MySQL. It was so much fun that I routinely lost track of time. I still miss those days.

Learning Development Through Google#

I did not learn systematically from books or courses. I learned by searching Google for whatever I needed. Whenever I found a solution to the problem in front of me—or a better way to approach it—I applied it immediately.

I sometimes regret not learning in a more structured way, but this approach had advantages of its own. Before I even knew what React was, I spent nearly two years building websites with only HTML, CSS, JS, and PHP. React is far more convenient now, but without those years of vanilla web development, I might have moved on without properly understanding how the web works underneath.

That is why I still do not particularly recommend starting directly with React.

In Progress: The Wordie Project#

These days, I am working hard on Wordie, an AI-powered English-learning platform. Alongside vocabulary study, it will include features such as photographing an English passage and receiving an analysis tailored to Korean school exams.

I am building it with LLMs and prompt engineering, and it also earned my first App Store approval. That was a proud milestone in its own right.

The project is not even 20% complete, but I am making steady progress and now plan to expand it toward CSAT preparation as well. I hope the day comes when many students can use my app to make studying English easier.

Development in the Age of AI#

When ChatGPT appeared at the end of 2022, I was stunned. You could have a conversation with a computer!

Now, in 2025, I rely heavily on Cursor. Once I sketch a rough architecture in my head, development moves at an astonishing speed. Solo development seems likely to become much easier. I am excited by AI's progress, though part of me also finds it unsettling.

Closing Thoughts#

I will share a wider range of stories here over time.

Writing down everything I have done so far leaves me with a strange mixture of emotions. I hope these experiences and the growth from my years as a student developer can help someone else while becoming a meaningful record for me.

I will keep writing.