In this article, I will share why I decided to be a software developer and how I made a transition into tech. My learning pattern has been self-taught, and I am still pushing harder to learn new concepts and technologies.
Whenever I read the success stories of people that went into tech against all odds, I am usually motivated and encouraged to continue with the path that I have taken. This is because it gives me strength with the hope that I will also get to share my own story someday. Of course, I wouldn’t refer to my story as successful yet, but I am making remarkable progress.
I hope that sharing my story may inspire others, enable them to learn from my experience, and get to know how I am currently hanging on despite all the odds.
Brief background about myself
I graduated from the University in 2017 with a first-class honor in Economics (BSc). Unfortunately, I lived in a place without much access to the internet. However, during my undergrad, I got my first laptop, which completely made me fall in love with computers. This motivated me to learn graphic design, and I started working on Fiverr as a freelance graphic designer for some time. During this period, I learned a bit about programming languages and I was fascinated with the thought of typing codes and instructing computers on what to do. However, I couldn't make an immediate transition due to some issues:
- I had tedious coursework at the University plus a grade to maintain.
- I started earning some money from graphic design, and I wasn't ready to stop it and venture completely into programming.
- I couldn't find anyone to teach me. Looking back now, some of these reasons may seem quite inconsequential to me.
After graduating from the University, I made my first attempt to go into programming in 2018. First, I attempted to learn PHP. But unfortunately, I was doing it all alone without mentorship and without knowing the right resources. Coincidentally, this was when I had a good number of orders on Fiverr for my graphic design gigs. Therefore, I had to quit programming as I was doing it without any clearer pathway.
In 2019, I got a fully-funded scholarship to do my master's by a reputable body in one of the Asian countries, and I couldn't reject such an amazing opportunity. On the 2nd of November 2021, I completed my master's and returned home. After that, I worked in a fintech company for a while before resigning. This was mainly due to the difficult nature of the job. Also, I was not happy that all my time was being taken away from me. This means that I couldn't continue on my tech path. It was a tough decision I had to make as I decided to quit my job and focus my energy on following the path to becoming a software developer instead.
Why I decided to make a transition into tech
After resigning from my job, I fully committed to going into tech and following my passion. However, to avoid the earlier mistakes, I spent the first few days reading, watching countless youtube videos, and understanding which area I love to specialize and the perfect path to follow in my learnings.
Apart from my deep-rooted passion for tech, I am very comfortable working with computers and enjoy solving technical problems. Software development constantly tests one's problem-solving skills and logic. This is a perfect fit for me, and it's one of the things I enjoyed the most.
Furthermore, being a software developer offers a continuous learning opportunity. It also offers collaboration across teams which is essential to my growth. I prefer to work in a dynamic environment where I get to mingle with extraordinary people and learn new things daily during my job duties. I'm not too fond of jobs that are monotonous and routine-based. This is another reason tech stands out for me.
Moreover, software developers are increasingly in demand, and it is a very lucrative field with a great salary. Also, It is the perfect industry to start a business with low initial capital. Actually, with computers and the internet, opportunities are limitless.
I desire to start my business someday, and most of the business ideas I have in mind revolve around tech. So, I can't wait to start testing them out soon.
My learning paths so far
I will share my learning path here and the learning resources I used personally for each path. This can serve as a guide for people willing to go into frontend software development like me.
HTML/CSS
I started my HTML/CSS journey with Freecodecamp, and it has been a great experience. Freecodecamp is an amazing website that teaches you everything about web development for free. I especially like that the curriculum was carefully designed in an interactive manner that covered most of the concepts. This is the perfect website to use as a self-taught programmer.
Few days after I started learning HTML/CSS on Freecodecamp, I applied and won the ALX web development foundations programme for Africans. This course covers HTML, CSS and JavaScript using Udacity platform. Since I have already started with Freecodecamp and it has been really interesting, I decided to take courses from the two platforms simultaneously. This is because Udacity, too is a nice platform with excellent tutors, tons of videos, and coding tasks. So I said to myself, why not grab these two opportunities?
Overall, I found HTML to be pretty straightforward and easier for me to grab. Once, I had finished learning HTML (on Freecodecamp and Udacity), I designed a simple static webpage with HTML and created a survey form with HTML.
With these two projects above, I was certain that I have understood the main concepts in HTML and it was time for me to dive into CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and it is used to style or describe the visual presentation of documents written in HTML. At first, I thought CSS would be quite harder for me judging from earlier reviews that I have read about it. However, in my case I found it to be fun, and lovely and it wasn’t difficult for me to understand the concepts. This might be because of my prior graphic design thinking process.
I proceeded to CSS and took courses from Udacity and Freecodecamp simultaneously just like HTML. I quickly learned about the fundamental concepts in CSS such as box-model, specificity, responsive designs, flex box, grids, and other important topics. After finishing these two courses, I built a tribute page with HTML/CSS and added styles to my static webpage that I had already created with HTML before.
JAVASCRIPT
After learning HTML/CSS, I proceeded to JavaScript and the journey wasn’t easy, quite frankly. At first, I used the Udacity platform to learn JavaScript. Their courses were great with amazing tutors who took their time to explain concepts in detail. However, despite their effort, I still found it difficult to grab some concepts. These include functions, objects, switch statements and topics in DOM manipulations. Sometimes, I understood what the tutors were trying to teach me, but I got thrown off whenever I was given quiz to solve with what I had just learned. Despite these challenges, I didn’t quit and made sure I completed the JavaScript course with Udacity.
Once I finished learning JavaScript from Udacity, I wasn’t still satisfied with my mastery of some of the concepts. This is mainly because I realize that I still lack many things I didn’t know. Therefore, I started again by taking the JavaScript course from freecodecamp. Due to my earlier knowledge from Udacity, it was easier for me to scale through most of the coding challenges on freecodecamp and completed the course in a short period of time. After this, I tried to avoid tutorial hell and attempted to build a working calculator as my first real project with JavaScript. The designing phase with HTML and CSS was quite easy for me. However, it was a flop as I couldn’t get the calculator working because I was unable to incorporate logic with JavaScript codes without taking some help. I was very disappointed at this point, but I resolved to continue learning. The next project I took after this was a pixel art maker project from Udacity. It was tough but I found my way in the end.
REACT
After these two projects, I chose one JavaScript framework for my frontend development. Thus, I decided to pick react and started learning it. This is because of its rich user interface, faster development, reusable components, and strong community support. My journey into React hasn’t been easy, but I am catching up fast.
I am currently learning React with a course on Scrimba by Bob Ziroll titled ‘’The ultimate React 101-the perfect starting point for any React beginner’’. The course has been amazing, with a lot of helpful information that can give one a solid foundation for React. In fact, Bob is really a great teacher, and I like how the entire course was structured. By completing this course, I aim to build eight projects with React.
In the past, I started #100DaysOfCode challenge on React which I had to stopped due to some issues but I will be continuing with it soon again. This ahould help me to be more focused and committed towards my learning. You can check further update about it here twitter.com/D_Dawudsky
Conclusion
My tech journey has been tough and not an easy one. My goal is to be a full-stack web developer, and I am taking steps gradually to reach there. I am optimistic that I will get there soon. Giving up is not an option for me. I am convinced that I have a passion for tech, solving logical problems and learning how to use the latest technologies. This is why I venture into tech in the first place and I will be working harder to realize this dream.
Many thanks for reading
This is my first technical article and I want to thank you specially for taking your time and reading my story to the end. Writing this has been a pleasure, and I am excited to publish it. Please, feel free to leave me a comment about what you think concerning my story or article. I hope to write more contents soon.
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