Once you choose the tech field and become a web developer the road may be a little bumpy since there is a lot ahead of you to start learning and it might be a little daunting at first but down that road, you will find something so challenging and fun that will ensure you have no regrets in your decision.

But we wanted to share a few steps of how you should start navigating the road to becoming an excellent web developer.

First things first. The very first step is grasping the fundamentals of HTML and CSS, but you don’t need to dive too deep into the complicated engineering behind them yet. At first, the structure of your pages just needs to be functional and simple enough to survive as many changes as they can.

Then start creating test pages, you can start by replicating the interface of your favorite platforms or tools. Use your judgment to extract the best things about those interfaces and add your touch and just like that you’re practicing and building a portfolio already!

Now comes a tricky but really fun step: JavaScript. It might look complicated at the beginning, but it’s incredibly necessary and it becomes super useful in the future, besides it is what adds interactions to websites.

JavaScript will be your first programming language so start with the basics such as the syntax (functions, variables, statements, etc.) and data structures. Then, play around with the DOM to add behavior.

The next step will be to learn how to work with the different APIs. JavaScript offers several APIs and you will be using some of them very often. For instance, the Fetch API will allow you to communicate with other websites and services. Or the Canvas API to draw things on the screen

Also, learning how to work with asynchronous code is necessary because Asynchrony is basically lines of code that don’t wait for the previous line to finish. JavaScript has ways to handle features like the async and await keywords or the Promises API, but you need to be prepared.

Now a crucial step: Learn how to debug your code! Sometimes, you might get unexpected things happening like errors, but don’t worry, it is quite normal, and that’s why things like the Console API and Chrome Dev Tools exist. This will allow you to spot and fix bugs with a lot more ease and precision.

After that getting your hands in frameworks is paramount. But take it slowly, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, especially on professional projects. Frameworks are here to help speed up the process and make your life easier. There is a large variety of frameworks available, the most popular ones are:

  • React
  • Vue.js
  • Svelte
  • Solid (of the new ones!)

Now that you have some advantages in knowledge, you can start exploring the Backend world. But why Backend first? Well, having a background as a backend will help you understand how to build your APIs!

Still some developers prefer frontend, some prefer backend, and others like both (we call them full-stack developers) but if you’re interested in backend since you already know JavaScript at this point, take a look at Node.js. Node.js is a JavaScript runtime used to run on servers, so you can build your custom and shiny API. Also, taking a look at TypeScript won't hurt at this point.

More backend languages in case you want to go beyond JavaScript, there is a large set of languages you can explore to build your backend applications. To mention a few:

  • PHP
  • Go
  • C#
  • Rust
  • Python

And now is finally the time to find your first work experience as a web developer. Of course that no matter how much knowledge you've gained through this path, stepping into the professional world would still be scary, but you will be constantly learning and gaining more and more experience.

And remember that by joining with friends who love development you learn more, as it enriches healthy competition and learning with applied practice!

Learn from your mistakes and share your victories!