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Gaurav Soni
Gaurav Soni

Posted on • Updated on

Should I quit my career?

I need some suggestion regarding my career as a front end developer?
SHOULD I QUIT MY CAREER AS A FRONTEND DEVELOPER?

(Read please and give your valuable feed back)

In frontend development i know HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, sass, WordPress, and i know little bit of javascript and currently learning react js.
I think i can't able to do logical thinking as other's doing in react as reactjs developer or js devloper like my other friends do.
So thinking to quit my current job.
Any suggestions ????

Top comments (27)

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pogiii profile image
Aviv Ben Yosef

Hey there!
Don't be harsh on yourself!
Meaningful learning takes time and looking outside, you might feel overwhelmed by how much people know that you don't, but that is not healthy isn't it?

I would suggest diving into actually learning with a fresh new mindset -- growth.

Learn because you want to grow into being a better developer, grow because you're curious.
There's always someone better, trust me I've been doing code for the last decade.

I would also like to mention FreeCodeCamp.org as it's the best place in my opinion to learn new programming skills and sharpen existing ones.

Good luck!

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gauravsoni97 profile image
Gaurav Soni

Thanks a lot aviv for your suggestions.

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dumboprogrammer profile image
Tawhid

Let me tell you a real story
When I started learning even a print statement in python looked like God language to me.
Logical thinking? A For loop was the best I could do but I kept trying,learning,experimenting.Sometimes 1-2 hours of practice sometimes less sometimes no practice at all.Did I ever feel I want to quit? Nope never I love what I do
Do I regret my choice? Nope I don't
What good did it do?
well,I teach people C++,game development and Ethical hacking etc for free btw
I myself am a indie game dev making thousands on freelance
and as for hobby I make custom bios for custom hardware,host servers for games for my own on my hardware.
Like living dream life.

At first when you start It will feel like hell but Practice makes a man perfect.
Never give up, follow your dreams.
Do what you love.

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett 🌀

Good on you btw, kudos!

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aissalaribi profile image
Aissa Laribi

Quitting your job? Maybe, yes. Quitting your career of front-end developer? Maybe not. Perhaps, you just need to work in more projects, this way it will improve your logical thinking skills. I gave up front-end development because I knew only WordPress, CSS, a bit of HTML, PHP but nothing about JavaScript . Whereas you, you know about JavaScript, perhaps if you push to get better with JavaScript you might have a lot opportunities. Apparently, JavaScript in the most demanded programming language. Feel free to check out the following link bootcamp.berkeley.edu/blog/most-in...
I hope it helped

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gauravsoni97 profile image
Gaurav Soni

Thanks for your suggestions aissa

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andrewbaisden profile image
Andrew Baisden

When I first started as a developer I was good with HTML and CSS but very weak in JavaScript. For a long time I was not progressing much and I started to have a lot of imposter syndrome and self doubt. Some people just thought I was not good enough.

The turning point happened when I found much better learning resources and better teachers. I guess at the time I was following some very average programming courses. All I did was put in the time and practice, practice, practice!

And the rest is history I have a job in tech, i'm active in the developer community. And I have a pretty strong profile with lots of programming skills. I believe that almost anyone can learn this stuff you just need to practice non stop and continue to repeat the cycle until it is as natural as walking or driving a car. It just becomes muscle memory.

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haydnj profile image
poopa-uk • Edited

No dude. Stick at it. We all have these feelings of being overwhelmed. If react is overwhelming you might want to try a framework with an easier learning curve. I started with Vue, and I'm glad I did because react would probably have scared me away at first.

More importantly, we're here to help you, and advise you. One day you'll be looking at a post from another overwhelmed dev and it will be for turn to help them. Stick at it, you will get there. It will be tough at times but it will be so worth it.

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ageekdev profile image
ΛGΣΣK

You need to spend serious time to chill and figure out what you really want to do with your career. In my experience, you'll realize that what you've been doing so far is the only good thing you can do and you should stick with it, migrate to new things progressively. Of course if you have finacial security then you can do whatever you want!

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gauravsoni97 profile image
Gaurav Soni

Yeah i understand, thank you so much for your suggestion

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unsungnovelty profile image
Nikhil

Learn programming. Not coding. Coding means the syntax and programming is the logic. Learning programming comes only with experience. You need to solve problems yourself.

Couple of points which I hope will help you...

  • You need to build stuff. You can do exercises from freecodecamp.org and exercism.io to kick things off if you are too new with JavaScript. But you have to build things eventually. Only then will you understand how to go about programming.
  • Don't hop from one tutorial to another. Find one curriculum and stick with it. I recommend theodinproject.com. I wasted 2 years while on a job by doing exercises and hopping from one material to another. TheOdinProject doesn't make all of their materials. They have a great curriculum which is created by picking the best materials from around the internet.
  • You need a community to ask your questions. TheOdinProject have a discord server. Do the curriculum and they will help you when necessary.
  • I am assuming since you say you are good with HTML and CSS, you might be a visual learner. This means it might help more if you make things that you can visually see them. Have you tried making a website? Programming clicked for me when I created my own website. I made it with Hugo static site generator. It didn't even have JavaScript. Just HTML, CSS and Hugo's syntax Language which let me do basic logic. I read code and understood what it did. It took a lot of time. So maybe try to make a website with basic JavaScript.
  • Seek and you shall find. Search online with your problem in Google or DuckDuckGo. Whatever issues you are coming across as a beginner, somebody else would've experienced it as well.
  • I struggled with some things you mentioned as well. Maybe my blog post can help - dev.to/unsungnovelty/initlogs-3-le...
  • Finally... practice

Never give up! You got this!

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nunoa21 profile image
NunoA21

Well, some time ago I went through something similar. There are times in our careers that we think that we can't make it, or that we don't have what it takes to have a seccessful career.
But don't listen to those thoughts, with time, patiente and plenty of hard work, if you want to succeed, things will come!
Try to clear your mind first and don't be too harsh on yourself, I know you'll be able to make it!
Everyone strugles with the "imposter syndrome" from time to time, even seniors!
Just take your time, if you're encountering yourself in a place where you don't feel confortable, that's where you'll progress!
Keep it up, if you like this field (programming), you'll make it :)
Good luck! 🍀

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ggorantala profile image
Gopi Gorantala • Edited

This is a common mis-conception most of the developers have. No one has become expert in a single day. It takes time for mastering a skill. All it requires is a little bit of your time and dedication.

The people who you are comparing yourself with aren't some giant warriors with gifted knowledge. They spent time and understood things, learned from their mistakes and advises from others.

I am no master myself and trying to get better of me everyday.

Try this,

  1. Don't start learing React, right now. Before starting with react you need to know some basics of JS, destructuring, ES6 syntaxes, promises etc.
  2. Learn JS basics, do problem solving for couple months to get strong with JS and logical thinking. This helps you ace coding interviews as well. I would recommend structy.net by Alvin.
  3. Once you get a good hold of JS, now start with React.

Here is my advise!!

Developers, you can buy React course by Stephen Grider and Andrei Neagoie on Udemy. BUT.. why can't you learn by doing?? Start writing something it won't come up... read documentation reactjs.org its the best site that gives insights on each and every line of code you write.

I am a Full Stack developer will over 10 years and been working on React for over 4 years now. I would say you don't mimic already existing applications.

Here are some of my ideas which if it helps, try it and if it not, please don't hesitate to ask questions.

For starters, learn the basics that's enough, don't go deep...

  • First bootstrap a react application with CRA or any boilerplate code.

  • I would recommend using functional components with hooks and materialUI, react-hook-form for form data, react-query for queries, etc..

  • Now think of an idea or app you wanna build. I recommend you build an app that represents your resume (more or so a portfolio website). You can showcase this to recruiters once it's production-ready. ;)

  • Don't build re-usable components right away..

  • Start simple, go check StackOverflow and get some ideas in building navbar, sidebar, or check for ideas to do them.

  • Now, write some code and bring up the app.

  • Hardcode data, for now, there is no rush in getting data from API, and don't mess the code right aways with APIs, databases, etc.

  • Once your app is ready with hardcoded data.

  • I would recommend FIREBASE as your database, everything JSON and you'll love it.

  • Connect the Firebase with your app. Get some data and refactor the hardcoded data with API data.

  • Now where you feel you duplicated code, make them a reusable component. Like Modal, Button, TextField, Notification, Select, Image, FileUpload, ToolTip, Router Link, etc.

  • Now once this is up and working... install redux and inflate the state. Connect the store and get it ready.

  • By this time you're hands are dirty and you know what's happening within the app.

  • So now you are an intermediate React developer --------------

Do you want to become an expert?

  • Have an API wrapper that takes the request and serves you API data. This will be a pattern all your XHR requests follow.

  • Each Component should serve a single purpose, if you think the feature you're adding should be separated, don't hesitate... Just separate, and later you can more shine on this code.

  • Check for code quality, your code should not flood the state.

  • Now, check how many times each of your components is rendered. use useCallback or useMemo to reduce the number of re-renders, this will lower the burden on DOM.

Note: You can use NextJS to do the same and it will really be cool. GoodLuck.

Don't buy all the paid courses. There are plenty of online free resources available and they would definitely help you. Spend a week determined and if you still feel there are bits and pieces missing. You can always buy a paid course.

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gauravsoni97 profile image
Gaurav Soni

Thanks you so much for detailed explanation

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett 🌀 • Edited

It sounds like a junction point, not a time to quit, a time to reflect, which you are. Stating that you can't do logical thinking is perhaps a little harsh. Having mental blocks about JavaScript in the beginning is absolutely normal, I think I remember building my own stuff using a corse like code academy really helped me, that and codepen.

If your absolutely sure that JavaScript is not for you, there's always Design, UX, Testing engineering and many other vital roles.

How long have you been doing this?

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adam_cyclones profile image
Adam Crockett 🌀

1 year, right that completely makes sense, what your expericing is likely impostors syndrome, it's a huge problem for all developers at every level, what you feel is normal. But I swear to you JavaScript will make sense, you might just need a good mentor!

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lionelrowe profile image
lionel-rowe • Edited

Maybe you just need to go "back to basics" with the JavaScript stuff. Take time to really understand the language, especially things like scope and closures. You Don't Know JS Yet is a fantastic resource for this kind of thing.

Only once you feel you've mastered the fundamentals, then go back to React and take time to understand how it builds on these concepts. Remember that JSX is really just "syntax sugar" — it might look like XML or HTML, but underneath it all it's really just more JavaScript. Look into the logic of hooks and how/when components re-render.

At every stage of your learning process, write code to test out the new concepts you learned. Try to find the limits of your understanding — "what happens if I do X differently instead of the way it was shown in the example?" CodeSandbox is great for this kind of thing. If you're learning TypeScript, the TypeScript playground is great too.

After all that, if you find that the learning process isn't fulfilling for you, then there's no shame in saying "this really isn't for me". But if that's the case, let your decision be motivated by a lack of passion, rather than a sense of impostor syndrome ("I'm not good enough"). Otherwise, you might give up a rewarding career based on wrong or incomplete information.

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ochsec profile image
Chris Ochsenreither

I wouldn't let solving logic problems stand in the way of a career you enjoy. The only reasons I could think of to quit is if (a) you want to do something else more or (b) the pay is too low. Like other posters I would recommend Freecodecamp.org for practice, specifically the Javascript Algorithms and Data Structures & Front-end libraries courses. Hackerrank.com is also good for practicing problem-solving. If it's more an issue of learning the frameworks, read lots of tutorials to get the concepts.

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xuwupeng2000 profile image
Jack Wu

Hi there,
If you don't imporve your skills then you really should find something else to do.
You can find something else if you fully prepared and It is better to schedule it in your own term than let the industry does it for you.

This is my honest opinion.
All the best.

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chetanam profile image
Chetan

Aim: To help Gaurav take his carrer decision:
Lesson:
Gaurav to understand that you are capable of logical thinking you need to practice algorithmic problems.
Good Developers like to solve problems. If you like solving Algorithmic Problems then you will like Coding.

First clear up your basice on Data Structures and Algorithms (Watch Mosh Hamedani DS and Algs Course).
Then you should start solving algorithms on LeetCode. Start from Easy aim to solve at least 60 problems. This will give you a good estimate if you like solving problems.

Now if you like solving problems stay on else focus your efforts on learning a new skill you are interested in.

I am saying so as I myself have solved Algorithmic Problems (see leetcode.com/chetansirsa/) and I can see my interests.

So take the first step and start watching Mosh Hamedani Algorithms Course.
Vande Matram.

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tendset_ideas profile image
Iam_Pipl

logical thinking will comes from practice practice , just believe in ur self , do ur smart and hardwork towards ur career and leave everything to creator, all the best i hope u can do it ,u will do it, i wish u to do it, if any help u need for mernstack ping me , i will guide u bro

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gauravsoni97 profile image
Gaurav Soni

yeah sure bro , thanks