Building My Own App - Day in the Life of a Software Engineer in London (ep. 10)

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Interlu App: www.interlu.io/
Design & Development agency: www.designtide.co
This is a day in my life as a freelance software engineer when I work on my own project called Interlu, a tool to help people search and manage UK companies. I also work on client work for my agency DesignTide.
If you have any feedback while looking at the product at the product I'd love to hear it in the comments below. Previous comments have made significant impacts on the product.
Thanks a bunch for watching, remember new videos every Friday 🔥
This is episode 10, check out episode 9 here:
• Working On My App - Da...
My KZbin Channel Link (clicking my profile can send you to another channel for some reason): / @jacobsargenttech
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[@paulbornuat5655]

Couple of thoughts: - with the groups, in "Saved", it'd be good to see the number of of companies within them. When you dragged the company in QLC Companies at 4:36, the one you dropped disappeared. It's missing some feedback that it worked. At least a count that you see go up would improve that. - When you've got a company opened in a modal (your focus mode), there's quite a bit of vertical jumping of some UI elements that don't change, which isn't ideal. I would either make the modal fixed in height, or anchored to the top, or my preferred solution, turn it into a side panel that takes up the full height and sticks to the right of the screen. You do need the full height when you open filings, so you might as well use full height all the time. Also, I would open "Overview" by default - removes a step. It looks very neat and polished, that's cool.

[@JacobSargentTech]

This is why I love KZbin, what an amazing comment thank you. The count feedback on ‘saved’ is a no brainer and will 100% be implemented this week. Couldn’t agree more with the vertical jumping with the focus modal, I’ll make it aligned top for the MVP and investigate the sidebar post launch. Thanks again for this great feedback - I make KZbin videos about my products for comments like this. 🙌

[@DeltaXML_Ltd]

Amazing content and good luck with your project!

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks so much!

[@gadoosher]

I fuck w/ this heavy. I'll be following along from here on out! Love what you mention about time blocking.. gotta try and implement that myself. Cheers 🙏🏼

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your lovely comment, looking forward to sharing more of this journey 👌

[@JULAY28]

Meus parabéns para mim será um sonho ter um skill como o teu. Simplesmente Fantástico.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Anyone can do it, so you can too! I learnt everything I know from online courses costing no more then ~£500. Make the investment in yourself!

[@JonathanLeeDev]

Really cool project, beautiful UI. I'm working on a project of my own, really motivating to see someone else doing the same.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks Jonathan! Really appreciate your comment. What are you working on? 🙌

[@JonathanLeeDev]

It's a web app that allows people to split bills with their roommates, rent, utilities, etc. @@JacobSargentTech

[@JonathanLeeDev]

Working on a web app that allows roommates to split shared expenses like rent more easilty@@JacobSargentTech

[@JacobSargentTech]

Sounds like a useful tool, and something you’ll learn a lot building. Good luck 👌

[@Noob_Coder__]

Very cool, subscribed!

[@JacobSargentTech]

Awesome, thank you!

[@lin4409]

This is brilliant!

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thank you 🙌 so much more to come 👊

[@wilbertdune]

Cool stuff, it would great if you share how you manage your clients in designtide.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment, I've just uploaded a video talking about DesignTide in more detail, check it out!

[@diegoaugusto70]

Hello, how are you? Your channel is great; keep up the good work with these documentary-style videos about your day-to-day life building your app and the routine of a Software Engineer. I just wanted to alert you that when clicking on your photo to go to your KZbin channel, it is redirecting to another channel. Perhaps there is some error in the KZbin settings with the link to your URL. I went to look for other videos and encountered this obstacle. Just wanted to inform you, keep up the excellent work, and I'll be following you from Brazil.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your lovely comment. I am aware of this bug and have contacted KZbin support to help out. New video on Friday 👌

[@Julesvdesign]

Great to see the progress you've made on Interlu! What's the course you're currently doing?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment Jules! Happy to hear you’ve seen the progress with Interlu. I want to be careful which courses I recommend - keep an eye out as I’ll be making a video about the best courses soon!

[@marcoio8742]

Amazing product man. Just a quick comment about the modals, when you switch tab it changes in size and it does it instantly. It might throw people off a bit, or at least I found it a bit annoying. You might try to optimise that with an ease on the size change maybe give it a max height etc I am sure there are ways to do it. Keep it up 👍

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your kind words & feedback, added to the ever growing list!

[@JackyG341]

Cool proejct! How's the backend work? How is this finding the data of each company to emulate the Companies House GOV website? Integrating with an API or webscrapign?

[@JacobSargentTech]

It's mainly using Companies Houses API, I will be sharing more of the technical detail soon! Thanks for your comment 👌

[@reubenporter9907]

Cool series! Out of interest, did you have any complications with setting up auth for the Companies House API (personally I've found it a huge faff). How do you plan on scaling your app? If you're solely relying on the API they rate limit you to 2 requests per second, which I'm pretty sure you could soon exceed that once you've got a few users all clicking around at once (hitting multiple endpoints). Are you caching their data in anyway, housing your own copy perhaps? (I know they offer a monthly data dump). Cheers and look forward to seeing your progress on this.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Great comment, and one I haven’t truly thought about to much as it requires a few users which I’m yet to get. I know they offer special access for specific apps which require higher limits, and the app will save every result and slowly build up a picture of companies, along with the big data dumps - there are ways to navigate the problem for sure!

[@ShivamSharma-iq6zb]

Good to know that you keep learning by new courses. Would suggest you to get computer glasses Liked your designing skills how much time did it took you build this much? Good time management thanks for the advice of marketing

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment, I would say probably two weeks of focus of work. It's just taken a couple of months because I have DesignTide client and business to run!

[@mateuszbak6519]

Hey mate! Great content! One question, what library you did use for drag&drop feature?

[@TonyFatouros]

Hi. It’s actually react beautiful dnd. Jacob mentions it. Just search for this in npm.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Hey 👋, it's github.com/atlassian/react-beautiful-dnd

[@MyChannel-hi8wk]

Nice to see you making good progress. What software platform are you using for the react course please, looks like a decent structure for learning?

[@JacobSargentTech]

As I have mentioned in previous comments I’ve got to be careful which course I recommend or say I’m using, so you don’t end up paying for a sub par course. I’ll be making a video soon about my personal fav courses so keep an eye out for that 🙌 Thanks for your comment 🔥

[@MyChannel-hi8wk]

@@JacobSargentTech understood - thanks for letting me know.

[@bohyeonjang6674]

Love your Video (just became your new sub), I would like to know all the list of languages you used for your front end and backend. Thank you so much. Frontend maybe html and css? backend node.js and express?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for subscribing. So for front end I’m mainly using React with a mix of tailwind and material UI and backend is node.js with Express. 🙌

[@bohyeonjang6674]

@@JacobSargentTech I am watching you from South Korea and you inspired me a lot. I am beginning a project where I provide customizable partnership program such as affiliate program and referral program allowing different integration for Shopify, wordpress and wix.

[@FOCUS-wl5bf]

Hello man good stuff , am really curios how long the mac book battery really last am planning on buying one but am not sure can you please reply on the average battery life on your work load ?

[@JacobSargentTech]

To be honest I always have mine plugged in to a usb-c monitor so I wouldn't know. Sorry I couldn't be any more helpful!

[@FOCUS-wl5bf]

can you test it for the future ? @@JacobSargentTech

[@JacobSargentTech]

Of course, perhaps I’ll post a MacBook Pro review 👊

[@ahmedfoda9823]

Great videowhat was the react cource you were following in the video?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment! I’ve got to be careful which course I recommend or say I’m using, so you don’t end up paying for a sub par course. I’ll be making a video soon about my personal fav courses so keep an eye out for that 🙌

[@werix_4776]

@@JacobSargentTech what was the website you were taking the course ? I also want to refresh was it udemy?

[@diegoletelier502]

awesome job mate... very good app. And i have a question, how do you get the data of the companies? By API or webscrapping?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your kind words! Mainly just using an API for an MVP but plan to build out more data sources once we get a few customers!

[@franciscomonteiro1443]

Hi Jacob. First of all, great videos! I have a question regarding what do you use to build your UI. I'm building a website too and I would like to know what are you using to build your UI with React. I believe you're using Tailwind, but other than that are you using any other library/tool? Thanks in advance. Keep it up!

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment! For Interlu I'm actually using Material UI Joy library - it's really fun to use, you should check it out. 🙌

[@franciscomonteiro1443]

@@JacobSargentTech Really appreciate it! Thank you :)

[@JacobSargentTech]

@@franciscomonteiro1443 You're welcome!

[@reactnative-fc8to]

Hi, can you tell us the name of the website that you are using to learn React?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment, I have to be careful which course I recommend as I don't want to push you towards a subpar course. I will be making a stand alone video about what courses I think are best very soon. 👌

[@edetmmekut809]

Hi please can you share the link to the advance react course.Thank you

[@JacobSargentTech]

Hey, thanks for your comment! I will be making video soon about what courses I'd recommend - so stay tuned for that :)

[@OneSevenOne171]

Any plans to enable company filing via the app? For example filing a CS01, AP01, etc

[@JacobSargentTech]

In the future 100%, but for now I want to keep the core product offering simple while I try to get my first users. Do you think there's enough value in the product for you to use it?

[@OneSevenOne171]

@@JacobSargentTech I use Companies House extensively as part of my job as a company secretary/corporate governance consultant in the UK. I think having the quick references, history, and saved searches etc is super useful. Being able to file and manage your company with it would be a massive plus. Happy to discuss further

[@JacobSargentTech]

Really interesting to hear your thoughts, I'd love to connect and talk to you on a call if you have the time, find a time that works for you here -> calendly.com/jacobsargent/interlu-demo Hopefully speak to you soon 🔥

[@ulissesmartinezpalafox464]

What's the platform's name you show at the beginning of the video to study?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Hey 👋, unfortunately I can’t share that with you just yet. I want to be careful what education course I recommend- so you don’t pay for the a sub par one. I’ll be making a video soon about what course to go for!

[@prem3957]

Great Video Jacob! Do you edit them yourself?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Yes I do, this one took a while so may have to outsource soon 👊

[@prem3957]

That's Great. I'm a video editor and will help you edit them for you. So you can save your time as well.I can share my portfolio too.Let me know we can connect (:@@JacobSargentTech

[@ephraim009]

Out of curiosity, what technology are you using for backend?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Good question, the backend is built with Node.js with Express! Thanks for your comment 🙌👊

[@jackvu.hustle]

there is an weird energy about seeing others doing the same things with what we do.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Not sure what you mean here Jack! In terms of building the same thing or s eng in general?

[@jackvu.hustle]

@@JacobSargentTech I mean building stuff. Its positive energy around.

[@jackvu.hustle]

I like the view you cooking stuff from behind btw.

[@robindeguzman8741]

Hello, Im new to your channel. Aspiring developer from the Philippines. Could you perhaps create a tutorial for the search bar you've created or atleast some tips on how to create that? Btw your UI is clean and it's really great

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your kind comment, I sure can but for the meantime here's the documentation: mui.com/joy-ui/react-autocomplete/#search-input

[@user-rt1kv6su5o]

I'm in my 20s learning to be a programmer/coding, is it too late or not? I'm doubtful about my current age of 😊

[@JacobSargentTech]

100% not to late, you can do it!

[@kenrrichpaiz4461]

What is the name of the course that appears in the video?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your comment! I'll be sharing what course I recommend in one of my next videos. I want to be carful which courses I recommend 🙌

[@IsrarAhmed-bi6mg]

What is your tech stack?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Great question, I will be sharing all in my next video. So stay tuned for that (new videos every Friday)!

[@adarshchhokar3818]

How do you make income now? Is interlu already generating revenue?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Good question, my income is from DesignTide and my other freelancing gigs. No revenue from Interlu yet! 🙌

[@IkraamDev]

How did you start DesignTide?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Good question and one I’ll be addressing in a stand only video. So keep an eye for that 👀 thanks for your comment 🙌

[@AaronReevesSales]

Just came across this, mate it looks amazing Sent you a LinkedIn connection 💪

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks Aaron, looking forward to connecting 👊

[@ZaibiDesigner]

Hey Jacob , I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I was wondering if I could help you edit your highly engaging videos and thumbnails which will help your video to reach to a wider audience and increase your subscribers and viewers.

[@JacobSargentTech]

Thanks for your kind words. Not quite ready for support for here, will let you know when I'm ready. 🙌

[@ZaibiDesigner]

@@JacobSargentTech Ok sure. Happy to hearing from your side. Please keep in mind if you need any assist regarding KZbin in future. I would be happy to help you. Thanks

[@Josh-vo8pp]

Are you leveraging AI in any way?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Not yet, but I have some ideas to implement once the MVP is launched. How would you involve AI in this product?

[@VolodymyrInTech]

👍👋

[@JacobSargentTech]

👊

[@quantum634]

Im not trying zl demotivate you, buz i dont see your product being smth better

[@JacobSargentTech]

Hey no worries, everyone is entitled to their opinion and to be honest I wouldn't expect many of my viewers to be users of Interlu, it's mainly for Paralegals, Accountants, R&D Tax Credit agents who spend 30%-50% of their working life on companies house. If you have any ideas of what would make the difference to you I would love to hear it! Thanks for your comment 🙌

[@IkraamDev]

@@JacobSargentTech I used to be an accountant apprentice so I think Interlu would have been useful!

[@JacobSargentTech]

Glad to hear it, as an 'accountant apprentice' how would you use companies house in your day-to-day?

[@IkraamDev]

@@JacobSargentTech This was 2017-2018 so from what I remember, we would look at the accounts and confirmation statements a lot and check when they are due.

[@lostinthenarrativve]

What languages do you code in

[@JacobSargentTech]

Mainly JavaScript 👊

[@Josh-vo8pp]

Are you leveraging AI in any way?

[@JacobSargentTech]

Think you may have commented this twice 🙌