lets try again c05e2994
Steve · 2023-03-01 07:37 1 file(s) · +1 −0
src/content/post/my-developer-journey.md +1 −0
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**[How I Learned to Code - And Got a Job in Less Than 3 Months](https://youtu.be/nupkQD_Mnhg)**
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## The Grind

            

            
            

                
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Of course the title is clickbait and I got hooked. I didn't learn to code in three months, but I did get started. I bought [Head First: HTML with CSS and XHTML](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-HTML-CSS-Standards-Based/dp/0596159900) off eBay for $10 and blew through it in a weekend; I just couldn't stop consuming knowledge about web development. This wasn't programming just yet, but the magic was there because I watched text on a screen transform into something visual. I've had a creative background with music and photography, and the ability to create something with lines of code was fascinating. The next book was [Head First Java](https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-Brain-Learners/dp/0596004656?keywords=head+first+java&qid=1677605428&sr=8-5) which did not click with me at all. I barely grasped the basic programming principles. I couldn't understand how they connected with web sites and made things work, and that was likely due to using 5-10 year old books. I switched up and went to YouTube again and found some web development roadmap videos which gave me a rough guideline of what I needed to learn. 

            

            
            

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The next year was spent grinding through some coursed by [Ed](https://developedbyed.com/), starting with basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and eventually React. That was a rough period, because I was still working at the bank full time. I was helping take care of a difficult newborn baby, and learning something completely new. I would wake up at 5am most days, completely exhausted yet pushing through concept after concept and project after project. After work I would come home, help around the house, and later in the evening I would keep coding. While it was a lot of work, it was totally worth it.