Have you ever wanted to get involved in Web Development but didn't know where to start? Look no further! I'm going to outline exactly how you can get started right here right now! I am a strong believer that passion shouldn't be limited by physical things like money or inability to make a commitment. I have run my entire life off of that mantra.
What you do need to know upfront is that people don't just get in to web development. Web development just like any other hobby is more than just a hobby for a lot of people, me included. If you would like to actually get in to web development try to follow this guide. At the very absolute least it will point you in the right direction to actually have a stable foundation for what you want to achieve. But it takes dedication. Nobody wants a sub-par developer.
Before we get started lets define some stuff:
This is somebody who designs and sets up the overall website and how it looks and sometimes feels
The person that puts the Front-End Designers designs into action. This is the programmer behind the vision of the designer.
Often called the "Unicorn" of web development the Full-Stack Developer is someone who has mastered everything beneath the Back-End and the Front-End of web development. Full-Stack Developers are extremely wanted in the industry. Why pay two people for something one person can do?
These are the three primary paths for web developers. Of course there are other ones that seem to neatly fit between web development and graphic design (UI/UX Designers for example), think of those as specialty paths, if you find yourself interested in any specific part of web design/development try to focus on it. The better you get at any one area increases your worth ten fold; you want to have a broad understanding along with laser sight precision.
Now this is a question I can't answer. This is the type of question that only you can answer. Which do you prefer? Designing or Developing. Are you logical or creative? Where do you think you perform best? These are all questions you should be asking yourself. If you still aren't sure then just continue the path you're on already. The answer will come to you the more you practice and the more you work at it.
I began my journey into web development at a very young age. 12 to be specific. My first step into web development was on a website called Gaiaonline, the website itself is just a forum site, while still alive and kicking it means next to nothing to me anymore, HOWEVER I still directly credit it for my ability as a developer. The amount of practice I got on that website was immeasurable. For the uninformed: It is a forum site that allowed you to make custom profile pages. Simple as that.
I started my journey making profiles for myself that I thought were cool. Whenever I was bored I started from scratch, created my own graphics, made my own color schemes, and started coding.
The website itself isn't important. In fact it doesn't matter at all. What matters is that I practiced.
I practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced. Of course 12 year old me thought I was the shit, 12 year old me thought that I was a complete hacker who knew how to unravel the world of secrets behind computers. In reality I was nowhere near the truth; but that mindset kept me going. THE BIGGEST reason why people quit is because they tell themselves "I wasn't good enough" well what if I told you NOBODY IS GOOD ENOUGH. Everywhere you go, every step of the way somebody can teach you something that you don't know. Especially when it comes to things like web development. A system so complex and ever expanding that nobody can know everything.
There will always be new technologies and there will always be more to learn.
So don't give up. Every professional was once a newbie. Every child prodigy you have ever seen just started at an extremely young age. The only thing that divides the hobbyists from the professionals from the newbies is practice. The reason why professionals are so good at what they do is because most of them are A) Doing it for a living or B) Have a passion for what they do to the point where it consumes their entire being.
So go out and start the process! The longer you wait the farther away you are from somebody that DID start today. Find your passion and rely on yourself for work experience. You don't need a job to practice at something. You just need a computer.
Until next time!
Kyle Diggs
Have you ever wanted to get involved in Web Development but didn't know where to start? Look no further! I'm going to outline exactly how you can get started right here right now! I am a strong believer that passion shouldn't be limited by physical things like money or inability to make a commitment. I have run my entire life off of that mantra.
What you do need to know upfront is that people don't just get in to web development. Web development just like any other hobby is more than just a hobby for a lot of people, me included. If you would like to actually get in to web development try to follow this guide. At the very absolute least it will point you in the right direction to actually have a stable foundation for what you want to achieve. But it takes dedication. Nobody wants a sub-par developer.
Before we get started lets define some stuff:
This is somebody who designs and sets up the overall website and how it looks and sometimes feels
The person that puts the Front-End Designers designs into action. This is the programmer behind the vision of the designer.
Often called the "Unicorn" of web development the Full-Stack Developer is someone who has mastered everything beneath the Back-End and the Front-End of web development. Full-Stack Developers are extremely wanted in the industry. Why pay two people for something one person can do?
These are the three primary paths for web developers. Of course there are other ones that seem to neatly fit between web development and graphic design (UI/UX Designers for example), think of those as specialty paths, if you find yourself interested in any specific part of web design/development try to focus on it. The better you get at any one area increases your worth ten fold; you want to have a broad understanding along with laser sight precision.
Now this is a question I can't answer. This is the type of question that only you can answer. Which do you prefer? Designing or Developing. Are you logical or creative? Where do you think you perform best? These are all questions you should be asking yourself. If you still aren't sure then just continue the path you're on already. The answer will come to you the more you practice and the more you work at it.
I began my journey into web development at a very young age. 12 to be specific. My first step into web development was on a website called Gaiaonline, the website itself is just a forum site, while still alive and kicking it means next to nothing to me anymore, HOWEVER I still directly credit it for my ability as a developer. The amount of practice I got on that website was immeasurable. For the uninformed: It is a forum site that allowed you to make custom profile pages. Simple as that.
I started my journey making profiles for myself that I thought were cool. Whenever I was bored I started from scratch, created my own graphics, made my own color schemes, and started coding.
The website itself isn't important. In fact it doesn't matter at all. What matters is that I practiced.
I practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced. Of course 12 year old me thought I was the shit, 12 year old me thought that I was a complete hacker who knew how to unravel the world of secrets behind computers. In reality I was nowhere near the truth; but that mindset kept me going. THE BIGGEST reason why people quit is because they tell themselves "I wasn't good enough" well what if I told you NOBODY IS GOOD ENOUGH. Everywhere you go, every step of the way somebody can teach you something that you don't know. Especially when it comes to things like web development. A system so complex and ever expanding that nobody can know everything.
There will always be new technologies and there will always be more to learn.
So don't give up. Every professional was once a newbie. Every child prodigy you have ever seen just started at an extremely young age. The only thing that divides the hobbyists from the professionals from the newbies is practice. The reason why professionals are so good at what they do is because most of them are A) Doing it for a living or B) Have a passion for what they do to the point where it consumes their entire being.
So go out and start the process! The longer you wait the farther away you are from somebody that DID start today. Find your passion and rely on yourself for work experience. You don't need a job to practice at something. You just need a computer.
Until next time!
Kyle Diggs
This is the path that I took. Granted I am omitting some things but the purpose of this is to get a solid foundation. Without that foundation everything else will crumble.
A lot of people consider Codecademy to be over rated. I think it is perfect. But along with anything else you only get what you put into it. Codecademy gives the foundational elements of web development and gently tosses them at you. It isn't hard, in fact most of the lessons are incredibly tedious and repetitive and boring. BUT they give you all the knowledge you need to do something and the only thing you need from that point on is an idea to pursue.
A lot of people will jump to books, articles, blog posts (like this one) and see what they think they are capable of making right now, the problem is you don't know how to do anything until you do it. The value from practice comes from making mistakes. If you play it safe and don't push yourself you'll never make those mistakes.
Once you get started on projects TEAR THEM APART. If you really want to get the value out of what you're working on you NEED to go the whole nine yards. Make a development blog, documentation, design guidelines, layout sketches, etc. Keep track of everything. Projects not only give you the most value but if an employer sees that you are project oriented that is an instant hire. If you can single handedly develop something from start to finish that is more experience than a lot of college graduates have coming out of school.
Until next time!
Kyle Diggs
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