Three Years Into Development — Still Figuring It Out

Three years ago, I started my journey as a developer with a pretty simple idea:

Learn to code, gain experience, become good at it.

Three years later, I’ve learned a lot — but I’ve also realized that becoming a developer isn't as straightforward as I imagined.

I've worked with JavaScript, React, Laravel, PlayCanvas, WebGL, and other technologies. I've worked on real projects, dealt with bugs I didn't understand at first, learned technologies because a project required them, and worked alongside other people to get things done.

I think one of my strengths has always been learning new technologies and adapting to new problems.

But there are things I'm not proud of.

I've never been particularly good at finishing personal projects by myself.

I've started many things, learned from them, experimented with different technologies, but I rarely took them all the way to completion.

I also don't have an impressive GitHub contribution graph. I haven't spent the last three years consistently building open-source projects or pushing code every day.

And if I'm being completely honest, I don't think I've mastered any particular technology.

I'm good enough to build things. I'm good enough to understand code, solve problems, learn what I don't know, and contribute to a team.

But I'm not at the level where I'd confidently say:

"This is the thing I'm an expert at."

And recently, AI has made me think about this even more.

I'm not afraid of AI taking over jobs. I actually think the capabilities we're getting are incredible.

What concerns me is more personal:

If AI can already build many of the things I've spent years learning to build, then what should I be becoming as a developer?

For a while, I felt overwhelmed by that question.

Should I learn more technologies?

Should I specialize?

Should I focus on fundamentals?

Should I build more projects?

Should I contribute to open source?

Should I learn AI?

I'm realizing that the answer probably isn't to chase everything.

My next goal isn't to collect another 10 technologies.

It's to develop depth.

I want to finish projects instead of constantly starting new ones.

I want to understand the fundamentals behind the tools I use.

I want to become better at building complete products.

I want to learn how to use AI effectively without becoming dependent on it.

And most importantly, I want to turn the experience I've already gained into actual expertise.

I don't have everything figured out.

But maybe that's okay.

Three years into this journey, I'm realizing that experience isn't the same thing as mastery.

And maybe the next three years should be about changing that.

I'm still learning. I'm still figuring things out. And I'm still excited to see where this goes.

If you're also somewhere in the middle of your developer journey, I'd genuinely like to hear your experience.

What did you struggle with after your first few years of development, and what helped you move forward?