Ever started learning a new framework and felt like you just enrolled in Hogwarts’ Advanced Dark Arts class? Yeah… me too. Here’s the 7-stage developer journey you probably didn’t know you’d experience:
1. Excitement
"This is amazing! I’m finally going to master this framework and become a rockstar developer!"
You read the docs, watch 3 tutorials, and your brain is on fire. You’re ready to build the next Instagram… or maybe Facebook 2.0.
2. Confusion
"Wait, why won’t this component render?"
You realize that 80% of your time is spent on imports, props, and dependency errors. You stare at your code like it owes you money.
3. The StackOverflow Spiral
"Maybe someone already asked this..."
You’re deep in StackOverflow threads. Copy-paste solutions. Realize your problem was a missing semicolon. Welcome to Dev Hell.
4. Imposter Syndrome
"Am I even a real developer?"
You see examples online, all perfect, and feel like your code belongs in a museum of mistakes. (It probably does.)
5. Tiny Victory
"It worked! I did the thing!"
You manage to render a button. A single button. But it feels like launching a rocket. Celebrate it like you just won a hackathon.
6. Mastery (Sort Of)
"Okay… I kinda get it now."
You understand the core concepts, your app isn’t broken every 5 minutes, and you can explain things to other devs without sweating bullets. You feel like a wizard… almost.
7. Repeat
"What’s the next framework again?"
Congrats, now it’s time to learn the next shiny tech. The cycle continues. But don’t worry — we’ve all been there.
Bonus Tip:
Take notes, build tiny projects, and don’t be afraid to break things intentionally. You’ll learn more in one bug than in ten tutorials.
If this post made you laugh or nod in agreement, follow me for more dev survival stories. Because let’s be honest… we’re all just figuring it out one semicolon at a time.
Question for you: What stage are you stuck in right now? Comment below — let’s commiserate.
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