Evan Bacon, App.js Conference speaker—interviewed!
Evan Bacon, once known mostly in Lego community, now builds Expo with iOS and Android bricks! A long-standing game builder, social-media ninja, Lego prodigy, Expo enthusiast. He’ll be speaking at App.js — an Expo/React Native conference happening in Krakow, Poland in April 2019. Read on to find out more about him!
How did you find out about Expo and get started developing it?
I was working at Frog Design as a Design Technologist, at the time I was building all the prototypes for the SiriusXM app. It was pretty difficult to get the app and Howard Stern in the same place. I stayed up for days trying to think of a good solution to this problem and I thought I was hallucinating when I hit the Expo homepage. The quality & quantity of prototypes I was producing was ridiculous. I had so much fun at work that I’d code Expo in my spare time, making video games and other various demos. Eventually we had a project that required Xamarin … after a month I quit to make sure Expo & React Native would be the go-to solution for everyone.
Many people know you well from your supercool hobby — Lego building! Out of curiosity, how long does it take to create a full-sized man Lego statue? Do you think there is some analogy or similarity between building Lego figures and programming?
It usually takes upward of 100 hours to create a full-size lego sculpture.
Lego building and programming are pretty different. All my sculptures are glued together, which means no PRs or CMD+Z.
Legos cost a lot of money, whereas programming is free. There was no sponsorship deal or other discount.
But I love doing both and I really like how happy the sculptures make people ☺️
You seem to love Soylent, so you’ll be the fine one to answer this peculiar question — how would you describe Soylent for those who haven’t tried it in their lives?
I pitched them the catch phrase: “Ever wonder what survival tastes like?” And they never got back to me :( I drink cacao on a daily basis, but sometimes I eat McDonalds & Taco Bell just to shake it up (I’m 21)
Congratulations on your recent comeback to Youtube world! Those tutorials let newcomers enter React Native world confidently holding your guiding hand. How do you pick topics for your next videos? How long does it take to create such video? Do you feel stage-fright when hitting record? Have Hollywood directors already contacted you with a new role in some Marvel Studio blockbuster?
💙 I’ve made a lot of videos (not that you could tell by the low quality) so I’m pretty used to it by now. It usually takes a while to edit the videos. I record for about 3x as long as the video ends up being. A lot of times I reshoot after attempting to edit one of the videos, just because it’s not entertaining or educational enough.
As far as reception goes, my following is pretty upset every time I post a video that isn’t of me building legos. Because of this I’ve moved my programming stuff over to the Expo Youtube channel! 😄
You’re a true Expo evangelist! What is the most exciting thing for you in the upcoming future of Expo?
I really like the stuff Brent Vatne is working on. The concept of making Expo easier to use outside of the client is very exciting! Expo modules are the some of the highest quality React Native modules around, and it’s a shame that more people haven’t been able to use them in regular RN projects.
Firebase is pretty great, I really enjoy using the expo-firebase modules in my personal projects. I love using TypeScript in React Native + Expo so I’m really happy SM and James Ide from Expo have been converting the modules over to it.
Background tasks is pretty dope and it’s always great when SM adds stuff that no one has ever seen before.
The ability to remove optional modules from turtle builds will be a really exciting feature.
But IMO the most exciting stuff has yet to be announced, maybe at App.js conf though! 😁😍
Your Apple Developer account has a great showcase of great Expo games which can be done in pure Expo! Do you have some stats on how many people have played them? Are you an unbeatable master in all of them, or has someone outcompeted you? Would you lift the veil of secrecy from the next game you plan to build?
All of the apps on my App Store account are really just side projects. Each one took about a day to make and publish.
That said, my favorite one Pillar Valley has 3160 registered players on the native client. The web version doesn’t have any analytics built into it yet :/
I’m pretty bad at all of my games, and everyone else’s games as well. For my next project I’ll prolly combine all of my games into one app so I don’t have to keep managing different app pages through iTunes and Play Store.
Your home is where Expo developers are, but at the same time most of your life you’ve lived in your home in Austin, Texas, right? Have you noticed any differences in lifestyle between Palo Alto, California, where you live right now and your hometown?
Palo Alto is pretty good place to be a productive programmer — as there is nothing else to do. Austin has a lot of good food and live music 😍 regardless most of my friends either work on Expo or can be found online (and mostly live in Europe (Poland 😘))
Judging by your Instagram profile you seem to love taking selfies! What is the most awkward or funny selfie you’ve ever took?
When I was speaking at React Europe there was a bit of a seating mixup which resulted in me laying out on the stage. If I remember correctly I took a selfie but the third-party angles are much better 😂
