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Another extremely educational project I worked on at Deere involved developing a
Python automation script that generated secondary scripts to handle
incoming MQTT messages encoded in custom Protobuf (Protocol Buffer)
formats. I really enjoyed the challenge of working with various
variables, especially the complexity of nested repeated variables,
while keeping the code clean and readable. I found that manually
doing the task first and breaking it down into small, clear steps
as comments made coding the solution much easier.
By building a scalable and well-structured base, I was able to
extend the functionality to handle imported or referenced Protobuf
files as well. This allowed the script to automatically search the
node modules folder for any imported files, further streamlining
the process. The automation significantly reduced the workload
compared to manually writing scripts and minimized the risk of
errors.
Through this project, I gained a solid understanding of MQTT and
Protobuf, learned a lot about string parsing, and even got some
experience with GitHub pull requests. I also improved my skills
in creating a maintainable and flexible codebase, making future
work much easier.