Dear Esteemed Readers,

As we bid farewell to 2023, it is with a blend of gratitude and anticipation that we unveil the Yarsa DevBlog's annual review. Established on September 13, 2021, this platform emerged as a testament to the collaborative spirit within Yarsa Labs Pvt. Ltd. It started as a way for our developers to document what they learned while performing their tasks for the company, and in the process, streamline the onboarding experience for new team members. However, over the years, Yarsa DevBlog has taken a life of its own as a conduit for fostering a niche but global community driven by a shared passion for technological innovation and problem-solving.

The Year in Figures: DevBlog's 2023 Statistical Snapshot

Conceived as a platform "for the developers, by the Developers, and to the developers," our vision has unfolded into a true democratisation of specialised technical knowledge. What started as a modest undertaking has, over this year, blossomed into a niche dynamic hub that reflects the diversity in the expertise and prowess of our talented contributors.

In creating this space, we never envisioned the depth of resonance it would achieve among independent developers, organically attracting a readership that spans the four corners of the globe. In 2023 alone, we experienced a remarkable surge, with an organic annual viewership reaching 128,000 readers on DevBlog. This represents an astounding 300.4 per cent increase compared to the previous year. What warms my heart the most is that we achieved this readership without spending a single penny on advertising or buying links.

DevBlog readers by country in 2023

A comprehensive look at our readership numbers by country (as shown in the figure above) reveals a compelling story: 14 per cent of our audience hails from the United States of America, with an additional 11 per cent from India. Russia, at 7.5 per cent, follows closely. The United Kingdom comes at fourth place with a contribution of about 5 per cent to our readership base. Germany, Canada, France, and South Korea, contribute about 4 per cent each while Vietnam, Nepal, and Turkey, each constitute 2.5 per cent. We saw a noteworthy surge in traffic from Brazil and China, especially towards the year's second half, with the nations accounting for 2 per cent of our readership. Egypt is the only African Nation in the top 20 sources of our audience, with a little over 1 per cent.

An intriguing revelation is that our home country, Nepal, happens to be only the 10th largest source of readership showcasing the nature of our impact - way beyond the confines of our homes. This realisation fuels our motivation to continually enhance our content and extend our efforts to reach places where we currently don't have much digital presence, like Africa and South America.

Highlights

Throughout 2023, we remained steadfast in our commitment to knowledge dissemination, delivering a total of 163 articles that spanned a rich array of tech topics ranging from Software Architecture, Design, and Engineering to Tech Writing, Marketing, Quality Assessment, DevOps, Prompt Engineering, etc. Our articles mirrored the multifaceted nature of the ever-evolving tech industry.

The breadth of our content was as diverse as it was comprehensive, featuring a spectrum of article types that catered to varying reader preferences. From meticulously crafted step-by-step guides to thought-provoking opinion pieces and serialised articles that unfolded over time, we published a well-rounded bouquet of tech content.


A Selection of Articles Reflecting DevBlog's 2023 Collection

  1. Model 3d Cats in Blender: A step-by-step guide on how to model 3D cats in Blender and bring them to life.
  2. How to Draw a Realistic Nose: A step-by-step guide to drawing a realistic human nose.
  3. Creating a Splash Screen for Mobile Games: A two-part article about creating splash screens for mobile games using the author's experience of working on the game Mighty Survivor as an example.
  4. Web Attack Surface Monitoring System: A Step-by-Step Tutorial on setting up a simple asset monitoring system leveraging open-source applications.
  5. CLUE: Towards a JSON-based Isomorphic Schema and API for Persistence: An opinion article on the state of development teams and ways to improve them.
  6. Ethical Considerations in War-themed Video Games: A poignant opinion piece about ethical considerations while creating war-themed games.
  7. Type Casting in TypeScript: A Comprehensive Guide: An article about effectively performing type casting in TypeScript.
  8. Recipe for Creating a Compelling Game Narrative: A thought-provoking article detailing different aspects of writing a compelling video game.
  9. Verification and Validation in Quality Assurance: An article exploring the nuances of Verification and Validation (V&V) in QA.
  10. Maximising Impact: A Comprehensive Guide to Facebook Advertising: A comprehensive article providing an in-depth guide on successfully setting up and optimising campaigns.
  11. Custom Editor Extensions in Unity: An article on increasing productivity and streamlining workflow using Custom Editor Extensions in Unity.
  12. Building a Pub/Sub WebSocket Server in Bun: An in-depth article on building your exceptional Pub/sub WebSocket server using Bun.
  13. Embracing DevOps Culture: Practices, Challenges, and Solutions: A comprehensive article about DevOps—its origins, practices, and transformative impact on software development.
  14. Exploring Different Types of Navigation Bars: A detailed article exploring the diverse world of web and mobile app navigation bars.
  15. The Power of Long-Form Content: A long-form article about the enduring power of long-form content, exploring its impact, reader psychology, research techniques, writing style, SEO, and its pivotal role in content marketing's future.

Charting the Future: What's Ahead for DevBlog in 2024


Our remarkable growth is a testament to our team's unwavering dedication and perseverance. As we experience this humbling expansion, it brings the added responsibility of upholding and enhancing our platform. Committed to our values, we remain steadfast in providing knowledge to those who seek it, with a keen anticipation of reaching an even wider audience in the upcoming days. Looking into 2024, our focus will be on elevating the quality of our articles by welcoming guest columnists and fostering collaborative pieces that tap into a diverse range of expertise. Additionally, we aim to refine the categorisation of topics and enhance interlinking between articles, aiming to enrich the overall experience for our readers.

Lastly,

I would like to thank our authors - the underrated stars of this platform, the Yarsa management for fostering and incentivising a culture of documenting the employees' work, the editorial team for all the work they put in to edit and publish the articles, but above all, I would like to thank you, the readers, for sparing your valuable time to read our articles and sharing it among your friends and family. I would like to end by wishing you all a Happy New Year, 2024.
Wishing you a year filled with meaningful advancements and mastery in your pursuits. May your journey be marked by continuous learning and notable achievements.