I am new to web development and would love to get your advice and perspective
Learning is a lifelong process.
Don’t worry if you don’t get a concept right away.
Keep moving forward.
The dev world is vast.
Find a niche that excites you. If aligning DIVs perfectly isn’t your thing, avoid jobs that focus heavily on CSS. If structuring data in a database bores you, skip backend roles.
Software development is like a medical field with countless specializations. Find what you love and where you can have fun because that’s where you’ll really excel.
Tarian said:
@Farrell
Some say it’s bad to specialize when starting out. Do you agree?
It’s good to try different areas before settling on one. Get a taste of a variety.
Start building small projects to practice and connect with others. This will help you grow.
Don’t get too technical with your future customers.
They don’t care if you’re using this or that framework or all that tech jargon.
Tyler said:
Don’t get too technical with your future customers.
They don’t care if you’re using this or that framework or all that tech jargon.
Exactly. Keep it simple and focus on business outcomes and user experience.
Don’t be scared of failing.
Always keep learning, know your worth, and network with everyone you meet.
You will never know it all, and that’s perfectly fine. Getting lost in the details is part of the experience.
Dorian said:
You will never know it all, and that’s perfectly fine. Getting lost in the details is part of the experience.
Also, learn by copying or building projects that catch your interest.
Honestly, I wish I had picked up a book early on and built more small projects. I would have laid out all the steps and resources needed to reach where I am today and beyond.
Luca said:
Honestly, I wish I had picked up a book early on and built more small projects. I would have laid out all the steps and resources needed to reach where I am today and beyond.
Book recommendations?
Luca said:
Honestly, I wish I had picked up a book early on and built more small projects. I would have laid out all the steps and resources needed to reach where I am today and beyond.
Happy cake day!
- You’ll always be new to something because tech evolves so quickly. Accept that.
- You will struggle at first, and it can be frustrating. But stick with it, and you’ll improve.
- Tutorials are a great start. Be sure to apply what you learn to your own projects; that’s where you’ll face your biggest challenges and grow the most.
- Exhaust all options before asking for help. Do your research and try to troubleshoot first. Experienced developers appreciate it when you put in the effort.
- Regular progress is better than sporadic bursts of effort; consistency is key.
- Coding is about problem-solving. Break down big problems into smaller pieces and tackle those.
- Test every line you add with print commands to ensure it produces the expected result before continuing.
- Study Genesis 1; it’s like a coder’s development log. It shows a cycle of development - testing each stage and moving to the next only when the previous one works correctly.
Learn how to negotiate.
Build something that you want to use. It will keep your attention and drive you to solve problems. Don’t stay stuck in planning; just start. Everything gets easier with experience.
You will struggle, then get better, and then laugh at your old code. This cycle will repeat many times.
Mistakes won’t hurt anyone, so don’t stress. Learn from them, and let others learn from theirs, too.