Developers’ Hall of Fame made me famous
October 1st, 2007 | Published in Google Desktop API
As a new Desktop gadget developer, I'd like to share a short story about my experience with developing gadgets and interacting with the developer community. In the end, developing Google Desktop gadgets has turned out to be more exciting than I ever expected.
Ever since I was a kid I've enjoyed playing with computers and all kinds of gadgets. As a student I started experimenting with various programming languages and building my own little applications. I found out about Google Desktop from my friend Kamal Singh, who showed me some of the Desktop gadgets he developed and urged me to give it a try. I followed his advice and played around with a few gadgets from the Google Desktop gadgets gallery. I found them quite useful and was intrigued by the possibilities offered by the Google Desktop Gadget API, so I decided to implement my own gadget.
The Gadget Designer and the samples in the Google Desktop SDK gave me a good understanding of basic gadget programming and debugging techniques. I experimented with a few simple gadgets, then I looked for more advice and knowledge sharing from the Google Desktop developer community. I started corresponding with Bijoy Thangaraj, who helped me finish one of my complex gadgets. Later I started discussing my ideas and received great feedback from other top developers such as Yannick Stucki and Teodor Filimon. I also came across the developers' Hall of Fame and was impressed with the cool gadgets implemented by the top developers. I said to myself, "Maybe I can make it into the Google Desktop Developers' Hall of Fame."
After submitting six gadgets, I finally got my own place in the Hall of Fame. My classmates and the principal at my school knew about my interest in Google Desktop gadgets, but they were really impressed when they found out about my spot in the Hall of Fame. Now I have been asked to speak about my experience in front of the entire student body at an upcoming school assembly.
All I can say is, "I'm feeling lucky!" :-)