This advice is based on my:

• 4 years of professional Software Engineering career
• 8 years of hobbyist programming and buidling applications
• 100s of conversations with engineers and folks in tech

Table of contents

1. Don’t box yourself to a language or a framework

Every language is trying to become every other language. At the end of the day, each language is just a tool. Don’t think X or Y language is the best one. Pick any language and finish learning it. The time taken to learn your X+1 language is usually half of the time it took you to learn the X language.

Though picking a language that is easier to get started with can make the learning experience more fun. For example: Starting with JavaScript or Python is easier because their syntax is simple and you are able to make tangible real-world useful programs relatively quickly.

Once you get comfortable with either of them, you can explore slightly more complicated but helpful langues like C/C++ and Java.

A little bit of landscape for languages:

• Wanna build web apps: JavaScript or Django
• Wanna build embedded stuff: C/C++
• Wanna learn programming from the internals level: Start with C or Java
• Wanna build video games: JavaScript (Three.js), C# (Unity3D), C++ (Unreal Enginer)

Also, don’t limit yourself to a single language or a framework. Try not to call yourself a React.js Developer or a Java Developer.

Better way to frame it would be “I am a Software Engineer specialising in frontend with React.js”. It gives other people and you yourself a better impression that you know much more beyond than a single framework.

Love how Harley Ferguson, Founder at Origen Software, talked about this in his post: