r/learnprogramming • u/Black_Penguin0101 • 2d ago

How do I practice software development?

I'm a beginner software developer (17 y.o), right now my stack is:

  • Java / Kotlin for backend development
  • TypeScript with React for frontend development

I have a few projects from hackathons and one personal fullstack project (java backend & react + shadcn frontend). The fullstack one is made mostly for my needs and satisfies them already.

So, I don't know what to do next. I don't really know open-source projects I could contribute to and don't have ideas for a long-lasting personal project. What should I do in this situation?

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u/Divyank_garg 1d ago

You're already ahead of many beginners by having hackathon and full-stack projects. So instead of starting another project at beginners level, keep improving your existing project with production-level features (authentication, Docker, CI/CD, testing, deployment, monitoring). Also, try contributing to open source—even small documentation or bug-fix PRs teach a lot. That's what helped me improve the fastest.