So you want to become a web developer, but you have no idea where to start. This is a good question and can raise many confusing possible routes that can be quite whelming.
With so many choices it’s hard for someone to not get confused. From a college degree in computer science, btw is it just me or did anyone else not know that a computer science degree was teaching you how to code…go figure.
Anyways from a CS degree to bootcamps to online courses and all the free tutorials and books, the question does seem to beg what is the best way?
From my experience and perspective I would like to dive into the best route I took and my approach to making a decision.
Before we continue I would like to lead with this one statement when it comes to making any decision. Keep it simple.
How Do I Choose?
So where to begin? I think the first question you need to ask yourself is “how do you feel you learn best?”, when you can answer this question you already have a step in the right direction.
For me I know that school was not the best option. I mean I did fairly well in school but the ironic thing is I began learning a lot more since being out of school then in. I started reading books more studying the things that interested me and took notes as if I were in school.
School can be a hinderance because they have a curriculum and they stick to that curriculum and can take you sometime longer to learn the thing that you actually want to learn.
Don’t get me wrong there are some people that actually do well with that kind of order and structure, but for me I felt it would have taken me the long route and cost me more too when I wanted to reach a specific goal and faster then 4 years.
I discovered that learning on my own gave me much more fulfillment as I was trying to develop myself thus in a sense I created my own curriculum what I felt was important with what I wanted to learn and build my skills in.
Bootcamps.
Another funny story is I didn’t hear about bootcamps until I started learning how to code. Think of a coding bootcamp as a 6-12 week intense immersive language learning course.
I do think this can have many benefits when it comes to learning code. In fact I think immersing yourself into any language truly helps you to gain more familiarity with what your trying to learn because you will soon begin to see patterns and subconsciously the mind with grasp what your hearing and seeing. Especially when your around other like minded people who are trying to learn the same thing it helps to improve your skills.
I myself am possibly looking into getting into a bootcamp into the near future not only for the experience of what it’s like but learn a new language that may help me as a front end web developer.
Bootcamps are like a school so be prepared to pay a tuition. Some can be pretty pricey but it can beat the full price of a 40-50K tuition at a university, and its only a few weeks as opposed to 4 years.
Some camps even help you get a job in the field or your money back.
Money back guaranteed, who can say no to that, as well as a guide to get you a job. I don’t know about you but in college it felt like you were on your own trying to figure all that out.
Online Courses.
This is probably my favorite, maybe because its the route I chose to take to become a front end web developer. Maybe I like the idea of being a self taught web developer and it speaks to my inner self saying hey I can do this if I really want to.
As I stated in the intro there are so many platforms and courses, from udemy, to codecademy, and udacity. There are many courses that you can take to learn what ever language you want to learn.
Oh did I mention that it would be good if you knew what language you want to learn so you can focus on that.
With that being said, My first recommendation will always be team treehouse. For like many others I did not know what language or languages I wanted to learn but all I knew was I wanted to learn web development.
Treehouse was able to help guide me down a path by asking a few questions and then suggesting what track I should look into learning. You know what, they were right. I love the track of front end web development because I get to mix design with tech to create stunning visual experiences for websites.
They even give you a free 7 day trial period to see if visual video learning is your style, which is usually the case for online learning platforms. For a small fee of $25 a month you are able to learn how to code on your own terms and your own time. Even though they provide you with the curriculum it’s based on your own terms when you want to learn and how.
I found it to be a great resource as well as them providing great resources to other online sources to becoming a better developer.
Books
Last but not least are books. Books for me were great way to reinforce what I have been learning on treehouse. They gave me another perspective in how to look at the language and help some principles stick.
As I said it was after school were I really took my learning seriously. In fact that’s probably the best since your now self motivated to learn the things you want to enhance and improve the condition of your life. Even though I wish I could of done this a little sooner.
Nevertheless, students who read this take note, start now rather than later if you want to reach your goal sooner in life rather than regret 10 years in the future.
So I picked up books on javascript and anything that would help me to develop my coding and design skills and just applied it to what I was learning from the online courses. It’s really cool to see where you first started to now having a portfolio of coded websites that you built on your own.
Just to think a year from now as a continue to learn and develop how good I will be.
The Wrap Up
So there you have it how to become a developer and the different paths you can take. Me, I would recommend starting with online courses to get your feet wet and started because there are also a ton of free online resources that you can try to see what you think you would like.
Once you find one dive in and put your whole self into learning of this skill and be surprised where you will be 6 months to a year from now.
I know I have!
Some resources: