How do you become a developer? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Ken Mazaika, CTO and Co-founder of The Firehose Project, on Quora:
You can become a web developer by doing these 18 things. These are in no particular order, but I recommend trying all of them over the course of your journey, especially #10 and #15.
1. Build something with HTML and CSS. It’s relatively easy to launch a simple website using these technologies.
2. Start a side project. Come up with an idea for a project and start planning it out. By getting it down on paper, you’ll motivate yourself to turn it into a reality.
3. Give front-end development a try. Front-end developers work very closely with the visual elements of a web application. Try it out and see if you like it.
4. Go to meetups. When you talk to developers in person, it can give you some awesome perspective.
5. Watch tech conference talks on YouTube. These talks expose you to new ways of thinking.
6. Answer Quora questions about learning to code. Writing about coding can help you understand it more deeply, and Quora is a great place to share knowledge about the craft.
7. Give the Ruby programming language a shot. Ruby’s fluid syntax makes it a great language to get started with.
8. Experiment with different technologies. You’ll figure out what you like and don’t like, which can help you figure out what type of development you want to focus on moving forward.
9. Inspire someone to learn to code with you. This will always make you more accountable and productive.
10. Don’t forget about the fundamentals. If you truly want to become a developer, you need to learn essential CS concepts like algorithms and data structures.
11. Work with a database. Databases power almost every single web application out there. Learn this stuff.
12. Work with JavaScript. This is a pretty weird programming language. But if you’re learning to code in 2017, you need to learn at least a certain amount of it.
13. Start writing technical blog posts. You’ll make complex concepts click better in your head while communicating your unique perspective to other people.
14. Try helping out on StackOverflow. If you solve a problem that doesn’t already have a great answer posted on StackOverflow, take a few minutes to post your solution. You’ll earn major karma points.
15. Learn how to research. Whether you want to build self-driving cars, web applications, or virtual reality devices, you’re going to need to figure out how to use the Internet to solve problems.
16. Try building responsive web applications. In today’s multi-screen world, it is incredibly valuable to know how to build an amazing user experience across all devices.
17. Spend time learning about accessibility. You should understand how to design experiences for all humans.
18. Most importantly, don’t sweat it too much. Don’t worry about picking the wrong language or learning the wrong thing.
As a new developer, you’re not expected to know everything before you get started.
Just start coding and see where your passion takes you!
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