Lessons learned from my journey as a developer in 2019
Tags: webdev, beginners, career
Published: 2019-12-17 23:09:34

DISCLAIMER

I'd like to say I am not a writer neither am I a tech blogger, I'm just your **!average** developer who thought it would be helpful to share some of the things I learned during my journey as a developer in the past year and my plans for 2020. I was also too lazy to proof-read this so sorry for any typos encountered.
 
Here goes nothing. Below is my list of top insightful lessons learned as a developer in 2019

 

## Experts struggle
**Senior Engineer** - The job title we all aim for when we start out. I soon realized that the picture I had painted in my head of the expert developer was nothing but a myth. Its to easy to see other devs on Twitter and the internet as a whole with a bunch audience and think they have it all figured out, but the truth is no one shares their struggles, no one tells you how hard it is, just that they got invited to speak at a conference on the moon!.

## Taking a break could sometimes give clarity
As someone who spent a long time learning to code in isolation I know how quickly and easily you can lose your mind during those frustrating moments... *I'm looking at you JS Closures*.
I have had solutions come to me in the weirdest places... some you don't even wanna hear, but all I needed to do was leave my desk.

## Having a side project is key
Once you get that job it's easy to get bored especially if you are stuck repeating the same things daily. I found that having a side project with no rules and endless possibilities sometimes reminded me of how fun it is to code with no deadlines hanging over your head.

## Nothing replaces strong fundamentals
Get comfy with the fundamentals before moving to the more advanced topics!!!. There's usually all this pressure from the community to learn or jump on the hottest new framework but the simple truth is you are only setting up yourself to become a mediocre developer. Frameworks like jQuery, React and the others are not replacements for Javascript, they are JS based!, Bootstrap is not a replacement for learning CSS, I can go on but you get the gist.

## Tutorials can only take you so far
The term **Tutorial Purgatory** is not a new concept in the programming world. We've all been there, that sweet comfy zone where we inject ourselves with a **false sense of progress and understanding** watching different courses on the same concepts because we are too scared to take that leap and start a project. Which brings me to my next lesson.

## You don't need to know how to start
You don't need to have it all figured out at the start of a project. You just start and figure it out as you go!. I have started projects with absolutely no idea what I was doing. This also made me realize no software comes out perfect in the first release, that'why there are versions and different iterations of the features.

## You're good enough
Imposter Syndrome is a b++ch... One of the biggest realizations I had this past year was that someone somewhere who isn't nearly as good as you are has a better job with a higher pay doing the exact same things you know... Leave your bubble and start applying to those jobs... Like I tell my folks they'll tell you the exact same thing they'll tell everyone else at the interview *we'll get back to you*. So there's nothing at stake.

So I think that concludes the end of this _whatever this is_ Turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. I hope this encouraged someone!... Happy Holidays.

Please share your thoughts in the comments and let me know if you'd like me to do this more in 2020 along with what you'd like me to talk about or teach. (Videos included).