✌️ Hello devs, I finally got a reason to start blogging, cause this was kinda an elephant in the house, and I couldn't wrap my head about the logistics of writing articles here and then but, 2 days back someone came into my inbox and asked me my age which sparked me to get interested in why she did so I answered her with my age. And now today morning she told me that she asked because she was 17 years old and starting her journey as a developer.

She said,

" I am 17 years old , Can you suggest me what mistakes you made when you were in programming, and can you advice me some tips that would help me to be a better programmer. Just assume yourself on my place. my skill set: HTML5, SCSS, CSS3, JS, ReactJs. "

And honestly, I never had anyone ask for my advice or kind of things, cause am just a free spirit, a mediocre, and an average developer who knows some few things like centering a div in CSS and nothing much, so I was kinda like seriously!

Okay now, 🤷‍♂️ what? I had to tell her exactly what pitfalls I encountered along the way and, she finally appreciated them and the fact that it helped her inspired this article to help others too!

So without edits, here is how I replied....

Hello shah, It’s good that you learning to code at that age, I wish I also started earlier in life but, that’s too late for now cause we finally get there no matter where we start from and we make some hilarious mistakes along the way and that’s how we grow so don’t be afraid to make them, but since you asked, here are some pitfalls I wish I avoided sooner!

• You just can’t learn everything, be specific and choose your path. I remember when I started and wanted to learn a ton of technologies like everyone was talking about how they know this and that and I knew less, and this made me want to learn what they also knew. I actually didn’t know which stack to learn or take and this has cost me efforts in learning various technologies and actually end up mastering any cause divided focus didn’t pay well. And after all, I eventually found out that I didn’t need to know those techs and they were not something I was interested in. Imagine I have just realized my stack recently, a thing I wish I did earlier. 🤔

• Do fewer courses and tutorials, but more projects! Recently I have developed a new learning philosophy, where if I want to learn new tech, I just get a crash course video tutorial to get the basics, I then get into a project which I build as I learn the tech and figure the rest of things in the process, if anything I encounter and don’t understand I get into docs for that, and this way I supplement my learning and finally end up with a newly finished project plus new skills. Stop opting for 1 million courses and watching 1 million tutorials without actually building something. Learning about millions won’t make you a millionaire but making millions will. So build stuff as much as you can even if you don’t know that much!

• Don’t be afraid to seek help, it’s okay to sound and look dumb! Those who don’t ask what they don’t know are the dumbest. A lot of programmers even seniors are afraid to go in the open and ask for help because it’s embarrassing and it makes them appear like that they know nothing or they’re dumb, but the fact is this is how we grow, rather ask once today than to look up all of your life, trying to think of a problem someone else has a solution for and are ready to help. Ask as much as necessary and next time you will be the one answering others the same questions you asked in the past.

• Never compare yourself to others, you do it and it undermines your existence! Let’s face it, when you’re at social media like Twitter, a lot of developers are starting a new business venture, others learning tech x, and others building awesome stuff. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you ever compare yourself to those people, you're missing the fact that they only post their successes, not their failures. They also fail a lot, their lives also suck at some point and they also don’t even know as much as you do, those people are not you and you’re not them, so rather not compare yourself to them, we’re all different unless you want to get overwhelmed and get taken by the imposter syndrome, feeling as if you don’t belong because everyone talks about a hot new tech and you don’t know that yet. Do things at your own pace, learn only want makes you feel good, and don’t jump onto every new tech for just everyone is talking about it, learn the old guys and you will never go wrong!

I think I have a lot of things to say and I wish I knew these things when I started out, but those were some of the mistakes I did, and I still do some even today, I still gat a lot to learn and I might not even be a better programmer as you’re, but that’s how I grow and that’s how we all grow, we make some mistakes and learn from them, we rise and fail and rise again. So shah, I hope these gave you some insights, happy hacking!

And that was what I had to say, but I know you guys have a lot to add on perhaps, so be my guests in the comments below, and if you found this post lacking, it's my first one so advise that I write better next time, I still have a lot to share but till next time, happy hacking, bye 🙌