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Atharv Redij
Atharv Redij

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Need advice regarding web development

I have been learning web development for the past year. I have good knowledge of fundamentals i.e. HTML, CSS & JavaScript. I also know React and Redux. Then I learned about backend development using NodeJS i.e API, authentication, database (MongoDB), etc.

I have done few projects such as an e-commerce app, google forms clone, COVID-19 tracker, an event registration website, and an admin panel.

My question is what should I do next? Are there any projects I can do? Any technology to learn? I want to get a job as a full-stack web developer. Any advice would be helpful.

Top comments (18)

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merichard123 profile image
Richard

I would say learn what ever interests you, as long as you are happy with your stack.

If you come across something that looks fun try it. For example I am quite happy building rest APIs but recently I came to find that GraphQl is pretty neat so I would like to give that a go.

Your listed projects are cool and demonstrate your skills well however they are problems that have been solved before.

Try to build some passion projects something which solves a problem specific to you, this is what will make you stand out in employers eyes.

For example I own a tortoise and think they are really awesome animals hence I made a site which shows you all the different types of turtles and tortoise, because I felt like this info was lacking online.

Look at what you enjoy what could help you or what software would help others around you.

Good Luck and most importantly have fun

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eduardonwa profile image
Eduardo Cookie Lifter • Edited

Yep, focus your software on people is the best part of what you can do with websites, apps, software it adds the meaning to them. What is the use of something if it has no meaning to people, your users.

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webmastermick profile image
Kay Henry

Congrats on all you've done so far!

From here, my advice would be volunteer work. Your favorite search engine should yield at least a handful of sites about coding as a volunteer. You can help the fight for social justice, a political campaign, small animal shelters, food banks, small business owners who are just getting started, etc. Any of these contributions give you the opportunity to grow. You get to work with others, and "show" that you know how to work with others. You will strengthen your portfolio, and most importantly, demonstrate your skills when you have stakeholders (and not just doing your own personal projects).

I wish you much continued success!

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atharvredij profile image
Atharv Redij

That's a really good suggestion.

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otumianempire profile image
Michael Otu

So what are limitations or measures to put in place, doing volunteer work?

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valeriavg profile image
Valeria

Take a look at FreeCodeCamp, there are tutorials and project suggestions to help you build a portfolio

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ironcladdev profile image
Conner Ow

Maybe you should use socket.io and P5.js to make a multiplayer game.
A chat site like Slack or Discord would be great too.
I'm making an image sharing site like Unsplash. That also will be a fun, challenging project.
You can make your own social media website as a clone of something else, etc.

There are a number of things you can do. Choose what you want to make and put your mind towards it.

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iamdoctorj profile image
Jyotirmaya Sahu • Edited

Recently, I was making an admin panel using React and Material UI, and I came across a Table component. I tried to make that generic. You can try that kind of stuff. It's not always we build something complete. Small things help us to concentrate on a specific area.

You can find the article about the DataTable on my profile.

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resetnak profile image
Alexandr Rešetňak

Hello! I think you are on a good way to be a full-stack.

Well first prioritize what you would love to do. E-commerce, simplify things or automatization? Than you can choose the language. Learn something about databases (SQL and no-SQL). Learn Git, CD, CI. Fundamentals of UX/UI would be great too.

What kind of projects has u built? Try implementing some design patterns.
Hope this helps.

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otumianempire profile image
Michael Otu

Add another database, say postgres. Learn some devops..

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mjgs profile image
Mark Smith

Looks like you are doing pretty well, some pretty neat projects under your belt. They will make your cv / portfolio look good.

One thing you might consider, and it depends on how much time you have available to you, is to level up from smaller test projects and attempt to built a fully fledged SaaS application with paying customers.

That’s the next level, you will learn the full stack that way. It’s quite difficult though, because getting a smaller project to the stage where it’s ready for customers is an order of magnitude more effort, because you have to architect and build something that scales, is resilient to failures, easily maintainable, secure and a lot more.

Building it is the best way to learn, but it’s tough. You might be at the right stage to get on a team of devs and help them build their product, you’ll learn a lot, though you won’t have complete control on what you are working on, but it will probably be easier. Building with others is also a valuable skill to learn.

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mjgs profile image
Mark Smith

Hey I just remembered about this blog post I found end of last year, I posted it to my linkblog in the new year:

More challenging projects every programmer should try - A list of interesting projects to try, with descriptions of what the minimal apps would be like, and suggestions as to what features could be added - I found it super interesting to learn about the different shapes of apps, I am mostly familiar with building web client/server and cli tools, so things like games engines, text editors, compilers, mini operating systems and video game emulators were completely unknown to me, but also the key value store and stock trading apps sound like a lot of fun to built, the article does a really great job of describing all these projects utk.edu

It’s got some imo quite good project suggestions, so if you decide to continue building smaller projects rather than tackle a full on SaaS, one of these could be a good way to go.

It was featured in my newsletter back in the 2021 new year edition.

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dillonheadley profile image
Dillon Headley

I’d say your next step is to get a job in the industry. The things you learn through real world projects from clients will accelerate your learning in ways not easily done with your own projects

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nimit2801 profile image
Nimit Savant

Explore some famous APIs which have NodeJs wrappers eg: DiscordJs (legit the coolest one), RedditAPI, etc,.

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dzunguy profile image
Dzung Nguyen

Hi Atharv,

You’re definitely already qualified. At this stage you could focus on polishing your resume, hone your interview skills, and start applying immediately.

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adnanhz profile image
Adnan

Start applying to jobs if you haven't already.

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patarapolw profile image
Pacharapol Withayasakpunt • Edited

Maybe both specialization of frontend, or more backend / DevOps are correct answers.

Perhaps you will look at job descriptions.