Hey everyone! I've been a junior software developer for about 8 months now, and this is my first full-time gig after finishing school. I successfully launched a webshop as my initial project, but I've been feeling a bit stuck lately. I work with a fellow junior developer, and we don't have any senior frontend developers around to guide us. This absence really shows when it comes to making project estimates, handling customer feedback, and even understanding if we're implementing things in the best possible way. I genuinely love working in this field, but I feel like I've stagnated in terms of knowledge growth. I'd love to get some advice on how to navigate this situation better! Do you have any tips or resources for learning on my own? Thanks!
3 Answers
The best way to level up is to just keep writing code. Don't fear making mistakes! Try out small projects on your own, even if you feel unsure. Open source contributions are great too! It's about gradual experience, and eventually, you'll find your rhythm.
One practical tip: review others' code, especially open source projects. Taking online courses where instructors share their thought process can also help. For estimating time, it’s often wise to add 50% to your initial guess since things inevitably take longer. And don’t stress too much about knowing the ‘perfect’ code! Focus on delivering functional sites, and you’ll improve over time. Finally, it’s crucial to learn when to push back on unmanageable timelines.
I like this! I’ve been watching Web Dev Simplified on YouTube for learning, and it’s super helpful. As for estimates, I messed one up recently. We quoted way too few hours, and it turned into a bigger project than expected. Should I have anticipated that, or was it just on the client?
I totally relate! I'm also working solo as a junior developer, and I've found that tools like ChatGPT really help. I don't use it to write code but rather for brainstorming approaches and weighing pros and cons of my solutions. For example, when I had to implement a mass texting system, I initially planned to send messages one at a time, but AI suggested a more efficient method using AWS SNS to broadcast messages. It’s about finding the best approach while learning from those 'ah-ha!' moments!
I’m definitely going to start using AI for that! Sounds like a game-changer for validating my ideas, thanks!
Haha, totally! Maybe being a 'medior' is the goal for now! I’m diving into some little projects myself.