Introduction

Welcome to my new(And somewhat improved) blog where I plan about discussing some of the tools/technology that I utilize in my every day work. While my job may not be the same as yours, chances are you the reader have a similar interest in web development!

Where to start?

Most of the time, picking up new tips & tricks can be as simple as reading tech articles such as this one. If you are like me and you work on a relatively small team all the way down to just yourself, you often lack the guidance of someone like a senior developer to guide you. However, don’t feel that because of this you aren’t capable of learning anything new in your field. You have the unlimited resources of the internet in the modern age to fill that place if you need it! If you need a more clear-cut approach to learning new things about web development, here’s a list of things I’ve compiled:

Read

While I’m not saying stock up on books from your local library(Although local libraries are cool), reading can help better your understanding about what others in your field are doing. While everyone is in a different role in the web development field, it’s important when reading tech articles to understand the thought process of using certain technologies. Why are they using this tech stack? Why not use this one? Should I also use this one?

The important thing to take from these articles is not “use this technology for any instance of a project like this”, rather it is important to pick up on the aspects of critical thinking within the article. While you don’t have to follow the author’s bias towards a specific tool, pick up on how they solve the given problem. Much of our lives as developers is spent solving problems. Learning how experienced professionals in your field are solving problems will help you better understand ways you could possibly do it.

Practice

The benefit of open-source is, well, it’s open! Typically anyone can contribute and those contributors solely drive development. Open-source is a great opportunity for you to get involved in something that’s bigger-picture. Contributing to an open-source provides a easy reference to a project if you’re needing one!

Another alternative to contribution is creation! Think of an idea you have for an online tool that would be cool to have. Do you have an idea? Good, now go build it!

Building personal projects is a great way of utilizing new technologies. For me, I build new projects to improve coding habits and trying out new vendor libraries. For you, it could mean learning the technology you need to get the job you’ve been looking at for weeks. While completing one project won’t make you an expert, you gain the experience nonetheless.

Do.

Whether it is today or tomorrow, you are now ready. The question is no longer how, it’s when. If there comes time a project presents itself and you have a say, try it! Sometimes this opportunity does not come for a long time. It may not arise at your current job at all. Once you have the chance to try something new, give it a shot.