How to Become a Self-taught Developer

By Leo Ojigbo

With new technologies and the 10X growth of tech in every sphere of life, the demand for highly skilled and qualified individuals to write software is on a steady rise. The great thing about this era is the large pool of resources available to us to pick up awesome coding skills quickly.? This is aimed at non-developers looking at learning to code or newbie developers still struggling with the bunch of resources out there.??

How can you become a self-taught developer?

a. Choose a Path: The first and most important thing after wanting to code is to pick a path. This could be front-end, back-end, mobile, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and so on. It is extremely important to not get overwhelmed by the numerous paths and to try to know everything all at once. After you have chosen a path, pick a programming language to help you on that path.

If you pick front-end development, it is advisable to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (this being the programming language for the web).

JavaScript is always advisable for web developers as it can be used in the back-end too and as such gives the front-end developers a seamless transition when they decide to move to the back-end.

b. Learn: After picking a path, the next step would be to learn. Currently, a tonne of online learning platforms abounds and can be used to upskill in your chosen path. The most readily available resource would be YouTube which has access to free video tutorials on any skill you intend to learn. Besides that, you can utilize Free Code Camp, W3 Schools, MDN docs, and a lot more without spending a dime. While you learn, you must maintain a positive mindset at all times even when you encounter difficult parts.

c. Practice: To improve and excel in your path, learning doesn’t stop at learning. Practice, follow closely, take baby steps, and build little play projects to understand every concept learned. Be comfortable failing and do not get discouraged. When you get stuck.

d. Research: This is a key and major skill every successful developer must have. The ability to scan through a whole lot of resources available on the internet, find solutions to your problems from others who have encountered such before, and be able to understand the solutions. The more you face problems in your “Practice” projects the better you get at problem-solving, a skill that would guide you through your career. The most popular reference tool for developers online is Stack-overflow.? Almost every issue you would encounter in your developer journey would likely have a solution there.

e. Project: To crown it all. After you have gotten a hang of the major parts and built little test projects, You need to make one major portfolio project. One to show all the skills you gathered in your learning journey.? That One project should be a representation of all the knowledge acquired and should show your proficiency in your path. The project should be hosted online via a cloud service like AWS with a public URL for potential employers to see.

Conclusion

To become a self-taught developer, you need to choose a path, learn, practice, research, and project. Wishing you the best of luck in your tech journey.?