Teaching Yourself Web Development in 6 Months

Over the past six months or so I have been getting deep into web design and development. After watching tutorials until my eyes glazed over, I have a good idea of the field of web development and its potential. It has been quite an addicting journey and I am fascinated by the ever-changing landscape. This article is about what I have learned so far.

For those unfamiliar, programming or coding the process of writing commands to be executed by a computer. Computers process these commands with incredible speed and reliability. In terms of web development these commands determine the structure, behavior, and appearance of a website.

With a fair amount of self-motivation I have passed the entry level of the learning curve. I have a solid foundation of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and Adobe Illustrator. In the process I have learned a great deal about code, software, and the conventions and culture of the Web. Some things I have discovered:

1. There are a plethora of resources on the internet to learn and many people in the industry are self-taught. (check my previous blog post for a list of resources that I have used).
2. It is super satisfying, if you are anything like me, to type a command and watch things change in the browser. I did that!
3. The landscape is constantly changing. You will never be without new things to learn. This is great for the driven self-motivated type (and reduces barriers of entry because you don’t necessarily need to learn everything, just the most recent stuff).
4. You can turn an idea into something that is useful to many people and create platforms to give people a voice. This is both relevant and extremely rewarding.
5. Programming languages will no longer seem esoteric or abstract.
6. It is a foundation toward other crazy tech. Think mobile apps, video games, VR, AI, and the other unknown and beautiful things that are on the horizon.
7. You can do it from anywhere with a laptop and internet connection. This allows for the possibility of a “location independent” lifestyle.
8. Six-figure salaries are very much in the realm of possibility.
9. Coding will remain relevant for some time:

Code.org

If you are interested, check out my website portfolio Emboldly.

It is an exciting time in the technology field and opportunity is not just confined to computer science majors and tech nerds. Perhaps this has inspired someone to try your hand at development and if so, I look forward to your competition ;)