I'm a 22-year-old guy who recently switched to part-time work, aiming to invest about 30 hours a week into learning programming. My goal is to become proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React, and eventually to grasp Shopify's Polaris library. I'm targeting a 12-18 month timeframe, starting with very limited knowledge, to create a full-stack application for Shopify and hopefully land my first paying user.
Background-wise, I have experience as a Sales Manager in both B2B and B2C settings, so I understand marketing and outreach well, which I believe will assist me when I eventually launch my project.
I'm looking for guidance on what to prioritize, effective learning strategies, do's and don'ts, and where to start. I'm also curious about breaking into the e-commerce space, particularly with Shopify, and whether there might be better languages to focus on, like Ruby on Rails. I want to have something ready in 6-10 months to offer free trials to businesses for feedback and do some market research about common pain points in the e-commerce sector. Any tips or advice to steer me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
If you already have some tech background, I recommend starting with CS50. It’s a free course available on YouTube, and it provides solid programming fundamentals. Just avoid using AI to write code for you—it's better to learn how to do it yourself first!
I started my programming journey a few years back, and I advise you to track your progress and challenge yourself along the way. Make sure to have someone who can guide you if possible. Getting into programming can be tricky, especially finding a job later on, but if you're committed, you can definitely carve your own path.
I’m more focused on creating something useful myself rather than just getting a junior dev job. I want to profit from my own products and apply my sales skills to make it successful!