It's crucial for a new developer to choose the right tools for the job and not the right job for the tools. This expression is very common, but it rings true in our profession. It’s particularly relevant to new and beginner developers who are in the early stages of their careers and deciding what to learn and where to focus their efforts. This moment is pivotal in a developer's professional journey, as choosing the right tools can set the foundation for future success.
So, how do you actually go about choosing the right tools? Well, there are a couple of ways to do it, and I'll speak from my personal experience because I believe that is the most efficient way and probably the one that will resonate with most people since it's based on real experience.
Initially, my approach was flawed. I’m someone who is easily influenced by others, especially those more experienced than me. My first decision was based exactly on what others recommended. That choice was SvelteKit. I don’t regret it—SvelteKit offers a fantastic developer experience. However, as developers, we aren't the end-users of our own services. The true end-users are the clients or the companies we work for, or in the case of freelancers like me, our clients.
Acknowledging that we are not the primary consumers of our services, we need to think about who is. Whether it's a company or a client, we can look at statistics on the most demanded tools in the industry. Tools like React, Next.js, and Python for the backend are highly sought after. In contrast, Svelte and SvelteKit, while excellent technologies, don't have the same level of demand.
It's crucial to take great care and thought when deciding which tools to invest your time and resources in learning and mastering. You can either approach this smartly, using statistics and a good understanding of the industry, or you can do what I did—listen to others and end up having to learn multiple tools to reach the same level of proficiency you could have achieved with one. The tool I ultimately settled on is Next.js. It shares many similarities with SvelteKit but differs in some aspects, notably in the job market where Next.js has far more opportunities.
Dear colleagues, I hope you learned something from this post. Have a great day, and thank you for reading.
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