Development, in general, is very popular in today’s world of technology, where everything is actually based on development. Development is the present, and it will, for sure, be the future, and day by day, it becomes an increasingly popular profession and interest.
Most people are willing to become developers, and they are making career shifts in order to become one, but that is not easy at all. The beginning is the hardest point where lots of people just give up, which could be considered their biggest mistake in their professional life.
No matter which development type you pick, mobile application development, web application development, or website development, including WordPress, in the beginning, you must arm yourself with patience, perseverance, and a great desire to learn. When you add to that tips from other developers that are available in various ways (online courses, friends, acquaintances, professors, mentors…), everything is much easier, and the hardest point or period of your journey becomes an easy one.
So, here are three tips for everybody willing to become a developer which will make their life easier. So let’s go!
Practice
The first and the most important part of becoming a developer is practice. Everybody, especially new developers, is expecting to become a developer overnight and not face any difficulties while learning and working. But that is not the reality. The reality and new developers’ days are full of difficulties.
In order to overcome those difficulties practicing is the key. Not only will you overcome the difficulties, but you will become a true developer. Constant practice will provide you with experience, even though it is not professional experience, yet it is experience that will for sure positively impact your career.
Here are practice tips for new developers and also those who are willing to become a developer:
Break the task into smaller tasks – just think about the task as a puzzle and break it into many small tasks which, when combined, will do whatever the main task was. The same as with puzzles, when you combine all the pieces, you get the big picture.
Pseudocode – before you start writing the code itself, first write pseudocode. For those who do not know what pseudocode is, it is a plain language description of the steps required for solving a specific task. So, after you write down a possible solution to a specific task/problem, it will be easier to write the code.
Do challenges – while practicing, it is very important to solve tasks that are challenging. Just practicing things that you are familiar with is not considered progress; it is just tapping in place. Facing problems and solving them is progress, and it is what makes you a better developer. Every step is a step; no matter how easy or hard the problem is, when you solve it, you are a better developer and closer to being the so-called true developer.
Have emergency tools
Who works, makes mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes; new developers are those who are making lots of mistakes. The majority of the mistakes are small ones, and they are not affecting the sites being developed too badly. But no one knows when a catastrophic mistake might be made that will crash a site. This scenario is frequent if the developer is new or someone who is still learning. For this situation, it is crucial to have some sort of backup in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible if it occurs, and the best tool for such situations is ERS – Emergency Recovery Script.
Emergency Recovery Script (ERS) is a single-file, WordPress-independent PHP script whose role is to recover your site after some serious problem happened on the same. When you cannot fix things even with a plugin, this script is the only way to recover from the problem that will quickly and without coding, using the database, or modifying any file, not only fix things but also save you from complete reinstallation of the site.
ERS contains many tools that may be used according to the nature of the problem. Here is the list of its tools:
- WordPress Information
Provides various information about the WP installation.
- Server Information
Provides information about the server.
- Core Files
Checks every single WP core file and compares it to the secure master copy found on the official WP website, and reports any change found.
- Reset WordPress
Completely resets a WP installation.
- Snapshots
If you took a snapshot, you would use the RESTORE option to return a page to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken.
- Plugins/ Themes
If you want or do not want to use a plugin/theme at the moment, you can easily enable or disable any plugin/theme.
- User Privileges & Roles
Restores default privileges and roles and matches them as best as possible to the ones an account previously had.
- Administrator Account
This tool will help you fix any problem by creating a new administrator account.
- WordPress URLs
Easily change site URLs and fix the site.
- Delete or Reset .htaccess
These two tools either completely delete the .htaccess file or restore it to default values for pretty permalinks.
- Disable WordPress Maintenance Mode
This tool will help fix the problem of a site stuck in maintenance mode with just one click.
Keep learning new things
Every developer, who wants to be a good and true developer, must keep up with the technologies. The technologies are being developed and improved, so developers must improve their knowledge in order to be able to keep using the technologies and to continue their developer careers.
As a new programmer, you have to be ready for constant learning and improving your knowledge throughout your whole career. Besides friends, professors, mentors, co-workers, and others, there are lots of free and paid resources where you can gain new knowledge.
Here is the list of some free resources for new developers:
- Codecademy
- freeCodeCamp
- Coursera
- Khan Academy
- Udacity
- W3Schools
Conclusion
Nothing comes overnight, and that is what everyone, in the beginning, must be aware of, no matter if they are beginning with school in order to become developers or if someone decided to change their career and start a programming career.
The competition is huge when it comes to this profession, and indeed only the best ones can stand out. But it really does not mean that you should give up and that there is no potential talent for a good developer in you.
If you really love and want to be a developer, with all this advice and willingness for learning and training throughout your whole career, success is not far away.
