From Printing "Hello World" to Building Full Apps: My Summer with Scrimba

Muhammad Hashir — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 13:53:32 +0000

Before this summer, I had just finished 2 semesters of university almost 9-10 months of coursework and all I really knew was C and C++. I could write programs, solve problems, print things to the console... but that was it.

I remember constantly looking at apps and websites and thinking, how do people actually build these things? Console output felt like a completely different universe from a real website or app someone could open in their browser and use. I didn't even know where to start.

Then summer break started, and I decided to stop wondering and just start learning. I picked up Scrimba's Full Stack Developer Path, and it completely changed how I see software.

What I actually learned

I went from knowing only C/C++ to learning:

JavaScript : the language that finally let me build for the web
CSS : actually styling things instead of staring at a blank console
React : building real, interactive UIs with components and state
TypeScript : writing safer, more structured code
Node.js & Express.js : building my own backend and REST APIs
SQL : working with databases instead of hardcoded arrays
UI Design & Testing in React : not just making things work, but making them good and reliable

What I built

The biggest shift was realizing I wasn't just learning about web dev anymore — I was building things:

REST APIs— including a Startup Planet Express API, a Wild Horizon API, and a Vinyl Store API built with Express
Websites — from a real estate listing site to a space exploration site to a personal hometown webpage
Games— a Tic-Tac-Toe vs Computer game, a Blackjack casino game, and Dracarys Duel, a House of the Dragon–themed 2-player dragon battle game with real-time matchmaking
Apps — a currency converter, weather app, unit converter, to-do list, random password generator, basketball scorecard, and more

Every single one of these started as "I have no idea how this works" and ended as a working, deployed project I built with my own hands.

By the end of the summer, I'd pushed almost 100 commits to my GitHub — you can check it all out here: github.com/muhamad-hashir

The real takeaway

Nine months of university taught me how a computer thinks. One summer with Scrimba taught me how to actually build something a person can use. That gap between "I understand programming" and "I can build the things I use every day" is the gap Scrimba closed for me.

To anyone else out there staring at a console output wondering how people build real apps: it's closer than you think. Pick a project-based path, and just start.

Onward to the new semester and to learning Next.js and Tailwind CSS next. 🚀

Turning My Summer Break Into a Coding Bootcamp

Muhammad Hashir — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:14:32 +0000

Why I Decided to Learn Full-Stack Development

I completed my second semester of my BSc in Computer Software Engineering. We have a summer break until the first week of September, which started in late June. I wanted to make my summer break productive, so I searched for the best platform to learn full-stack development, since full-stack skills are one of the most important things in a developer's life. If you can't create a website, and don't understand JavaScript, Node, databases, and React, it's hard to call yourself a complete developer.

I decided to learn from Scrimba, as my brother suggested it to me. During my two semesters at university, I had only learned C and C++, and I wasn't able to create anything on my own. My logic-building ability was basically zero — I couldn't turn my ideas into working code.

Starting From Zero: My Scrimba Journey

In Scrimba's Full Stack course, I first learned HTML and CSS, building projects alongside the instructor as well as solo projects. Then I moved into JavaScript, where I built even more projects and solo projects. After that, I dived into advanced JavaScript topics, which I'm still working through.

I've spent almost three weeks on Scrimba so far. Before starting, my knowledge was at a complete beginner level. Now, my understanding and ability to write code have improved massively.
Basket Ball Scorecard (Created while course):

Putting It Into Practice: My Own Projects

I've been regularly uploading my projects to GitHub and deploying them on Netlify — not just the projects from Scrimba's course, but also projects I built on my own to practice logic-building. I created a Tic-Tac-Toe game with two modes (human vs human and human vs computer), a to-do list, and — using async JavaScript — a fully working weather app that fetches real-time data from an API.

Tic-Tac-Toe Game (human vs human mode):

Tic-Tac-Toe (human vs computer mode):

Weather-App:

What's Next

All thanks to Scrimba for giving me the foundation to start this journey. If you're thinking about learning full-stack development, I'd genuinely recommend giving it a try.

Check out Scrimba here