The latest articles on DEV Community by Kimberley Madoya (@madoyakimberley). https://dev.to/madoyakimberley https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3976383%2F7653c2fa-3d45-4e1b-a03b-12b083bdb67e.jpeg https://dev.to/madoyakimberley en Kimberley Madoya Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:22:37 +0000 https://dev.to/madoyakimberley/from-blank-terminal-to-shipping-a-real-client-project-my-first-year-of-coding-44mf https://dev.to/madoyakimberley/from-blank-terminal-to-shipping-a-real-client-project-my-first-year-of-coding-44mf <p>Exactly one year ago, my terminal was a blank slate. I started where almost everyone does , wrestling with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, trying to understand the web pixel by pixel.</p> <p>What began as curiosity quickly turned into a full obsession. I went from building simple static pages to diving deep into full-stack development. Here’s what that intense first year of constant building, breaking things, and shipping real projects has looked like.</p> <h2> The Leap into Modern Frameworks </h2> <p>Once vanilla JavaScript started feeling limiting, I jumped into <strong>React</strong>. Component-based thinking completely changed how I approached interfaces. Then came <strong>Next.js</strong> — it bridged client-side beauty with server-side power and pushed me into a true full-stack mindset.</p> <h2> The Ultimate Test: Lynvista Safaris </h2> <p>The biggest challenge was building <a href="https://lynvistasafaris.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">lynvistasafaris.com</a>, a live travel booking platform for a real client. This project forced me far beyond tutorials and into real engineering problems.</p> <p>I had to implement:</p> <ul> <li> <strong>Payment infrastructure</strong> from scratch with Daraja API (M-Pesa STK pushes) and Paystack for international transactions.</li> <li>A <strong>robust database layer</strong> using Drizzle ORM + MySQL.</li> <li> <strong>Custom business logic</strong>, including a multi-currency pricing system with special validation rules for currencies like GBP.</li> </ul> <p>It was messy , many late nights debugging webhooks, schema mismatches, and edge cases , but shipping it taught me more than any course ever could.</p> <h2> What One Year Taught Me </h2> <p>Syntax is just a tool. The real skill is learning how to break down complex problems, debug effectively, and keep iterating even when things break in production.</p> <p>I’m incredibly proud of the progress I’ve made in 365 days (402 contributions later), but I know I’m still at the very beginning. For the next phase, I’m focused on shipping more projects, writing about the crazy bugs I encounter, and deepening my architectural and full-stack skills.</p> <p>If you want to see what I’m building right now, check out my <a href="https://github.com/madoyakimberley" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub</a>.</p> webdev beginners javascript nextjs