Some people say you become a real developer when you build your first app.
JavaScript developers know that’s not true.
You become a real JavaScript developer when the hard moments become your comfort zone.
So, you’re a real JavaScript developer only if...
🧩 The Classic Moments
- You’ve used
console.log()as your main debugging tool, and it worked. - You’ve seen
undefinedand said, “Yeah, that’s expected.” - You’ve added
===instead of==without fully knowing why, but it fixed everything. - You’ve written code that worked yesterday but doesn’t work today, without touching it.
- You’ve used
map,filter, andreduce, all in the same line, just to feel powerful. - You’ve spent 15 minutes wondering why something isn’t working, only to find a missing
}. - You’ve installed a package just to use one line of code.
- You’ve said “just one more npm install” and broken your entire project.
- You’ve fought with CORS and lost.
- You’ve googled “How to center a div”, and you’ll do it again.
⚙️ The Framework Era
- You said, “I’ll learn React this weekend”, 6 months ago.
- You’ve started a project with Create React App, then migrated to Next.js “just to test.”
- You’ve built a simple landing page but ended up configuring Webpack.
- You’ve updated your npm packages and suddenly have 42 vulnerabilities.
- You’ve used ChatGPT to explain why your component won’t render.
- You’ve copied an error message, pasted it in Google, and found an unanswered StackOverflow question from 2014.
🧠 The Developer Energy
- You know the difference between
null,undefined, and “Why does this exist?” - You tell yourself, “I’ll just refactor this function”, and end up rewriting the whole app.
- You say “it’s just JavaScript” before breaking production.
- You’ve named a variable
data,res, ortempmore than once. - You’ve pushed
console.log('test')to production.
If you’ve done at least five of these…
Congratulations 🥳, you’re officially a JavaScript developer.
💬 What’s the most “JavaScript dev” thing you’ve ever done? 😅
🎁 Bonus Resource: Check out my article, From Zero to 373 Days: How Daily LeetCode Challenges Transformed My Programming Journey 🔥
| Thanks for reading! 🙏🏻 I hope you found this useful ✅ Please react and follow for more 😍 Made with 💙 by Hadil Ben Abdallah |
  
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Top comments (62)
Haha this list hit a little too close to home 😂
Especially “used map, filter, and reduce in one line just to feel powerful” — guilty!
It’s amazing how JavaScript turns everyday debugging pain into an art form.
Loved this — feels like a rite of passage for every dev who’s broken production at least once 🙌
Haha right?! 😂
That line got me too, there’s something oddly satisfying about chaining them all together even when you know you shouldn’t.
Glad it resonated with you 😍
Haha exactly! 😄 That “I know I shouldn’t but I will anyway” energy is basically the JS dev motto. Glad we all share that little chaos! 🔥
😍😍
I'm on 12 so far along with...
Haha yes, the naming struggle, the most universal developer pain 😅
You can spend 30 minutes writing logic and 2 hours looking for the variable name 😂
If you’re already at 12 plus those two, you’re deep in the JavaScript dev life. 😄
This is spot on Hadil 😄
I’ve definitely had my share of console.log debugging marathons and chasing down a missing bracket for ages.
JavaScript really teaches you patience, problem-solving, and how to embrace chaos.
For me, the most “JavaScript dev” moment was when I pushed console.log('test') to production by mistake and learned more in that hour than in weeks of tutorials.
I felt that! 😭
That console.log('test') in the production moment is pure character development right there.
You’re so right though, JavaScript really teaches us patience, problem-solving, and how to embrace the chaos.
Glad this post resonated with you.
✅ You’ve used console.log() as your main debugging tool, and it worked.
✅ You’ve used map, filter, and reduce, all in the same line <- not for feeling powerful and minus the reduce, Maybe I should try!
✅ You’ve spent 15 minutes wondering why something isn’t working, only to find a missing }.
✅ You said, “I’ll learn React this weekend”, 6 months ago.
✅ You’ve updated your npm packages and suddenly have 42 vulnerabilities.
✅ You’ve used ChatGPT to explain why your component won’t render.
✅ You’ve copied an error message, pasted it in Google, and found an unanswered StackOverflow question from 2014.
✅ You’ve named a variable data, res, or temp more than once.
Yay! I'm a JavaScript Developer! 🎉
Haha yesss! 🎉 You’ve officially earned your JavaScript dev badge 😅
Love that you ticked so many boxes 👏🏻
I created a new reactive library that can use a CSS selector style syntax to create components, just wanted to reduce cognitive load and create much less boilerplate. But I do remember those days, but if you dig deeper into each language that you regularly use you'll understand why it does the things that it does.
That’s awesome, creating your own reactive library is no small feat! 🔥
Totally agree with you, once you start digging deeper and understanding why a language behaves the way it does, everything starts making a lot more sense.
I managed everything but
==and===confusion, I've used===for the entirety of my js "career"Also, I have done worse than
console.log("test");, I've managed to put a json array with more than 300 objects in the log before, and I only found it 3 months later.Haha oh wow, logging a 300-object JSON, that’s legendary! 😂
And honestly, props for being loyal to === from day one, most of us had to learn that lesson the hard way.
Great article. All very true. I almost feels like you've been writing JavaScript or something😉.. but seriously, that section on frameworks really hits home. I honestly can't stand frameworks. Not that they're inherently bad, I just feel like they get used to much and there's always a new one. And they all still just use js,css,html but swear it's gonna change webdev forever. Only for you to have to learn a new syntax,webpack, and 2 to 3 libraries 😮💨
Haha I feel you on that one 😅
It really does feel like every new framework promises to “reinvent the web,” and then you realize it’s still just JS, CSS, and HTML, wrapped in another learning curve 😂
Totally agree, the framework fatigue is real. Sometimes plain old JavaScript feels like a breath of fresh air 💛
From the very first line, everything you said hits home for me!
Glad to hear that 😅
This really resonated with me — especially the part about using console.log() for debugging and the mismatch between what worked yesterday and what doesn’t today. It’s funny how those “developer struggles” end up being shared rites of passage rather than unique failures.
One thing I’d add: embracing those moments of confusion teaches you to value error messages more — reading them carefully, learning what parts of the stack trace matter, or even getting comfortable Googling weird bugs instead of getting discouraged. Thanks for writing this; really helpful to see the shared truth behind the journey.
This is such a great reflection, and so true.
Those confusing, frustrating moments really do shape how we think as developers.
Once you start reading error messages like stories instead of threats, you know you’ve leveled up 😂
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment, really appreciate it! 🙏🏻
So the only thing i have done so far i used
as my debugging tool and asked ChatGPT to explain why my component won’t render and fix some errors
does this still count?
Haha of course it counts! 😄
That’s basically the official starting pack of every JavaScript dev, console.log() + ChatGPT debugging combo 😂
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