DEV Community: Craig Booker

Where Do I Start?

Craig Booker — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 21:16:57 +0000

I believe one of the more challenging tasks in any aspiring developers journey, is deciding where to start? There are many roads to becoming a developer and I do not pretend to understand them all, but the dilemma of where to start is something most developers experience. Do we choose to start learning about the frontend, do we work on backend skills? How about making an app? iOS or Android? React Native, Flutter, or PhoneGap?

If all of this does not overwhelm you, just wait. Say you decide to start with the frontend, do we learn ReactJS, Angular, Vue, Vanilla JavaScript? How about some CSS, SASS, LESS or HTML? The amount of choices involved can be overwhelming for even the experienced developer much less someone new to development. The point I am trying to make here is that this process is overwhelming for just about everyone. Here I hope to give you three steps to help get you started in development.

Step 1 - Start By Building Your Portfolio

I believe the answer to the question of where to start will largely depend on the individual person. If an aspiring developer already knows they are passionate about a certain area of development, they may choose to build a project in that area to get them started. If that is not you and you have no clue, that is okay! If you want to start a career in development and you do not have an online portfolio, then a great place to begin is building a portfolio. It is something you will definitely need to get work and it will allow you to learn about development at the same time.

Step 2 - Learn Out Loud

Once you have a portfolio setup online, you can continue learning and posting your work as you learn. There is nothing wrong with learning out loud! As long as you are honest and do not try to pretend to be something that you are not. The development community is extremely welcoming to new developers learning in public. I would start by working on a project which catches your interest. So if you are interested in mobile development and you have completed step 1 by building a portfolio, move on to building your first mobile app. Then post what you learned on your portfolio and repeat.

Step 3 - Ask For Help

No one expects you to have it all figured out! So do not be afraid to ask the community for help. If you are stuck on something and you have done your fair share of googling already, ask for help!

Be Willing to Put In The Work

The process of going from zero to dev(developer) is not an easy one. Do not expect it to happen overnight. The promise of learning a language in twenty-four hours makes for a good book title, but that is about it! Learning to be a great developer is going to take years of hard work. You can certainly get off to a great start in twenty-four hours, but do not expect mastery. Ultimately, going from zero to dev will involve many projects and lots of frustration, but in the end is completely worth the time invested.

This article was originally posted on my blog craigbooker.com.

Photo by Gia Oris on Unsplash

Why Zero To Dev

Craig Booker — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:26:09 +0000

There are not many words or ideas which I can utilize as a proper metaphor when describing a software developer. There are certainly some traits I see in many writers, designers, and creative minds which lead them to become great at creating software. Is it just about solving problems or being good at writing code? Could we possibly put together a list of traits which an aspiring software developer could examine to see if they would be a good fit for the field of software development? In the process of exploring what it means to go from ZeroToDev, I seek to bring clarity to software development, to bring positive change to the industry, and to inspire others who might be considering a career in software development.

To Bring Clarity

There are many avenues to becoming a developer. People from all walks of life choose to make this the focus of their career. And yet we still do not have a good way of explaining how one becomes a software developer. If a middle school or high school student were to come to me doing a report on careers in software development, I would not have a clear picture to paint for them as to how to get started. I could share some common routes many take on the path to becoming a software developer, but there is very little clarity on these common paths and their advantages or disadvantages. Is this just “how it is always been done” or are there options which could serve the people, the developers better?

To Create Positive Change

It seems as though there are a lot of external forces which are creating and defining the development industry before our very eyes. Many of these forces do so without considering the best interest of developers. I stand for the people in the trenches of software development. I choose to value the people over profit or profession. Let us give voice to those who create the software, who test the software, etc. Let us bring a different perspective to the table, which serves the interest of the hardworking individuals who call this their career. Let us work with the external forces to invoke positive change which benefits all involved.

To Inspire Others

There are a lot of people who would love to be a part of the software development industry. Let us tell the stories of developers everywhere to inspire the future generations of software developers. Let us peel back the curtain to show what a software developer does and describe the skills or qualities which make a software developer great. Let us give them a path of how to start, where to start, etc. I hope to shed some light on this for all involved.

Let us face it. It is up to us, the developers, to create the change we desperately seek. It is up to us, to tackle the issues which cause pain points in this industry we love. The younger version of us would have been thrilled to discover a clear path towards a rewarding career in software development. So why have we yet to create such a thing? Let us not forget what it was/is like to get started? Let’s take ownership and create the opportunities we wish existed months or years ago.

Hello Dev.to

Craig Booker — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 16:26:35 +0000

Hello Dev.to! Baby steps towards publishing more on Dev.to. I like to write about many topics, but the one which applies directly here is on the journey to becoming a developer. More to come...