Establish Self as a Software Developer: Help!!

Dear software developer gods, I seek your advice. I seek your mentorship. What must I do?

I am not new to software development. In fact, I have been in this industry for almost 5 years now but I never see myself as a competent and a talented developer. I lack a profile visibility as a software developer.

I have been watching tons of tutorials online and followed most of them locally. From front-end to backend to being a full-stack. However, I never haven't "been there" or received the pinnacle of my career.

This year I am aiming to help in open source and have a lot of onlinve visibility but I don't know where to start.

I need direction. I need a professional help. I don't want to be a mediocre developer. I wanna improve and learn more but I don't know where to go next.

Dear software developer gods, I seek your advice. I seek your mentorship. What must I do?

Comments

[Conlin Durbin]

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking to do, but if your goal is to start promoting yourself I have a few tips:

1. Write for yourself, edit for everyone else
   • Take notes and keep track of the things you learn. You can originally write them down for yourself, the later edit them into great posts to share with others. A good starting place is to get a notebook and start collecting things you learn. As you go, you may find things you want to expand on and write more about. Remember how you originally learned those things and write the guide you wish you had had when you started.
2. Have an strong opinion, let it go easily
   • This is also called "Strong opinions, weakly held". Figure out how you think things should be done. Defend those things. But ask yourself how those opinions could be wrong and consider others standpoints. Then ratify your opinions as you learn and grow more.
3. Keep learning
   • Don't get stuck in one technology or way of thinking. When you can't move forward in your career consider moving sideways. Find something new that gives you a unique insight into the lives of those around you. Then use that insight to build great things that make their lives better.

My biggest tip:

Remember that being a "software engineer" is not about writing code or building applications - it's about building computerized tools that make peoples lives better or easier. You can do accomplish a lot without ever writing a line of code and you can do a lot more with a well-reasoned and impactful line of code than you can do with a huge feature no one wants.

Hope this helps! Just some thoughts and things I've learned along the way.

[Jose Ross Barredo]

Thanks man! These are great insightful thoughts. That's the thing, i dont exactly know what im looking forward on doing. I feel like im in this trapped state where im panicking as to which way should i go but doesn't even know where the way is.

[Conlin Durbin]

I understand that. You've got the whole path ahead of you though, no need to panic now.

What sort of things interest you?

[Jose Ross Barredo]

I really am into web applications. I started coding apps using php frameworks before landing on making web apps using Django (sidecomment: looove python). But i feel like Im way too outdated so just recently, i am very keen on learning whether AngularJS or ReactJS. Also, flutter seems like a fancy stuff to learn.

[Conlin Durbin]

I'd definitely recommend JS, depending on what parts of web applications you want to build. Building a good JavaScript foundation, before jumping into React or angular will help a lot. If you are interested in backend/API development, Python is a great choice. You also can't go writing with Ruby on rails.

If you think you want to be more full stack, I'd recommend learning more backend first.

If you have any questions about frontend stuff, I'd be more than happy to answer them. I also know a bit about backend, but there are other people much more suited to that.

[Jose Ross Barredo]

Cool! I would be very happy if you could help me out please. I was thinking on solidifying my frontend skills. If I have to rate my JS skills, proll have to say 3 out of 5. I know my way with JavaScript but it's not too advanced.

What do you suggest I should do?

[Conlin Durbin]

I think there are 5 main areas that are important for really nailing JS fundamentals.

1. The this keyword
2. The prototype chain
3. Functions and closures
4. The event loop
5. The browser and it's API's

I'm actually in the process of putting together some posts on each of these, but they won't be ready for a bit.

I'd start with MDN and read up a bit in each of those things. Play with them in Codepen or somewhere similar.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have on specific for those.

[Jose Ross Barredo]

Thanks man! I'll busy myself with these topics. I won't hesitate to ask you if I have questions 🤣