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How I became a senior javascript developer with personal projects

Afonso Pacifer on August 10, 2020

Everything can be summed up in short words One of the best decisions in my developer career was to go beyond just using tools. I deci...
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Felipe Fialho

This is an amazing story! The best thing about it is because you make these projects, have studied and improved your skills without a natural pressure in a day a day of work.

You are one of the most brilliant Developer that I have a pleasure to know and your passionate about open source and personal development inspires I and a lot of another developers to improve too! ❤️❤️

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Afonso Pacifer

YOU inspire me!
From Cartman's drawing to FrontEndBR community.
It's an honor to have you as a personal friend ❤️

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Manyong'oments

" One of the best decisions in my developer career was to go beyond just using tools, I decided to create them"

  • That right there is golden
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Afonso Pacifer

I'm very happy to read that <3

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Matthew Clark • Edited

Awesome, thanks for sharing this. I think the key to progressing and learning as much as possible in this crazy industry of ours is constantly being proactive. We may not get a chance to work on some complex and interesting things at our full time jobs (especially in more junior roles), while side projects can help 'force' you to learn certain topics which later pay dividends.

The hardest part for me is the initial idea 😅

Thanks again

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks for this amazing feedback :)
"side projects can help 'force' you to learn certain topics" - Perfect
Learning interesting things, regardless of your job is awesome for your personal growth!

The initial idea is coming hehee

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Ilê Caian

Awesome article! I knew it'll be good when I read:

"One of the best decisions in my developer career was to go beyond just using tools. I decided to create my tools […]”

But it keeps getting better and better as I'll reading it! I really believe in that way of think about things! 😄

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Afonso Pacifer

Amazing way of thinking ;)
Thanks for this comment <3

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theodoros klikas

Very inspiring story Afonso! Its great to see your progress.

Are there resources that you used initially in your journey and while you progressed? What are some of the books/blogs/documentation you learned from?

I get it wasn't just about javascript but about structuring a complex project, software engineering in general etc.

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Afonso Pacifer

Greate questions!
I learn a lot using the W3C docs, all community posts, youtube videos, etc...
I basically search for "How you create a [complete here]"..

PS: I published a new post about my "gold rule" for learning new things:
dev.to/afonsopacifer/5-ideas-for-p...

<3

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J.D Nicholls

Hey Afonso, thanks for share your story, this is very nice!
About Games, I was wondering if you can help me to add more interesting resources in this list about JS Games github.com/proyecto26/awesome-jsgames
Best,
Juan

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Afonso Pacifer

Wow...
Awesome project, I`ll try to contribute :)

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Helder Burato Berto

Awesome!

It's great to see people growing and sharing the ways did to do that.

I really appreciate Brazilians (like me) going deeper and catching a next level as a professional.

Congratulations to all your efforts, it isn't so easy to keep the consistency like you did very well.

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Afonso Pacifer

Wow, thanks for this awesome comment bro!
Let's show the Brazilians power for the world <3

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Marke'l Spellman

This is dope but scares me because I'm not this dedicated to coding.. dont get me wrong I love to code and have a passion project im slowly chipping away at but.. recreating tools seems so beneficial but not so interesting. What keeps you motivated ?

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Afonso Pacifer

Hello!
My motivation to recreate tools comes first from my interest in learning. Okay, but to stay motivated, I show progress with friends or other developers
(in my case through tach talks about the concepts).

Another cool tip to keep you motivated is: “Use projects to create other projects”. For example, you can create your personal website using your new front-end library. This motivates a lot, for bug fixes or improvements, because you are the user and at the same time the maintainer of the dependencies.

In the end, having a good answer when someone asks, "What tool did you use to do this?" It's priceless and it's amazing <3

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khizerrehandev

Hey! Afono, I really want to be good JS developer I dont think I am very good in Dev. How to become master? where to take start? Thanks

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Afonso Pacifer

Hello!

A tip to get started is to focus on building a solid base!!

I recommend the books:

  • JavaScript: The Definitive Guide - David Flanagan
  • 14 Habits of Highly Productive Developers - Zeno Rocha
  • You Don't Know JS Yet (book series) - Kyle Simpson

:)

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khizerrehandev

Thank you so much!

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Matias D • Edited

Finally, Thank you! "Don't reinvent the wheel" it's a waste of time only for companies or if you are running a business. If you wanna learn "reinvent the wheel" is the best way, and, if you(when you) get stuck you can simply see how great developer already solved the problems you are facing on.

P.s. I'm not an English native and I'm learning it, please feel free to correct me, thank you :)

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Afonso Pacifer

Great comment! Thanks <3

PS: I'm learning English too! Is hard, but the power of communication is awesome!

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Konstantin

That's great! Now, I am inspired to try this "Write Code Every Day" challenge.

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Afonso Pacifer

Nice decision!
A tip: Commit your "daily work" before you sleep (after the 00:00).
Then you will be one day ahead of the challenge ;)

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Konstantin

ahahahah... good advice. :D

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Afonso Pacifer

hehehe <3

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Vitor Mendrone • Edited

This is an awesome article, but, honestly? I learned not to expect less than awesomeness from you buddy! I've been watching your career as you go since I first heard about one of your OSS projects. The first time we met, I knew I was talking to a passionate developer who had an above the grade creative capacity and a brilliant future ahead.

You inspire people by example, not by words.

Keep on rocking the tech world, dude!

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Afonso Pacifer

It's a privilege for me to read this comment from someone who inspires me every day to be a better dev.
Thank you VERY MUCH <3

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Ruanna

Thanks for sharing your story! And congrats on your first English blog post! Great read! :)

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks a lot for the feedback ❤️
I'm very excited to share more things in English :)

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shadowtime2000

Very inspiring. Quick question, who did those logos for you?

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks !
I did it myself :) (I love photoshop <3)

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lorenzgage

Really inspiring. Great coding mindset that will resonate with young devs.

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Gunther

Hi, this post is really inspiring and I have a couple of personal projects in mind that I want to do. I hope that I can become as good as you.

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks for your comment!
Don't forget to show yours new projects <3

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Yan Magalhães

Thanks for share your experience with us. It's a great and motivated story of how side projects can help us to grow.

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Afonso Pacifer

Thank you!
You are part of this history <3

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Andrew Baisden

I decided to create my tools, not for commercial propose, but to know how these technologies actually work and to improve my tech skills.

This right here thats the way it should be.

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Afonso Pacifer

Nice! Let's go <3

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Sharoz Ijaz

After Reading your Story, it gives me Inspiration. Thanks a Lot.

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Afonso Pacifer

Awesome <3

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Ndeye Fatou Diop

Wouaw. Thanks à lot. This is inspiring ❤️

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Afonso Pacifer

Thank YOU for the comment <3

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Diona Rodrigues

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your journey! For sure it's an inspiration! 🤩

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Afonso Pacifer

<3 <3 <3
Thanks!

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Roman Verner

Thanks for sharing! This was encouraging to read right before work, and has me thinking about new projects!

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Afonso Pacifer

Wow <3
I'm very happy to read your comment.
These things inspire me a lot!

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Abhijit Hota

One of the best posts on Dev I've come across. =)
And one of the best journeys I've heard about too!

Congratulations and all the best Afonso! ✨

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Afonso Pacifer

Wow, I'm very very happy to read this!
Thanks for your comment <3

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Francisco Quintero 🇨🇴

Great story, Afonso! I love how you decided to create these tools for the sake of learning.

IMO, this is what "side projects" really are for.

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Afonso Pacifer

Exactly!
Thanks bro!

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🆖 Karan Oza

Really amazing..
Touched the line-
Stop using tools start creating them👍

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks <3
After the process of recreating the tools, the decision to use a tool is facilitated!

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Luís Eduardo

This is a incredible story and a greater inspiration for us, programmers! ❤️

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks bro <3

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Sajeevan

Super bro, its inspiring... I got a thought of creating my own libraries. 😉

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Afonso Pacifer

Awesome! Don't forget to share your new projects <3

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Ibtasam Hassan

that's amazing man! keep growing

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Afonso Pacifer

thanks bro :)

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scroung720

Very inspiring story thank you for sharing.

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Afonso Pacifer

Thank you for this feedback ❤️

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Uriel Bitton

Great article and really inspirational. Your journey is impressive, best of luck for the future man! Thanks for the inspiration you offered in this article :)

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Afonso Pacifer

Thanks for this comment bro <3

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Haruto Fujihara

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