In late Dec 2018, I discovered the #100daysofcode movement on Twitter and fell in love with the idea. It was an incredible community of bright folks aspiring to become software developers. I’ve engaged with folks who are just starting out, and those who have been in the industry trying to help others. I’ve met people of all genders, races, nationalities, beliefs, and everything in between. Its been a truly awesome experience. I dove in all the way at the beginning of 2019, starting a live stream on Twitchto share my experiences and progress on my own app, and have gotten an incredible amount of support. All of this sounds great, but there is some negative things I witnessed as well.
While many individuals are just getting started, I have been in the IT industry for over 10 years, and have been writing code for much of that time. Although I have experience, I don’t proclaim to be some master of code or anything like that, I’m just another practicing human being learning things along the way and trying to share my knowledge with the hope that it helps others. So consider this when I suggest the following points.
Dont Rush
This is especially true if you have a goal you are trying to move towards. Some days you will make incredible progress, and other times you wont be able to. Progress is progress, even if done slowly. As long as you consciously making the effort to move toward a goal, no matter how slowly, your doing it right.
Don’t Compare with Others
There are millions of developers out there, all from different walks of life, with different schedules and different situations. Some got started young, some have been in the industry for decades. Don’t compare yourself to anyone, work on yourself only to impress yourself.
Take a Break to Deal with Life
Everyone has a life outside of code, and sometimes it overshadows your goals with development. There isn’t anything wrong with that! I have seen multiple people ‘admit defeat’ with the program because they haven’t had time to code, or because they’ve had a stressful day and don’t feel like it. Those days happen. You haven’t lost or encountered any kind of defeat. You are human.