Learning to Code is Hard Enough, So Stop With The "Avoid These Beginner Mistakes" Posts.

#webdev #codenewbie #learning #beginners

During the four years I've been coding on and off, I've seen numerous posts offering advice on how to avoid common web developer mistakes as a beginner.

*This is dangerous advice. *

Why do I say that? Because making mistakes is essential to growth as a beginner. How else are you going to learn?

Learning To Code Is Hard

Learning to code is already hard as it is. And if you are teaching yourself, it's even harder. It takes discipline, motivation, and the will to keep going.

And as a junior dev myself, it can be intimidating seeing all of these "avoid these mistakes" posts. Because yeah, you develop imposter syndrome from seeing all these senior-level devs "teaching us" how to avoid mistakes.

But if you ask me, and excuse my language... "You have to mess up to learn."

How else are you going to take a leap if you are afraid of the step?

Because there are people out there afraid of failing, because those "Top 10 mistakes rookie devs make and how to avoid them" are living in their heads rent-free.

Now I understand that the intent behind those posts is to be helpful. But they indirectly put pressure on those who are perfectionists.

Learning how to code is expected to be ugly. Code will not be clean. It will be messy as hell.

Embrace it.

Make mistakes. Because this alone teaches you how to debug. You will learn so much more by fixing code than writing it.

As a former SEO Content and Copywriter, the editing process will always be the learning curve rather than writing.

The writing process is rough, hence the phrase "rough draft". But the editing process is where you go back and correct, change, and clarify before publishing.

I like to think of coding the same way. You write code. You run it and see where things are not working. You go back and correct, change, and clarify your code, and then commit.

So IMO, I would change the title from "Mistakes to Avoid" to "Ways to Improve".

Semantics are real, and words have a heavy impact on people who are in a vulnerable state, learning how to freaking code.

So chill with the "lectures" and give people grace.