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

Hadil Ben Abdallah on October 16, 2025

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...
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shemith_mohanan_6361bb8a2 profile image
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 🙌

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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 😍

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shemith_mohanan_6361bb8a2 profile image
shemith mohanan

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! 🔥

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

😍😍

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shakir75 profile image
Shakirullah

This is spot-on and honestly too real. Every line feels like a moment every JS dev has lived through at least once. The mix of small wins, strange bugs, and late-night fixes is exactly what makes the journey both chaotic and fun.

I loved reading this, and it captures the real day-to-day experience better than any tutorial ever could.

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

Exactly 👌🏻 Thank you so much 🙏🏻
So glad it resonated with you

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Mahdi Jazini

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.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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.

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CodeNameGrant

I'm on 12 so far along with...

  • You’ve renamed a variable five times and still hate it.
  • You’ve spent longer naming a function than writing it.
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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

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. 😄

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Miriam

✅ 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! 🎉

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha yesss! 🎉 You’ve officially earned your JavaScript dev badge 😅

Love that you ticked so many boxes 👏🏻

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Jeffrey Tackett

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.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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.

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Reid Burton

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

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gamelord2011 profile image
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.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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.

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daj_bry_b5f4720ecbff83f43 profile image
Daj Bry

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 😮‍💨

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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 💛

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amelia_brooks_13dba2ac087 profile image
Amelia Brooks

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.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

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! 🙏🏻

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Milad • Edited

So the only thing i have done so far i used

console.log("")
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

as my debugging tool and asked ChatGPT to explain why my component won’t render and fix some errors
does this still count?

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

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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neurolov__ai profile image
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.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Thank you so much 😍 So glad you like it 😅

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Damir Lukianenko

From the very first line, everything you said hits home for me!

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Glad to hear that 😅

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member_3d2e8190

lol

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

😅😅

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Rashedin | FullStack Developer

haha, so every JS developer goes into this circle. You have a great sense of humor 😂

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

Hahaha exactly! 😂
It’s like an endless loop every JavaScript dev ends up in, full of bugs, fixes, and laughs along the way 😅
Glad you enjoyed the humor! 😄

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Aida Said

This is funny 😅 I am officially a real JavaScript developer

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

That's great 😍

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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.

😂😂😂

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

So glad you liked it 😍😅

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Bishop Abraham

Installing a package to use one line of code and loosing a one-on-one battle against cors is so real 😂

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Absolutely 😅

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Ben Abdallah Hanadi

This is so true 😅

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Yeah 😅

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Ben Abdallah Hanadi

👏👏👏👏

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

😍😍

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Theodora Cristea

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

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

That's amazing 😍 Congratulations 🥳

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Yalda Khoshpey

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

😍😍

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Thomas TS

You asked GTP for a React component and then pasted the code in DeepSeek asking it to debug.

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Hahaha 😅
AI pair programming at its finest, one model writes it, the other fixes it.
Honestly… that’s a whole new debugging workflow right there 😅

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Saeed Khosravi

Thanks Hadil for sharing your knowledge with us

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

You're welcome 😍

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Divine Chukwuemeka

Is only when you understand that console.table works most in Array and object, this helps you to debug your error easily in an array and object

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Exactly!
console.table() is such an underrated gem, once you discover it, debugging arrays and objects suddenly feels organized 😂

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Himanshu Sorathiya

100% accurate, haha. And i proudly say i gone through almost all 😅🤣❤️

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha yesss, that’s the spirit! 😄
Wearing those battle scars with pride, that’s what makes you a true JavaScript dev 😂
We’ve all been through that wild ride, and somehow… we keep coming back for more ❤️

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Aad Pouw

What I miss is this.
"You have opened the DOM tree within the console.log and know how to look it up"!

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha yess, that’s a classic! 😂

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Naur

only truess!!

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Yeah 😅

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Nishant Kumar Sinha

I am guilty of doing “I’ll just refactor this function”, and 101% times end up rewriting the whole app.

And trust me variable naming is the hardest thing for a developer 😂

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Hadil Ben Abdallah

Haha absolutely! 😂
That “I’ll just refactor this function” line is the biggest lie we tell ourselves 😅
And yes, variable naming… truly the final boss of development. We’ve all been there!

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Sylwia Laskowska

If this were a bingo game, I’d totally win! 😀

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah

😍😍

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hhvdblom

You can build a big maintainable web application without Angular or React...

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Enrique Ballesté Peralta

This is AI slop confirmed by how terrible this list is.