THE RED PILL: HOW DEEP THE RABBIT HOLE GOES #devretro2022

The blue pill-red pill analogy from the 1999 Sci-Fi hit, The Matrix is probably familiar to a large portion of the developer community (Given the fact that lots of us enjoy Sci-Fi; I assume at least). My developer journey started quite a while back. As a kid, coding and software engineering always looked like the coolest jobs around. The developer journey, however, has never been a walk in the park.

A few years ago, my interest in the developer world peaked again, and this time, I picked web development as my niche. As all developers can probably relate, I started off watching tutorials. The tutorial season in my opinion is the honeymoon phase of any developer. Your hand is held the whole time, you create cool projects, and feel very much like a programmer. What comes after is often the hard part. Putting in the work, and building your own projects from scratch can be a tad intimidating to a new developer.

I gave up. I felt like I couldn't do it. Imposter syndrome swarmed my mind like a plague of locusts on a lush green farm. The promise of being a developer did not measure, in my young mind, to the acute knowledge of my own shortcomings in the industry. I couldn't finish projects on my own that I had created with the help of a tutorial just a few days earlier. Basic research, which is the backbone of any project, seemed very daunting. One question had a million answers online, and I couldn't figure out which the right one was.

Fast forward to 2022; the year of my amazing rebirth as a developer. As a third-year student at the university studying Computer Science, I was introduced to Data Structures and Algorithms. This was a turning point for me. It reminded me of my old unrequited love (According to me at least) of programming. It was at this point that I learned that there is no right or wrong way to code; only efficient ways and less efficient ways (as long as it works though), and even this is determined according to need. This really took a great load off my shoulders as I realized I had the creative freedom to solve problems the best way that I knew how with the knowledge I had at the time. Better yet, I could learn new, better ways along the way.

I learned the basics of Android Development, just to get my interest in software development piqued again, and then, later on, returned to the web and its intricacies. I also followed the advice of YouTube mentors and began trying to solve algorithm challenges on Leetcode, which I must admit has been very interesting. I absolutely LOVE Leetcode. Algorithms are the best part of code in my opinion. I'm thinking of writing articles on my hashnode blogs about the different problems I encounter there. Better yet, I got a position as a junior developer in a startup. Next year might see some massive changes to my journey and I am super excited to see how I will take on the challenges. We will see what 2023 has in store.

I am probably not the best web developer around. I am still very early in my journey. Imposter syndrome is still a thing I deal with. However, this time, giving up is not an option. I am sure my journey is not unique and many devs face the same challenges and doubts along the way. With time and practice, however, I believe my skills will continue soaring higher and higher. The sky is not the limit. I am aiming for more than the stars.

#devretro2022