The latest articles on DEV Community by Kunal Verma (@withkunal). https://dev.to/withkunal 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%2F3968588%2F7ce208bd-fa42-4133-9dcc-fcb6e818129c.jpg https://dev.to/withkunal en Kunal Verma Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:14:40 +0000 https://dev.to/withkunal/from-pure-curiosity-to-web-dev-to-genai-my-3-year-coding-journey-j4n https://dev.to/withkunal/from-pure-curiosity-to-web-dev-to-genai-my-3-year-coding-journey-j4n <p>Nobody told me to start coding. No teacher assigned it, no friend pushed me toward it. One day I was just curious — and that curiosity changed the next three years of my life.</p> <h2> How it started </h2> <p>It started with a simple question: "How do websites actually work?" I didn't enroll in any course or follow a roadmap. I just started Googling, watching, breaking things, and building them back up. That trial-and-error phase taught me more than any structured course could have.</p> <p>Within the first few months I had built my first proper web project. It was rough, messy, and I was proud of every bug in it.</p> <h2> Getting serious about web development </h2> <p>Over the next couple of years I dived deeper into web development — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and eventually frameworks and backend work. Every project taught me something new. I learned that the best way to get better is to just keep building things, even when they look terrible at first.</p> <p>The biggest lesson I picked up: don't wait until you feel "ready." You never feel ready. You just build anyway.</p> <h2> The shift toward AI/ML </h2> <p>About a year or so ago I started noticing that AI was changing how developers work. I got curious (again — same old habit) and started exploring GenAI tools and APIs. OpenAI, Gemini, integrating language models into web apps — it was a completely new world.</p> <p>What surprised me most was how approachable it actually was. As a web developer, I already knew how APIs work. Calling an AI API is not that different. The hard part is learning to think in terms of prompts and outputs — that's a different muscle.</p> <h2> Where I am now </h2> <p>Today I sit at this interesting intersection of web development and AI. I'm actively learning, actively building, and preparing for what comes next in my career. It doesn't feel like work — it still feels like curiosity.</p> <h2> If you're just starting out </h2> <p>You don't need permission. You don't need a perfect roadmap. Start with what makes you curious, build something small, and keep going. Three years from now you'll look back and barely recognize how far you've come.</p> <p><em>Thanks for reading. If you're on a similar journey, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.</em></p> webdev ai beginners career