DEV Community

Cover image for Mistakes I made while learning Web Development as a beginner
Harshit Aditya
Harshit Aditya

Posted on

Mistakes I made while learning Web Development as a beginner

This blog is all about mistakes I made while learning Full Stack Web Development as a beginner. I started my Web Development journey in November 2020. I made a lot of mistakes in Web Development and realized it while learning throughout the year. I have been doing Web Development for the past 1 year and am still learning it. In this blog, I will be talking about some of the major mistakes I made while learning Web Development and also provide solutions for them so that you won't make these mistakes. My major mistakes include:

Not taking breaks

Breaks

I was very enthusiastic when learning Web Development in the beginning but I was not taking breaks after completing one part or portion of the course which I was following which broke my enthusiasm. Taking breaks is very important whether you are learning or building projects. If you are tired while learning then take a break and do it later when you feel free and energetic. If you got stuck in an error while building any project and you are trying to solve that issue for the last 2 to 4 hours then I would highly recommend leaving that problem and try to solve it the next day with a fresh mind. Most of the time I found that the very next day the issue or problem is solved. This technique has worked with me 95% of the time. Working in a fresh mind and mood is very important. Do take breaks in an interval of time.

Breaks

Not Building Projects

Building projects are very important while learning any tech stack. Building projects will make your concepts clear and memorable. I will highly suggest you to start building projects while and after learning any concepts. For example, if you are learning HTML and CSS then you can create many static websites, and also if you have completed JavaScript you can create a ton of new projects. If you are following any course then most probably you will also get projects to build but I will recommend you to also build projects separate from the courses. This will help you to learn and grab more things faster related to the tech stack you are learning. YouTube and blogs are some great resources where you can get awesome project ideas.

Not using Developer Tools

Mistakes

This was one the biggest mistake I committed with myself while learning Web Development. We can do a lot of things with Developer Tools. One of its features is that we can inspect our web app and find errors on it. When I started building projects I faced two types of errors which are simple errors and internal errors. Simple errors include typing errors, missed semicolons, etc. Whereas internal errors are those which happens when you missed some important or major line of code or you typed it completely wrong. A simple error does not take much time to debug but an internal error takes a lot of time in debugging if we can't find where the problem is. Missing an import in React is an example of an internal error. I will also add a screenshot of an internal error that I faced while I was building a project.
Internal Errors

One of the internal error I faced while creating app in React

Developer tools save a lot of time in debugging. You can open Developer Tools in your browser by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I in windows and ⌘ + ⌥ + I in Mac and start exploring the tools. There are various videos on YouTube where you can learn about Developer Tools and how to use them.

Chrome Developer Tools

Chrome Developer Tools

Not taking help from internet and developer communities

Mistakes

One of the mistakes I made in the beginning while learning Web Development is that I don't take help from the internet. If you are stuck in an error then do take help from Google and Stack Overflow. Googling is a very important skill. You can also take help from documentation for additional reference. Also, I will recommend you to take help from Developer communities. You can get one on one guidance and doubt clearing in developer communities. Also in Developer communities, you get an opportunity to grow your network and collaborate with more like-minded folks for a project or hackathons.

Community

Community FTW 💯🎉

These are some of the major mistakes I made while learning Web Development as an absolute beginner. I hope that this will save you a lot of time while learning web development. Mistakes will always happen while developing or building projects and these mistakes will give you the experience to become a better developer so never get scared or tensed when an error or issue occurs instead think that you are going to learn something new. At last, I would like to thank you for taking the time for reading this blog. Please comment and do express your thoughts on this blog. If you have any queries regarding this blog, Web Development, etc. then feel free to contact me on Twitter (@HarshitAditya1). I am highly active on Twitter and I would be happy to solve your queries and have a conversation with you.

Thank You

Latest comments (41)

Collapse
 
ahmedkh14029394 profile image
Ahmed Khalid

Should I learn C++ or web development first ?

Collapse
 
arcahyadi profile image
arcahyadi

Nice

Collapse
 
waynemacmavis profile image
Wayne • Edited

Thank you for this, it was straight to the point, insightful and helpful. Most posts I read just go on and on. I then end up getting bored half way through. This post was direct and easy to read and understand.

Collapse
 
harinagasaimadhav profile image
harinagasaimadhav

I started Web Development from february, this year and I'm facing every single problem you have mentioned here. This blog will help in conquer the major difficulties I'm facing.

Collapse
 
codingtomusic profile image
Tom Connors

Every discussion forum I've seen is people posting their bugs and getting zero feedback.

Collapse
 
juniori_1 profile image
Abdinajib Junior • Edited

Thank you bro, I thought you're talking to myself. When it comes Web developer HTML and Css it an easy but the most difficult are Jquery and JAVASCRIPT.

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya

Thanks a lot for your kind words Abdinajib 😄 .

Collapse
 
libcean profile image
SAMUEL Omaiye Oche

Thank you dude. We all made these mistakes, especially when you have no coach

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya

Exactly Samuel !.

Collapse
 
official_fire profile image
CoderZ90

Thankyou so much for sharing this! :). I learn from your experience

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya • Edited

Thanks a lot CoderZ90 ! .

Collapse
 
rayribeirost profile image
Ray Ribeiro - Qenpie

Nice article! Very helpful!

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya

Thank you Ray 😄!

Collapse
 
tanmesh86 profile image
Tanmesh♠️

Another mistake !! People use raw knowledge learnt from scratch to create new websites evn after a yr of learning ! Thinking using bootstrap is not worthy. After a hold of 5-6 months on Web Development the developer should Start using amazing platforms like bootstrap,w3schools ,etc

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya

Yaa, Exactly !. Thanks for sharing your mistake 😀.

Collapse
 
bus42 profile image
Greg Brewton

Agreed! When i started learning, I spent a year building with vanilla Html, CSS, and JS before learning React, Pug, or ScSS.

Collapse
 
harshitaditya1 profile image
Harshit Aditya

Yaa before moving to frameworks like React or Angular or Vue, it is important to have command in HTML,CSS and Javascript.