Any tips to become a web developer?

Do you have any tips for a beginner like me to become a web developer? What habits I should avoid to become one?

Comments

[Tina Huynh]

I love the questions

@kevincp17 may I interest you in some articles:

9 Tips to Start Learning HTML/CSS

Tina Huynh ・ Mar 19 ・ 2 min read

#html #css #beginners #codenewbie

@ben has a lot of very helpful articles regarding web development as well!

[kevincp17]

Thanks for the reply Tina, I will check it out.

[kevincp17]

•Because I love to build something

from scratch. It's like building a house
from step one. Building web is no
different.

•I am afraid of making slow program
performance especially if I am working
on backend. Better web must have a
fast performance.

[shmuelhizmi]

I think a passion for building stuff is probably the best drive to start developing, there are no rules for learning to program, the things you should avoid are only the things you feel like aren't contributing to your progress. my advice is to just start, if you have any idea of something you would like to create try to create a pragmatic list of thing you need to know in order the start and start executing :)

I would not wory about performance issue too much if you're just getting started, you would be supprised how little web development deal with performance issues compared to other aspects of web development.

Good luck

[lifeascoder]

Nice question!! If you are a gamer, avoid it for a few time to learn about web development. Find good courses online for free like FreeCodeCamp. You must learn JavaScript. I've made a full opinion of mine about JavaScript. If you are interested then read it. Mostly focus more on your region means web development. There might be many things that will disturb you but stay focused, Ok Man!

If you have a little free time , then use it for web development. Don't waste time. Remember Time and Tide waits for none.

[Michael Otu]

As far as you interested in building stuff from ground up and understanding what you are doing, I'd say start with PHP (add html, css and some Js).

There is a lot that happens with PHP, you'd learn how data follows through your application and it's not bad, in fact, as a first language (Some C will help you - but not necessarily).

Start in one niche, one tool, one project at a time. Make sure you know enough about the tool you are using and google a lot.

Now, there is python with flask/fast API, and Js with node/Express so why PHP?

As a beginner, I don't have to think about servers or application instance. No package or library is needed until you need it. There is not need for ports and routes, php does file routing. To you don't have to visit /login to view the login page, just go to login.php. just like that.. this is what I meant by you'd learn data flows through your app..

I'd leave you with three things.

• develop a lot of projects. It is through trial and errors that you'd really know you are doing something
• I read a lot about documentation down there in the comments. So before you start developing, plan what you want to develop. Have some sketches,
• once in a while ask people for feedback, find a mentor or a community to join or something like that.
• don't unnecessarily pay for online courses before discussing it with your mentor. YouTube is awesome and you'd learn a lot for free. There are free articles on dev.to.
• make sure you can do something the way you understand it before jumping to using some approach like MVC or the like.

Remember, you can't be good or better in a day or something like that. Your code is not always going to work. You can fall ill yourself, your PC may have a break down.. it happens, so prepare for anything and feel free. Don't join the software politics. 🥂

[LeafKn]

1. Create projects as you learn.
2. Never be ashamed of googling stuff if you are stuck because it is not wrong as long as you are not spoon feeding.
3. Your goal of learning should be clear because it is easy to lose motivation if you don't really know why of doing things.
4. Showcase your work along the journey.

[Ido Schacham]

My tip would be Nike's eternal words: just do it. I got into web development in 1995 because I wanted to build my own personal homepage. Been a web developer pretty much ever since. So, maybe pick some project that excites you and start building it from scratch. Watch some videos, read some tutorials, experiment with some technologies. Learn as you go and have some fun. And allow yourself to be the perfect beginner. Don't mind if you write "bad code" or have poor performance - as a web developer you'll see that you're always improving your knowledge and skills, yes, even after more than 25 years that holds true for a boomer like me. But the more you'll practice, the better you'll get. Make some mistakes, enjoy the ride, and build something that you'll love. Good luck!

[Vinit Gupta]

1. The most thing is to learn the basics of HTML and CSS first from a tutorial.
   After that, start building small fun things like navbars, footers scrolling gallery.

2. Then learn the basic of Javascript and starting building small projects like a form, call any API and display the results and then build a small game or any instrument.

Now, you are a developer...

[kevincp17]

Okay, I will read his book, kinda interesting for me.

Bench making and tracking? Kinda learned that at college. Definitely learning that right now.

Never documenting before doing any of my projects before. Probably the habit I should avoid.

I agree with you, sometimes older stuff can be useful when learning something new.

I keep grinding though. Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it👍

[Stuart Jones]

I got started in web development by having a problem to solve - which led to more problems needing solving, which lead to me learning. I learnt some basic HTML, then some JavaScript, then some CSS, and then some PHP and MySQL.

Don't be afraid to ask questions - I learnt a lot from forums back when I started, and I learn from places like this and from StackOverflow. Find a local community meetup or join a Slack community.

When starting - don't worry too much about getting it right, or getting it optimised - that comes later. Worry about getting it working (and also making it secure if you're going to be doing backend stuff), and then work on making it better.

And just keep on doing that - you get better by learning, and you learn by doing and trying to do new things.

[Alex Lohr]

Select topics and learn until you feel the urge to move on to another topic. HTML is a good starting point, as it encompasses, fuels or includes a lot of other topics, e.g. semantics, accessibility, CSS, JS, HTTP over TCP/IP, back-ends, JSX, etc. If you really like a topic, don't hesitate to specialize in it. Specialists are always in demand.