You’re a Real JavaScript Developer Only If...

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 undefined and 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, and reduce, 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, or temp more 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

Hadil Ben AbdallahFollow

Software Engineer • Technical Content Writer • LinkedIn Content Creator

Comments

[Yalda Khoshpey]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

😍😍

[Neurolov AI]

This is gold 😂 Every line hits home from console.log therapy sessions to the eternal “how to center a div” battle. Perfect mix of humor and truth that every JS dev can relate to.

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

Thank you so much 😍 So glad you like it 😅

[Nenad Mitrovic]

Hillarious. Best of, for me:

• You’ve fought with CORS and lost.
• You’ve built a simple landing page but ended up configuring Webpack.

😂😂😂

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

So glad you liked it 😍😅

[Ben Abdallah Hanadi]

This is so true 😅

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

Yeah 😅

[Ben Abdallah Hanadi]

👏👏👏👏

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

😍😍

[Theodora Cristea]

I like the post! 🥰🤗 So officially I'm a JavaScript developer!😂🤗

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

That's amazing 😍 Congratulations 🥳

[Aida Said]

This is funny 😅 I am officially a real JavaScript developer

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

That's great 😍

[Naur]

only truess!!

[Hadil Ben Abdallah]

Yeah 😅

[shemith mohanan]

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 🙌

[Reid Burton]

I managed everything but == and === confusion, I've used === for the entirety of my js "career"

[Reid Burton]

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.