Front end developer specialising in JavaScript and React. Experienced in all aspects of modern front end development. Passionate about making accessible, secure and performant software.
Of course. When I first started out I didn't really have a good path. I just Googled "best language to learn programming" and whatnot. Python came up. So I started with that using the book "Think Python" and also "The hard way to learn Python", then I did some other books on it. I did that very casually from 23 to 25 while working on my normal job.
At 25 I had a browse for programming jobs and realised web development is quite popular, so I thought I'll switch to that. That's when I started programming properly and mostly dropped python to learn front end web development. I went through a few courses and also did some Node for a bit, then a bit of WordPress, then React...
Overall my learning path could have been significantly better, and I could have wasted a lot less time.
If I was to start again, I would ask "what do I want to do in programming". Front end web development? Back end web development? Mobile development? Game development? Whatever. Also see what jobs actually require if that's important to you. Jobs + what you want to do will show you what you should focus on learning.
This way I would feel like I wasted significantly less time. Yes everything you learn is useful, but as a beginner some things are important to learn first and other things may not help you for a long time.
Of course. When I first started out I didn't really have a good path. I just Googled "best language to learn programming" and whatnot. Python came up. So I started with that using the book "Think Python" and also "The hard way to learn Python", then I did some other books on it. I did that very casually from 23 to 25 while working on my normal job.
At 25 I had a browse for programming jobs and realised web development is quite popular, so I thought I'll switch to that. That's when I started programming properly and mostly dropped python to learn front end web development. I went through a few courses and also did some Node for a bit, then a bit of WordPress, then React...
Overall my learning path could have been significantly better, and I could have wasted a lot less time.
If I was to start again, I would ask "what do I want to do in programming". Front end web development? Back end web development? Mobile development? Game development? Whatever. Also see what jobs actually require if that's important to you. Jobs + what you want to do will show you what you should focus on learning.
This way I would feel like I wasted significantly less time. Yes everything you learn is useful, but as a beginner some things are important to learn first and other things may not help you for a long time.
Thank you Spyros, that's really helpful!