I spent 6 months working on a QR code generator, and in the process learned more about QR codes than anyone should.
This started out as a project to practice writing Rust, but I ended up creating a making a code-based editor, a node-based editor, a damn good blog post about creating artistic QR codes, and I even played Bad Apple using an animated QR code.
My code-based editor (qrframe) reached the front page of Hacker News and 3k stars on Github (these are meaningless metrics, but I'm just trying to say it wasn't complete crap).
This is all well and good, but this knowledge I've been cursed with has downsides as well.
Did you know that almost every QR code explainer, whether it's Wikipedia, a Youtube video, blog post, or the ISO/IEC standard itself, is subtley incorrect?
There aren't that many QR code scanner implementations out there, maybe only 3 that matter, and they've all converged on the same common sense functionalities which include deviations from the "standard".
Namely, UTF-8 is used and supported (and Kanji mode is not), while alignment patterns and timing patterns are straight up ignored.
The truth is, if you google "QR code generator" today, you get a pile of doodoo with a spoonful of ransomware for seasoning.
My goal is to create something simple and reliable, and hopefully make enough money to sustain my unemployed ass.