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Eduardo
Eduardo

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The difference between junior developers and advanced junior developers

What I've discovered is that when you are starting in web development, you feel overwhelmed by all those frameworks and libraries that should somehow help you, but it seems that is just to much to learn, and if you learn any it makes no sense, and that all that stuff are for someone far more experienced. And in reality, it is. Well, when you are just starting out you shouldn't be paying to much attention to these fancy things, sure you can be updated what are the most used, or most popular, but to actually use them, for you at this point also makes no sense, right?.

Let's put it this way, how can you be driving a car if you don't know how to start it, how can you drive it if you don't know what are you driving?.

What I want to say with this post is that when you really start from zero, learning only language itself, the more you progress the more you see the point of all these libraries and frameworks, when you start to see that you need them because they make things faster, not easier, then, I think that you are on a good way to become better developer.

My advice to all that are just starting out is be patient and don't think that you are not smart enough or that this isn't for you, everything is for everyone, but depends how much you want it.

And for the title of this post:

TL;DR

I think that main difference is that advanced junior is just more confident with it's knowledge, he doesn't think that much about basic stuff, and he opens his mind for more advanced topics, that is somewhere where I'm now, I think, that this is the point where you really start to learn.

Cheers :)

Top comments (2)

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bgadrian profile image
Adrian B.G.

that this is the point where you really start to learn.
I think you learned until now, and you will learn your entire career (hopefully). There are some key "Ahhaaa" points where you connect the dots, those are the grateful moments.

We are all overwhelmed by the web ecosystem, there are too many paradigms, techniques, frameworks and technologies to keep up with all of them, especially if you are a full stack web developer, as an experienced one, and a mentor to a few junior web devs, I can confirm that.

To keep it pragmatic is ok to extend your tentacles to scratch the surfaces of more frameworks and languages without understanding how they work, to get the job done. With time, you will dive deeper into them, but always keep the (octopus) core strong, you have to be good at something, and always expand the outer areas.

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bsommardahl profile image
Byron Sommardahl

Hi @sujed I enjoyed the post. After a few years since your post, have any of your views changed? Where are you at in your personal journey at this point?