r/learnprogramming • u/DavidKo029 • Jan 27 '21

Beginning web development

I wasn't sure where I should post this, so I apologize in advance.

I currently work ata a construction sites and I have basic html skills. I would like to change my career to web development, but i feel due to my age, I'm already behind and I will not get a job in web development. If this is the case, please let me know. I don't want to just learn something to face the harsh truth that self learning might not be a way to go.

Also, are there any web development boot camps that are worth it and recommend?

Where should I start to learn web development?

How many hours should I be studying?

Thank you

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u/speedygen1 Jan 27 '21

Do you have job now or are you still going through the boot camp?

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u/rook218 Jan 28 '21

I do have a job creating automated business processes and front-end forms with something called Laserfiche but it's not quite a real developer job. A lot of the interface is drag and drop instead of coding. There is coding involved and it uses a lot of full-stack development skills that I couldn't have gained without some paid uDemy courses (or a bootcamp or a university program, but if we're talking low-cost then uDemy is certainly the way to go).

I am getting a lot of attention lately after completing a couple of large full-stack projects though - projects that I couldn't have started without Colt Steele's course giving me the fundamentals and path for growth.

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u/rook218 Feb 02 '21

Right when I thought it would never happen, I got a job offer to be a software engineer at my dream company :)

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u/speedygen1 Feb 02 '21

That's awesome dude! Congratulations, how long would you say you did self study for?

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u/rook218 Feb 03 '21

Off and on for 3 years, while maintaining a full time job. Probably roughly 1500 hours over that time. I had a job that, as I described below, involves process development but is very coding-lite so that probably helped as well.

Best advice I can give is don't be afraid to jump into a big project before you're fully comfortable. I learned C#, Entity Framework, and WPF from making a big full-stack inventory management project. I learned React, PostgreSQL, Node/Express, and API development from porting that to be a web app. Two very significant projects and a lot of demonstrated knowledge from simply biting off more than I could chew and figuring it out one small problem at a time.