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John Jacob
John Jacob

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0 to Dev in 6 months — Recommended Syllabus

Take it with a grain of Salt — but if I was starting out trying to be a web dev today this is the syllabus / path I would take.

Other devs — comment below what path you would take if you were starting from scratch today.

Month 1 (HTML + CSS + Basics)

  • Week 1 HTML (Build and deploy a website using ugly plain css) (Deploy using google drive or Netlify)
  • Week 2 HTML + CSS again Deploy using Google drive or netlify
  • Bonus points for:
    - Google Analytics
    - Custom Webfonts
    - Images in your website
    - Mutli-page website

    • First 2 weeks is about getting something on the screen, learning editors, and basics of the internet HTML + CSS is the easiest way to do it.
    • Last 2 weeks: Rebuilding one of those sites with a CSS framework as a starting point. Bootstrap or Tailwind (Just using a CDN style tag)

    By month one you should be pretty confident in

    • HTML
    • CSS
    • The terminal
    • Git + Github
    • Basics of hosting and domains
    • Basics of file structures and relative paths
    • Basics of style tags and using a front end library

    At this point you can probably make $15-20/hr freelance if you position yourself right.

    You could also do a lot customizing things like Squarespace or Shopify

Month 2 (JavaScript)

  • Keep it Vanilla JavaScript

    • Avoid JQuery or any other libraries
    • https://www.beginnerjavascript.com/ or any other course for Vanila JavaScript
    • Add interactivity to your site — Again deploy it
    • Maybe do a couple hours of algorithm bullshit — not until month 2

    By month two you should be confident in:

    • Writing and reading JavaScript functions
    • Selecting and interacting with HTML elements on screen
    • Handling forms and inputs
    • Some API interactivity — Maybe a Stripe Credit card collection form or the Pokemon API
    • Strong recommend to try to play some some "low code" stuff and make something that actually does something. Not just a "Static" site.

    At this point you can probably make $20-25/hr freelance if you position yourself right.

    You could now build an MVP using "low code / no code tools — Strongly encouraged

Month 3 (React — if you want to be a "Front end dev")

  • This is going to take all month.
  • Build at least 2 projects start to finish and DEPLOY them.
  • Bonus points for interactivity or interacting with any kind of low code backend — airtable or Firebase

At this point you can probably make $25-30/hr freelance if you position yourself right.

Month 4 (Gatsby + CMS Systems)

(Get freelance work or do favors for people now)
- Build a static site using React + Gatsby
- Always be deploying
- Bonus points for actually getting paid to develop a website
- Understand and explore Content Management Systems
- Headless Wordpress, Contentful, Sanity Etc.

At this point you can probably make $25-30/hr freelance if you position yourself right.

Month 5 (Backend basics — Next.js or Rails)

  • You can start with Next.js
  • Even though you want to be a front end developer you'll need knowledge of the back end
  • You should now build an app that does "Something" with a backend you've built.

At this point you can probably make $30-35/hr freelance if you position yourself right and be up for internships / JR JR positions at agencies or firms

Month 6 (Build something real using everything you know)

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