HTML , CSS,Javascript- then what?
My Web Development roadmap.
I just watched a YouTube video that talked about how to sustain your motivation in learning how to code, and it was fascinating to learn that, this is not a walk in the park, it is a marathon, not a sprint, and it would serve me well to pace myself for a marathon instead of a sprint.
The author also asked the question, what are your goals with learning how to code? Since, indeed, code is a continuous process of learning. You never really stop learning, as the technology grows and evolves. Therefore, it would be important to define your goals in learning web development when you begin the journey.
This made me think, hey, what are my goals with learning web development? Do I want a job? Do I want a promotion?
Why I am learning Web Development.
🚀 startup founder
one of the reasons why I got the motivation to even jump on this code thing is that I self identify as a startup founder, and Paul graham of YC said they fund companies who write their own code. It’s not delegated to another tech company. Since I have always wanted to run a startup, I thought it would be amazing to build a business that lived on the internet. I thought, why not at least learn how to code, so that when I am deep in startup land, I know what my technical team is talking about.
🌏 build digital products
along the same lines of being a startup founder, one of my motivations in learning web development is the opportunity in building web apps and other digital products. SASS products are all the rage right now. I have personally bought some, and I follow the journey of other SASS products, that generate upto a million in Annual Recurring Revenue. This is very fascinating for me, and it’s something I would like to go ahead and pursue, maybe build a SASS product or two.
🐼 pursuing a childhood dream
when I was just out of high school, I thought what I wanted to do with my life was web design, but it spiralled into photography, then graphic design, then agency, but I always wanted to make money with creativity, so this is me scratching off that itch.
💰 make money in my business.
web design is another aspect of business that I want to offer in my shop, and I would like to make money with web design. I am conflicted, as I can just sell my customers customized premium wordpress themes, or I could build my web design business using tools like webflow, elementor or astra, which are no code, visual website builder. However, I think learning to code would be an added advantage when it comes to selling web design services in my business.
🖥 permission-less leverage
I heard naval talk about permission-less forms of leverage in the 21st century. Code and Media were among them.He called Code and Media as leverage that have no marginal cost of replication, that is, making website 1 and website 1000 is probably going to cost you the same $1. You could potentially write a software or code that could save the world, and I started thinking, hey, why not me? Wouldn’t it be nice if I could actually write code for the web? If I could be able to code. That talk alone fired me up to think, I want to have an edge and add leverage in my life.
🛠 a new skill set to have
But I see it as something really amazing to be able to learn this skill called web development. In my journey as a visual artist, I have learned design, photography and cinematography. I think learning web development would be a great addition to this family of skills.
Other random thoughts
how to get startup ideas and my startup ideas
paul graham says, the way to get startup ideas, it to make ideas that you personally want! and there are a bunch of things that I honestly want. I have a small spreadsheet on notion, but I can’t help but imagine that I can launch the same startups with no code apps.
difference between a css framework and wordpress
I just came also from reading a long article, of the difference between bootstrap ( a css framework) and wordpress, and I was so curious, why should I put myself through this entire stress of trying to learn full web development when I can just go ahead and use wordpress to make and sell websites.
As I write this, I got my answer!
a good understanding of the web development framework, would allow me to fundamentally understand how to code my own app or webpage if need ever arose. I would understand basically how the users are served, and how the technology works to serve these people.
What next?
A calming personal reassurance that, this is a marathon, not a sprint. I am not rushing against anyone when it comes to learning web development. I shall try to take it easy. Right now, I am obviously motivated, that is why I am reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of videos on web development. But I know this won’t last. The motivation will wear out as things get harder. I only hope that I shall personally use this post to remind myself of pursuing this skill.
