Life of a self-taught developer.

Hello and welcome once again to my blog. I personally don't like writing unless there's something I genuinely want to write about hence the delay in me publishing another article. Today, I'm going to share my story as a self-taught developer.

What got me started

Sincerely, I can't pinpoint the exact thing that got me hooked to web development as I was(and still) a video editor/professional streamer, all I could remember was I was checking how web pages were built and I came in contact with HTML and W3S. And to be honest, it has been a really great 1 year+ despite some issues during the pandemic. Learning has been "fun" considering that I love reading, although it was somehow overwhelming at first, because of the terminologies I was yet to familiarize myself with but I grew confident over time as I became acquainted with the world of web development.

Learning resources and patterns

I started with W3Schools. Everything there is watered down for newbies to understand easily, the content is great to understand HTML to the fullest. It has in depth explanations and examples on HTML semantic elements, their meaning and usage, I don't think anyone can go wrong with a foundation in web development from W3S. But as I progressed, W3S became somewhat obsolete(not to be condescending or devalue them). The other contents were somewhat not as 'full" as I wanted, certain pieces were missing and then I discovered the Mozilla Developers' Network and man was I thrilled, the "custodian' of the web. It had everything I needed as per docs on every topic, just search or follow a learning pattern. But reading wasn't enough, I needed somebody to do those stuffs so I can see what they're all about. That's where videos come in, yea videos. And I downloaded lots and lots of it until I found the perfect fit for me in freeCodeCamp and Traversy Media. Brad Traversy is a great tutor and his examples are based on real world problems not some abstract issues that may never be needed. I developed a pattern - read docs, watch videos and practice while watching the videos. As I got better, I would pause the videos and attempt to find solutions based on previous tutorials and I did well sometimes. I took some beginner vanilla JavaScript course of Chris Sev on Learn Better and it was helpful. One time I realized over time was that once you get to a certain stage where you know the syntaxes and how to use them, your problem solving and critical thinking skills need to come into play. Resources are everywhere online, both paid and free, you just need to commit yourself, develop a learning pattern that suits you, make time and practice. Create a conducive atmosphere for yourself to learn, at least 30mins each day consistently with days off fir yourself. I personally love peace and quietness with some soothing music like Jazz or slow tempo Pop whenever I need to read and food when I'm watching tutorial videos. All in all, know what's perfect for you and make the best of it.

What to expect

And one thing I've got to point out is that learning on your own is that you've got to put in extra shifts and motivate yourself, appreciate the work you've done, never compare your works and most importantly, rest. I can't overemphasize the importance of rest, your brain needs to rest so you can be at your best. You'll fail, a lot of times, but dnt let it get the better of you and you'll forget to rest. What I do whenever I'm stuck is to take a little time of to play video games or listen to music to calm myself and soothe my system and then go back to it. You'll also burn a lot of data, especially when downloading or streaming tutorials and some of it will go to waste, but it's useful waste as you now know what works for you and what doesn't. And also you don't necessarily need a laptop to start, although it would be great, but I want to put it out there that a smartphone is enough to kickstart your learning process. There is TrebEdit which is a great Android app for web development, you can also use Codepen on your mobile device. There is no excuse if you're committed to learning.

Mistakes I made

The very first mistake I made was to copy code. Not that copying codes from others is bad in itself but not understanding how the code works and not being able to tweak it is the sin. It's a very bad practice to copy code you don't understand. I also didn't learn to read codes early enough. Learn to read codes as it will help you understand them better and when working with others. Try to pay for courses too or get paid courses for a discount/free, most tutors don't release all their knowledge in free tutorials(understandably), so you'll need to to get some paid courses if you really want to know beyond. As I said earlier, rest is important. I would overwork myself and slowly my productivity decreased and I was frustrated. It was when I took time to rest that got clarity and got better. Another thing was that I didn't join any community during my early stages. Learning on your own doesn't mean ignoring lesson from others, join communities, follow tech savvies on various social media services, subscribe to blogs, join StackOverflow, Discord, look for WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels where resources, advice and practical coding are shared, it'll do a lot of good. Join/apply for internships too, they can be a great substitute for bootcamps.

In the end, remember why you started, keep your goals simple and attainable. Rest and take time to be with your loved ones. Connect with other developers, share knowledge with each other. Get yourself a mentor, the person doesn't have to know, follow them on relevant spaces and see how they work and take their advices. Develop a healthy and convenient learning pattern and be consistent - it is better to code for 3o minutes daily than to spend 4hrs at a stretch in front of a laptop every 4-5 days. So far so good, the above I shared have worked for me, it may/may not work for you so you've got to your own motivation to learn and it pays well too.

Keep motivating yourself and be better. Good bye.