A Destination Awaits When A Journey Begins.

Shayo Rowland — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 12:59:01 +0000

Introduction

Hello and thanks for joining me on the first in a series of interesting journeys of learning and adventure which I'll be embarking on.

Psst 🤫, took a while to get here, but we're here now (at last!) 😎.

So here's the thing: Nobody sets off on a journey without having a destination in mind - no matter how unclear or challenging such destination might be - and no matter how daunting the journey is or might turn out, you've just got to be on your way.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao Tzu.

A journey to learning, unlearning and relearning

Having at the back of one's mind the understanding that learning never ends, this is all about learning, unlearning and relearning 🔁.

So, I'll be documenting my learning, unlearning and relearning experiences and progress - from start to finish - as I explore the world of modern JavaScript and a few frameworks in the JS ecosystem.

A little bit of history

Having being in tech for well over a decade (officially) and more than two decades (unofficially - I designed and launched my first paying-client website in 2002 - fancy me feeling like a hacker back then 😅!), I've had the opportunity to experience the different and various changes within the tech ecosystem.

I started out as a web UI designer, then moved on to becoming a frontend developer (HTML + CSS), and finally to being a backend developer (PHP/MySQL). I picked up and added some JavaScript (jQuery) to my skills somewhere between my transitioning from frontend to backend development, when I also added frontend UI libraries to my web development toolset.

One experience that remains etched on my memory is way back in the days when we used Microsoft FrontPage to build and administer websites, and the best we did was use HTML tables for our layout needs...🦗. Yeah, now I know that sounds and even feels kind'a weird or perhaps Stone Age even, but it was our fix back then 😀.

What time is it now?

Fast-forward to the present time 😜, I work as a full stack software developer, constantly learning new skills and honing existing ones to stay relevant in the industry.

What I'll be exploring

In this debut series, my focus first will be on the MERN stack.

TL;DR?

Okay, the MERN stack (which stands for MongoDB, Express, React and NodeJS) is a web development framework that uses React on the frontend, Express.js and Node.js on the server-side, and MongoDB for data storage.

One nice and cool thing about the MERN stack is it's all JavaScript! Same goes for its other alternatives like the MEAN and MEVN stacks where React is substituted with the "A" for Angular and the "V" for Vue.js respectively.

You might want to see a comparison or difference between the 3 frameworks here: MEAN vs MERN vs MEVN.

Outro

If you've stayed with me till this end, then thanks a bunch! I'm excited to begin and document this adventure and share my experiences and progress with you and with as many others as I possibly can.

I'll be posting new articles on a weekly basis and I promise to not bore you with lengthy or irrelevant content.

And until my next post, here's wishing you a great learning, unlearning and relearning experience as you go about taking your skills to the next level!

🥂✌️👍