Introduction
Welcome! My name is Luke Netti, and I would like to share my web developer journey with you. A quick overview of what's in this article:
- My background
- Why I chose web development
- The plan
- Tackling the world of web development
- What's next for me
I want to share my journey here to give you motivation and learn more about who I am!
My Background
I went to college and received a degree in the United States in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I always wanted to work in a field where I can build something and have an impact. After college, I started working for a defense company, where I learned the importance of security and attention to detail. Being a part of such a large company, I felt my impact was insignificant. This left me wanting more from my career.
After a couple of years, I found myself wanting to work in the web development field. I started using freecodecamp.org (which is an excellent resource. I will talk about this in a future article) and learned the basics from HTML, CSS, and even some JavaScript. I immediately fell in love. I was able to write code and see instant results on the screen.
Why I Chose Web Development
Here are some reasons why I love web development
- HTML and CSS were easy to get started with
- Could see instant results on the web browser
- Tons of online resources
- Writing code was fun!
- I could get a remote job
I stumbled upon web development because of freecodecamp.org. I started completing the challenges, and not only was it rewarding, but I was having fun building things. With an engineering background, I love to build things. I found a massive difference between engineering at my day job and web development. Being a frontend developer meant I was building things on the browser and could instantly see change. The code I was writing was having a direct impact on the application. This made me want to continue and build more.
The Plan
Once I realized this web development thing was for me, I needed a plan(my plan is still being worked out). I started to determine what I wanted out of web development.
- Am I looking for a job?
- Do I want to freelance?
- Run a web development agency?
I believe it's important to flesh out what you want to do and how those careers impact the rest of your life. I always knew I wanted something remote, so I was on the right track. Over the past year, I experimented with freelancing and found some success by completing a few website projects.
I highly suggest trying whatever piques your interest. Don't get decision paralysis because you can always change your mind. I have!
I have ultimately settled on looking for a remote web developer job. I believe this is the path for me, and it will be different for everyone!
Don't get decision paralysis because you can always change your mind. I have!
Tackling the World of Web Development
I have a lot of hobbies and so learning something from scratch is always a lot of fun. I enjoy putting together a plan and researching which path can get me there the fastest.
I started by looking at job applications to see which technologies were most popular. From there I determined that HTML -> CSS -> JavaScript -> React was the best path. My goal was to pick a language and stick with it. I knew different languages were mostly differences in syntax, and I could always try different frameworks later.
I like to start learning anything by trying to absorb the basics and get an understanding of fundamentals. For web development, this is normally reading docs and getting familiar with the lay of the land. For example, when learning React, the docs helped me understand why React was so important. One of the main goals – to dynamically change data without reloading the page. Understanding these benefits of the framework helped me grasp why I was using it and not just because lots of jobs were requesting it.
I multiplied this approach repeatedly as I chose which technologies to pursue next and how to build projects with them. If I felt the need for a more in-depth understanding of a topic, I would start looking for a course to learn more. When building on your own, it's supposed to be hard. If it's too easy, you aren't doing it right. I never wanted to get stuck watching tutorials and never push myself. This is important!
When building on your own, it's supposed to be hard. If it's too easy, you aren't doing it right.
What's Next for Me
I am currently in the process of looking for a frontend developer job. I really love building using React and hope to find a job that will use my unique skill set and contribute to a great company.
I plan on using this blog to document more of my process. You can also check out my work on my website or follow me on Twitter at:
Website:
Twitter:
I hope this provided some inspiration, and I would love to answer any questions about my journey or web development in general.