DEV Community: Cyril Cabo

Just do it

Cyril Cabo — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 10:52:25 +0000

Just do it

No, this is not sponsored by Nike. It is a message that most of us need. Frankly, I am someone who needs it most. Why? In this article, I am going to talk about why instead of thinking a whole lot about it, sometimes, you just have to do it.

I like being organized; I don’t like multitasking, instead I want to focus my resources and time on a single thing, especially if it’s something I really like. I have been in love with web development for a very long time now, but it wasn’t only until recently that I have started doing things as a web developer. It was because I wanted to find the right time to focus on web development and web development only. The result? I stalled for a good 5 years. I was so anxious to start doing things when I had free time, because I was scared I won’t be able to focus, while there are other things happening around. I thought that if I’m not able to give it my all on this, I wouldn’t be very good at it; and yes, I hate not being great at something I like. So I waited, and waited, for the perfect opportunity.

After some time, I did find the time to focus on web development, because of the lockdowns, but the funny thing is, I am not the great developer I thought I’d turned out to be. Even though, I had all the time to learn, I wasn’t able to utilize all those hours, because there were burnouts and other circumstances. I was so late to find out that I couldn’t spend all my time on a single thing. Looking back, if I had only spent a single hour every day, for the past five years, I may have become a far greater developer than the one I am today.

You see, in life, there are things we are afraid to conquer/face, because we are doubting our skills, capacity or simply the circumstances that we are in. But, if you think you have the means to do it, even just a fraction of it, you have just got to DO IT. As the mainstream saying goes, small steps done consistently will lead you to great distances. Don’t belittle yourself if you are making small progress, what matters is you are still making progress. Out of 7 billion people in this world, surely, there are a lot who wants to do the same thing as you. How do you separate yourself from them? You are the one who actually does the thing.

Life isn’t going backwards. It just keeps on going and going, and the time has passed is either time wasted or time well spent. And remember, in anything you want to do, JUST DO IT.

Why I started blogging

Cyril Cabo — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 05:48:14 +0000

Originally posted on Alpha Development blog

Why I started blogging

“You are a web developer, why bother writing blogs? You can use the time you spend writing blogs with developing applications, instead.” I often hear that among my friends, and yes, they may have a point; writing blogs is often time-consuming, and all these precious time spent could be utilized to hone my expertise. But, being a developer or an expert is not all that simple.

Almost all developers I know are bloggers, too. Blogging is not all about writing and sharing opinions; blogging is often both teaching and learning. Being able to keep up with this constantly changing world is a very important trait for a developer to have. We must always be ready to accept and adapt with constant and often unforeseen changes. Writing articles for the tech world allows writers not only to share invaluable knowledge to aspiring developers, but also to help grow their expertise on these topics.

We must note that writing the actual words is only 10% of the whole process. The other 90% is a long time of researching, analysis and processing these raw data into valuable information. This 90% helps the author to question his own knowledge, challenge it and improve it. It is in this 90% where the author is able to expand and grow what he currently knows, and learn more on what he does not know. Moreover, as I said earlier, techs and practices often change in this field, and writing about a certain topic will often lead into new discoveries.

“If you just want to expand your knowledge, why bother writing about it?” Well, you got a point, again. In a field where it’s getting saturated day by day, it is often hard to distinguish between who knows things and who **really* knows things*. So, what is the easiest way to show people that you are knowledgeable about something? You talk about it. How do you talk about something in the web? You write about it. Talking about things you know best often give potential clients or employers an overview regarding the level of your expertise. Blogging may, sometimes, separate you from competition.

Finally, blogging also helps in creating valuable connections with other developers. Blogging helps you share a bond with other people, by essentially talking to them through writing and story-telling. Connections, in any field, are as important as one’s skills. You need connections to find yourself walking through the right opportunities. Being knowledgeable and skilled is not enough to build a career, you need to be at the right doors, and at the right time. Even if you are the best developer that exists, if no one knows who you are, you only become the best developer in your world.

Blogging is part of being a developer. As a developer you need to continuously learn, network and sell yourself to the world. Blogging allows developers to share a part of themselves to the world. And most importantly, and as you may have realized by now, blogging may sometimes be the deciding factor if there will be food on a struggling developer’s table or not.

Want to read more of this? Check out Alpha Development Blogs!

How I got myself into Web Development

Cyril Cabo — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 09:31:14 +0000

Originally posted on Alpha Development Blog

How I got myself into Web Development

I am a young developer, but somehow experienced in the field. I am no prodigy, however; the path I walked through here is not so smooth. Like everyone else, I also struggled trying to stay focused on learning. I had a lot of challenges along the way, but I kept on pushing through, and here I am, writing my first blog post in a website I have written from scratch.

I started out early; I first tried to learn programming when I was 12 years old, but like most newbies, I was just a script kiddie. Years later, after trying out things and living my teen years to the fullest, I decided to pick up programming again. This time, I wanted to take it more seriously, and was hoping on starting to build a career out of it.

I’ll read everything about programming

Not to boast, but I was a “smart” kid. I was supposed to pick things up fast. And being “serious” about trying to learn programming, I thought I would be doing this the smart way, and spent one afternoon researching the current trend of high-paying programming languages; downloaded all of the how-to books; and because I was oblivious (and supposedly smart) of what was ahead of me, I thought I’d be able to learn a few languages in less than a month. Having such an ambitious deadline at the back of my head, I started my journey.

I started with the fundamentals of HTML, since I had always been fascinated with web technologies. I thought I could finish the book within three days or so, but a month later, I barely could write a single page, without having to google tags for reference. And because I had to attend classes at the same time, it was only a matter of time before I thought to myself that maybe this isn’t just for me.

Eureka Moment

A year passed, I was looking on how to start a business – and programming completely left my mind – when I came across a video about the basics of web development. Out of curiosity, I decided to watch the video. Minutes into the tutorial, I was hooked, and I felt like I was learning a lot more in this no-more-than 10-minute video than the amount I learned in one month of reading books. Mesmerized, I kept on watching the series. A few hours into the marathon, I found myself being able to write web pages with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Riding the momentum, despite classes, I kept on learning the fundamentals. After a week, I was able to write a randomly-generating-name app for my class, after a month an app that randomly generates outfits given the circumstances of the day, and the month after a school-system, with backend functionalities.

Everything seemed to be going well, when I was stricken with depression, and all just fell apart. All of my progress was put to a halt. I took off of 4 months of precious learning, given it was also school break.

When I was able to stand back on my feet again, however, I started learning all the modern technologies, I first overlooked. Given the powers of React and Flux, I was able to write a basic frontend for a hotel-booking application. But, my path to being a web developer was once again blocked, because school became quite demanding, and I had writing (I was a freelance writer) gigs piled up – I chose to take the gigs, because I couldn’t make something out of web development, at the time.

Even though I couldn’t allocate a dedicated time solely for honing my development skills, I tried my best to learn every day. I ask myself questions on how certain functionalities work, and I read stuff about them. This way, I was never completely out of touch with web development. I am also studying Computer Science, so my programming knowledge, in general, is always revved up.

Finally

The COVID pandemic came through, and I wanted to do my part in helping the community. COVID trackers were scarce in the early weeks of the pandemic (at least in my country), and so I wanted to make a unique one. Since classes were suspended, I had all the time I have had always needed. Although I finished it a little too late, I learned invaluable knowledge, and this first full-stack project marked the beginning of my continuous ride into web development.

Spending at least 10 hours every day for 5 months, I was able to create 8 applications, of which 6 are full-stack. Finally, I can say that I am a web developer. It has been almost 4 years in the making, but I am here. Certainly, it wasn’t a smooth ride, but all those years, for me, were essential. I wouldn’t have made it without all those struggles. So, for all you people out there, who are struggling, continuously failing, and doubting, KEEP GOING. It may not be for you today, but as long as you keep on believing and trying, YOU WILL GET THERE. WE WILL GET THERE. CLAIM IT.

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