Hi, I'm Sook. A web developer.
I wandered in from the world of data, stumbled around, and stayed for the joy of crafting user interfaces for the web.
I began my career as a data analyst after finishing college in 2015, and did that for about four years before I jumped into web development. In hindsight, it was always the visual side of data—the charts, the tables, the interfaces—that truly pulled me in.
An insatiable curiosity about how the tools I used daily actually worked—web apps like RStudio Server and Jupyter Notebook, which felt almost indistinguishable from desktop apps in terms of interactivity—probably also contributed to my wanting to become a web developer.
While web technology has become astonishingly capable, building for the web is still a tricky craft. Different devices, different browsers, and even different environments like WebViews or in-app browsers—it's no wonder how easy it is to introduce regressions or break a layout with a single change. These challenges grow exponentially when you're not building alone.
Still, I believe great products are built by great teams—and great teams are built on trust, transparency, and mutual respect. That's the kind of team I want to be a part of. And the best way I know to earn that place is to become a more competent, thoughtful engineer myself.
So here I am, trying to be a better web dev than yesterday, every day. 🌱
Generating static content at build time is almost always a win—and that's exactly what Astro excels at. At the same time, it seamlessly integrates with React, letting you pre-render and hydrate interactive components only where needed. Astro + React hybrid approach brings the best of both worlds—performance and interactivity.
My first time working at a food and nutrition company. I loved the domain and their product focus. Starting a project from scratch with a tech stack I trust, I built a tool that people at MEDI.SOLA actually use every day—and I'm proud of that.
I took time off from work to deepen my web dev and engineering skills, explore new technologies, and build personal projects—all with the goal of becoming a more competent, well-rounded engineer.
First time working on a web 3D project. Began to appreciate how hard it is to build a video game. Fascinating field, but didn't enjoy as much as building 2D web apps and websites.
Worked on an interactive map-based real estate SPA. Learned first-hand how tricky untested UI logic can become. First time seriously considering automated testing and better component design.
My first engineering job. Started out as a data analyst, but my growing interest in computer systems and software development led me to transition into a full-time engineer role, eventually specializing in frontend. A pivotal experience that shifted my career path.
What started as a fun side project—setting up a Hadoop/Spark cluster with physical mini PCs—turned out to be surprisingly useful later when I repurposed it as a Kubernetes dev cluster at work.
Joined as a data analyst, but started to notice how engineers work and what it's like to build a real software product. It was also when my interest in Python—and machine learning—really took off.
Fresh out of college, I tried hard to apply what I learned as a Statistics major—things like penalized regression, ANOVA, and t-tests. But it was tinkering with a Linux server and tools like Hadoop and Hive that really sparked something new in me: an interest in computer systems and the craft of software.
Statistics and Math were as painful as they were fascinating. I struggled through most of it—but those rare moments when things finally clicked made it all worth it.