My Second Attempt at Becoming a Developer

After seven years at Apple, I found myself facing a question I’d been avoiding for a long time: was I actually going to become a developer, or just keep talking about it?

I started to learn how to code in 2022. I was working at Apple by then. I took a really basic JavaScript course followed by React, but I struggled for a long time for a number of reasons.

Even though it’s possible, trying to learn React without solid JavaScript knowledge is more than just challenging. It feels like driving down a dark road. You’re moving forward somehow, but you have no idea where you’re going.

Yet, I was able to write simple to-do apps. They were working, but I did not know what I was writing most of the time. On the other hand, having a full-time job as a Technical Advisor at AppleCare, with its constant mental load, left very little room for anything that required additional brainpower. Less demanding activities like gaming or watching something felt more comfortable.

Being a developer is definitely not something to be achieved with 1-2 hours practice a day. It needs devotion and lots of time to be spent in deep focus. It also should be done day after day. Consistency is one of the keys. I lacked that.

After some time, I was all talk, to be honest. I was telling people that I was going to be a developer, but I was actually procrastinating. At some point, I realized how much time had passed without writing any code at all.

Speaking of which, “watching tutorials only” is possibly the biggest mistake one can make when learning. They’re somewhat crucial to me, but they should make up only 20-30% of the total time spent learning. If you fall into “tutorial hell” once, it’s not easy to get out of it.

The worst thing about it is that tutorials make perfect sense while you’re watching them. You feel like it’s clicking, but when it comes to writing code, you just look at the screen, having no idea what to write or where to start, even in simple tasks. Muscle memoryMuscle memorya form of procedural memory where your brain encodes repetitive motor tasks, eventually allowing you to perform them automatically and effortlessly. is built. I should have known this more than anyone as a gamer.

I needed a reset, but I had much more important things in my life to deal with back then. I may or may not talk about those in another article, but in early 2025, I left Apple through a mutual agreement after 7 years, and I was free to decide what to do next.

I decided to give coding another chance, and most probably a final one. I could go one year unemployed with the money I had. I had to minimize my expenses as much as possible.

This was, and currently still is, a really long shot.

It’s quite clear that with the arrival of AI, the future of software development became a question mark. I am fully aware that it’s not as easy as it was 3-5 years ago to become a junior developer with limited knowledge and skills. Everyone I see online or hear talking about it in real life, whether they’re in the industry or not, talks about an absolute AI takeover and thinks this sector has “finished.”

But I don’t think so.

I think it can even be an advantage. AI is going to become one of the greatest tools a developer can have. It may shift more value toward creativity, product thinking, and design decisions, making the ability to shape an experience more important than writing every line of code by hand.

Why bother learning a whole world of difficult coding languages and concepts then? A person may ask. “Just give the prompt to AI and let it build the website.” But I don’t think it works that way.

Even in a scenario where AI does all the work, developers will still be operating it. It does not seem possible to me without having a solid command of the programming languages I have chosen to learn: JavaScript, React, and eventually TypeScript.

Actually, one of my two main learning sources, Web Dev Simplified’s Kyle Cook, explains this beautifully in one of his YouTube videos. What he says is this: airplanes don’t need to be controlled by humans during most of a flight. Pilots only do the hands-on work during takeoff and landing.

That video gave me confidence about what I’m currently doing. Just as a pilot needs proper training, I also need to learn and master everything there is to know about the languages I’ve chosen to pursue.

I also had a conversation with ChatGPT, the AI tool that I use for my learning. ChatGPT became an extremely useful learning partner. Whenever I got stuck on a concept, I could discuss it for as long as needed until it finally clicked.

For example, we spent a really long time discussing recursion in JavaScript. A function calling itself to solve a given problem. In tutorials, of course, it’s explained in the simplest ways, but in reality, you can encounter it in much more complex forms. With GPT, we did exercises like this: it would give me an output and ask me what would happen in each iteration of the call stack. I’d answer and we’d discuss my mistakes. By discussing them, I’d understand even more and request a harder question. We’d gradually raise the bar until GPT was convinced that I was ready to move on.

For the first time ever in my coding journey, I find myself spending hours in deep focus, doing nothing but writing code. The more I write code, the more I understand how wrong it is to rely too heavily on tutorials.

All these things are what happened until now.

My plan is clear.

Everything is decided.

I’m still working on JavaScript fundamentals right now, but I know they matter the most. When I become confident enough, I’ll switch to React, which I’m already familiar with. That’s when I’ll start working on my two projects: Pizza God and Personal Blog.

Instead of having 10 different basic projects that have nothing special to show, I thought working on two big projects could have better outcomes. I’ve been thinking about them for such a long time. They both have an identity. They are both intended to surprise people who expect “just a pizza delivery page” or “just a blog page.”

I’m not claiming that I’ll introduce entirely new concepts to these genres, but I think they’ll be enough to impress people and hopefully recruiters.

I am really, really excited to think about what I can create. I come up with new ideas and new features for my projects all the time. With my current knowledge and skills, I am unable to build many of them.

I would describe myself as being at a junior level in coding, but somewhat ahead of that when it comes to product and systems thinking. My goal is to reach a solid mid-level understanding of coding and continue developing the product and systems thinking skills that have always interested me.

Time is passing too quickly. I lost some time, had my setbacks, and made a couple of mistakes, but I made up my mind and took measures to avoid repeating them.

Consistency.

Devotion.

Discipline.

These are the things I have always lacked in my life, but now I have to have all of them at once.

Let’s see where I’ll be in my next update.

I’ve never stopped believing in myself, even during the toughest periods of my life. I believe this process will eventually lead to both success and long-term happiness.

Mon, Apr 6, 23:24