To be brutally honest, I do not exactly know why I suddenly decided to write about my own journey. Maybe, this is just for self-reflection, about how far I have come (however infinitesimal that may be), or this just serves the purpose of an introductory post. Well, here goes nothing then…

Introduction to programming

I was introduced to elementary Java in 2016, a little over 8 years ago, mainly as it was a part of our curriculum. At that time, I had little to no interest in any of the sciences, and was more fascinated with subjects like history (surprise, surprise). As a result, I merely started mugging up simple programs which again was a terrible idea, looking back now. Anyway, fast forward three years to 2019, when the complexity of the programs started ramping up a bit too fast, and I soon realised that I had to change my approach, if I were to maintain my grades (which were again nothing extraordinary). This is how I met my mentor, without whom I would not have made any progress, whatsoever. My interest had also shifted from the catacombs and tunnels of history to the postulates of physics. Again, I am not sure if this shift had anything to do with computers and technology, but whatever. Okay, back to the journey.

A change of mentality

Believe me dear reader, at this point, I literally had no understanding of loops or conditional statements so other more complex things like arrays and strings were a far cry. At the beginning, it was hard, like very hard. I struggled and struggled. Then, one day while casually just messing around, I realised one very important thing, that maybe I needed to try and understand each line, and what effects each line, each condition had on the overall output. And so I did that. I started studying sample programs. Slowly, I started to understand. Soon, for loops and while loops became easier, and I started to develop a keen interest. Unfortunately, the pressure of my curriculum meant that I could not translate this new-found interest into a full blown hobby. However, the seeds were already sown.

Python

The next significant development happened when I got exposed to Python in 2021. By now, I was fairly proficient in Java. So, when I first started learning Python, the syntax itself turned out to be much easier. I had no major problems learning the basics.I started building some small scale projects and much to my satisfaction, I had relatively zero difficulty in coding these small projects. I also could debug mostly by myself. Then, one day, quite by chance, I came across a video showcasing the development of a website using something called CSS (yes, I had never heard of it before). By this time, I had opened up a github account and had successfully collaborated with classmates by building a simple graphical weather app using tkinter. Now, I tried learning CSS and elementary javascript, thinking it would be a piece of cake. But, then I hit a complete roadblock and a somewhat of a reality check.

The first roadblock

I don’t know exactly what happened, but I completely failed to learn even the most basic parts of web development. Maybe, it was academic pressure, maybe it was fatigue due to having an overly packed routine. It was then that I realised that not everything is as easy as it seems, and I would achieve nothing by continuing in a half hearted manner. Thus, defeated, I gave up.

The second roadblock

The next year or so was fairly uneventful as academics took a complete grasp over my life. Only after I got into college, did I have some free time. Again, I tried dabbling into Javascript and again I could not progress. My github was barren for nearly 2 years at this stage and I was sort of stuck in a state of limbo, if you know what I mean. It was weird as well as concerning to me that I was struggling this much and much like the last time, I chose the easy way out again, by completely choosing to not delve into web development at all. This was my second roadblock. Then, in my next major break (between semesters), something happened. (Oh, I did learn C in college, so that was there!)

The breakthrough

Dear reader, have you ever felt that urge to do/learn that single thing, irrespective of the number of times you have failed before? If yes, then you know exactly how I felt. This time I wholly dedicated myself to learning javascript. My approach was simple, learn little by little every day and most importantly, try and not get fatigued at any point of time. Over time, I felt that familiar urge I had felt when I had started to understand Java, or the time when I had delved into Python. Then, little by little I taught myself React. Slowly I gained proficiency. Now, I know javascript isn’t even that hard, but I still haven’t figured out why I hit a roadblock not once, but twice. This was indeed a breakthrough for me and for my skills as well as I also kind of learnt Tailwind CSS as well in this process. Then, I slowly started to contribute to my github. This was in a terrible mess, as after 2021 I had no significant contributions. This indeed is a complete recap of my journey so far.

The Way forward

I must thank you, dear reader, for sticking with me thus far and reading through all that. I still have much to learn, in fact, upon comparison with others, I have really not learned much yet. There’s still a long, long way for me ahead. I am much too young to be advising anyone, but if there’s one thing I have learnt throughout these few years is the importance of never losing hope and always sticking to a goal.

I currently plan on learning Next.js and am planning to build my own portfolio website, and at the same time, further sharpening my skills.

You can check out my projects here. (There’s still not much there but something is better than nothing, eh?). Also, any feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated and I would definitely try to inculcate these moving forward.

I thank you again, dear reader, for reading through this entire post. Happy Coding!