My first 1.5 year learning web development, and what I’ve learnt

When starting web development I was wondering about what should I learn first, where should I learn those lessons and how to put it into work. At first, I got a little overproud by myself because I am able to code in HTML + CSS quickly and got an internship which requires me to study react. Needless to say, it feels overwhelming. Another one in which I used laravel also failed. Thankfully now, after realizing what I’ve done wrong in the past, I’m able to meet my deadlines and still create a side project by myself beside it. So, here are some tips if you’re just starting out or just interested about what I’ve learnt:

Learn the basics

Don’t just learn HTML + CSS and go straight to framework like react. Learn about javascript first, then read about what is nodejs, after that jump into react.Learning a framework without knowing the basic functionality of the language it is built in will be much more time consuming than just learning all the basic, especially since javascript has a lot of weird shenanigans

Focus on the subject!

When learning a new framework, IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE. If you’re learning css, ignore the javascript functionality. If you’re learning javascript dom manipulation, ignore the styling. This will saves a lot of time when learning web development. In my personal experience, trying to make everything looks perfect is a trap.

Read the docs

Reading the docs is important. Not every question is posted on the internet, so if you get stuck, go read the docs.

Create simple project(s)

To fully test your skill, go ahead and create a project that highlights the strength of the framework. I usually create a todolist or a blog.

Create a “what to do” everyday

If you’ve decided what project you want to do and you’re not sure how long it will takes, just create a checkpoint everyday. Think “I want to finish X functionality today”. X can be a number of pages, the whole front end, or javascript functionalities.

If you’re a full stack developer, FOCUS ONE AT A TIME. This is really really important. Use a dummy data on front end first then fill it later, instead of developing both of them at the same time. Usually I focus on front first then back end.

If it stupid but it works, then it ain’t stupid

Don’t try to be perfect. Trying to write the cleanest code will only make it dirty.

Don’t be lazy!

This one is self explanatory. If you’ve decided to learn webdev, put in the work at least some hours a day. Do it daily.

Well that’s all I have to say, I hope with this post I can help anyone that is just starting to learn web development. Needless to say, thank you very much to everyone that have helped me (directly or indirectly) learning web development for past 1.5 years