"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe you can achieve." — Mary Kay Ash
Changing paths and embarking down an unfamiliar territory is something that a lot of veterans know all too well, myself included. New beginnings can be terrifying, and often a lot of work. Usually, the easier option is to continue doing what is comfortable and stay the course. On the other hand, reaping the benefits of a positive change makes all the struggle worth it in the end.
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New beginnings: We all start somewhere
If you know me, then you probably know my passion for programming started at a young age. I had hoped to be doing something with computers in the Air Force, but was not so lucky.
Coming up on the end of my enlistment, I already knew which path I wanted to follow. I was so excited to be onto my next adventure, and immediately took to the internet to start seeing where I should begin.
The world of programming is vast, with many different programming languages and uses and paths that I could travel down - which path was right for me? This choice was all personal preference, but if you are unsure where to begin - JavaScript is always a good starting ground.
Self-Teaching: Successfully
I started out learning with online courses. I was working full-time and also full-time studying after that (my wife forgives me). I was putting in a lot of hours and learning so much.
With that being said, it is easy to get lost in the sea of it all. There are so many different sites, everyone wants you to buy their course - where do you go?
I personally used:
CodeCademy - Informative + Interactive, 10/10 recommend ⭐
Coursera - Informative + slightly interactive, 8/10
Stack Overflow - You will spend majority of your time here, 20/10 ⭐
AI like ChatGPT - Can be useful for edge cases or basic knowledge questions
Youtube - Tutorials/lessons/Good for visual learners
*Note: Please don't fall into the trap of only following tutorials. While they are great, make sure that you are relying on your own skills and building with your own code to really excel.LeetCode - Interview prep questions
Find a Group: Fitting in somewhere
Becoming a part of Vets Who Code was a turning point in my learning. While I was learning a lot teaching myself, I was not learning the best I could be. I was lacking the leadership and guidance from a mentor - someone who works in the field already.
Vets Who Code accepted me as a member of their first online cohort. Since I have joined, I have created lasting relationships in the development community (very important) while building on my skills even more.
The cohort consisted of creating a professional portfolio, based off of Jerome Hardaway's (founder of Vets Who Code) portfolio checklist. It started off with using Figma to draw up a UX flow and wireframe design, and ended with a NextJS/React/TypeScript/NodeJS stacked web app. Along the way, I gained experience with migrating technologies, utilizing tools like bundlers/tree shakers/frameworks & libraries, and even interacting with the file server(FS) using Node!
There were many challenges along the way, but that is one of the things I love about this career. Solving a complex issue, or one that you have never encountered before, is a very rewarding feeling (to me, at least). Two of my larger challenges that I faced were setting up & using Parcel.js and NodeJS to write to the FS with server API's.
On the other side of challenge is the outcome. Being faced with all of these challenges, I learned a lot as well. Some of the most useful information I picked up (in my opinion) was learning how to leverage TypeScript & GitHub. I believe that both of these technologies are essential to real world development, and will stick with me as I continue my journeys.
Learning in Public: Thinking out loud
As I continue learning and building, another key takeaway that was taught to me was learning in public. I first learned of the benefits of learning in public on the Front-End Happy Hour Podcast. Being active in your community sets you apart from those that are not. You can also inspire/help others by learning in public, which has value in itself.
Ways to learn in public:
Blog posts
Youtube videos
Podcast
Live stream coding
Attend events
Be a voice on LinkedIn and other social platforms
I have currently been creating blog posts both for myself, and others, as I continue to learn in public as well. In the future, I could see myself hosting live stream coding days potentially.
Resources
Thank you for reading through. Below you will find a recap of the important links from this post, as well as a few others that I am sprinkling in. Enjoy
Learning:
Tools mentioned:
People:
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