This is just going to be me talking about my HNG Experience (the good the bad and my fear)
I am not going to proofread this article, I will publish it when I feel I have said enough (passed the 500 words mark)
Diving in
I am Yoma, a Frontend React JS developer and a CSS fanboy(this is what I like seeing myself as or this is what I have been seeing myself as) till I saw Zuri's post on HNGs internships starting sometime around September 8. Up until this time I have been doing just frontend in tech, built a couple of things and worked with teams to build products.
When I saw the Zuri HNG internship tracks, I wanted to choose frontend, but I then asked myself, Do you want to do frontend again?? I really thought about this, I then came to a conclusion to either choose between the Backend Track or the Video Editing track. I later chose the Backend Track and here we are now writing this blog post because someone added me to the Shege channel 😅
There's this trend with Frontend devs to always use BAAS (Backend as a service) tools like Firebase (my favourite), Superbase, Appwrite(new favorite) to build and cook up projects or side projects they are working on. This is completely cool and all but at some point, I asked myself this question, Are you not tired of using these BAAS, that question particularly hit me when I used 2 BAAS platforms in one project I was working on 😅
I am in no way saying Firebase, Appwrite and the likes are not good(they are, infact I will continue using them for as long as I can) but its just cool knowing how to at least create my own api that can send back data to the frontend ( I have made 2 apis so far with HNG)
So I think about 2 weeks or thereabout before HNG started I learnt Node and Express JS. I really enjoyed it but my eyes turned small
My HNG Experience
My HNG experience has been good so far, I have seen some of my guys from school doing it and it just makes it more fun in my opinion if you ask me.
When I saw the first task, I could relate to it because I had already learnt something similar about Node and Express
When I hit a road block on the second task, I started to ask myself why I didn't apply for the frontend track but I quickly filtered the thoughts and continued the task
The Good
HNG tasks make you figure things out yourself, it's boils down to instruction and understanding(for the backend track), keeps you on your toes, and makes you active.
Honestly I have learnt to ask questions, make friends and chat with people on the slack channels
The sarcastic replies some people give on the slack channels too cranks me up every time i read them 😆
I have gone from not knowing anything about backend to deploying my first 2 APIs on render, I really don't see this as a big win, but at the same time I am happy I did this too
Writing Node and Express APIs has made me want to explore other backend libraries like NEST JS and other libraries.
The most important thing I have taken note of OR let me put it this way, the main good(if there's anything like this) I have gotten from this is that it has made me respect backend developers. They have and need to pay attention to details to be able to get the APIs to return the correct response, any mistake on their end will mess up your app.
Treat your backend developers well if you haven't been doing so
I am glad I chose this backend track and I will try my best to see that I can get to the end, and if I don't I will still be glad that I have made it thus far as I can now write my own APis and use them on my Frontend projects.
The Bad
On this issue, I would just say that one thing I have noticed is the issue of Clarity especially from the Mentors.
When a task is dropped, I see mentors dropping their takes on it and one time two mentors said two different things but it was rectified later on.
Secondly the channels are always choked up with a lot of messages, this is expected actually. This prevents us the interns from seeing important messages even though there are already made channels created for discussing and saying anything you want to say.
I can't think of any other bad or not good thing about HNG
Fears
Honestly, I can't think of anything here, I don't have a strong background in backend development but the goal for wanting to learn backend was just to be able to write it on my small side projects and I think I have reached this point but I will continue and try to put in my best in this HNG program. If e choke too much and I can't bear it, I will humbly drop out. Professionally I am and want to do frontend development because it is what I like.
There is this saying, Lack of clarity breeds fear, I think I have been clear enough on this topic.
I am Yoma, the frontend developer who just wants to know a bit of how the backend world is 😊.
I think I should promote my hustle since you've read up to this point, If you're looking to hire a Frontend developer to join your team or build anything cool please don't hesitate to message me.
Thank you for reading my take on my HNG internship experience.
Happy Coding.
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