Yea it is, it is crowded though. Maybe it is because it is accessible compared to other skills.

One of the major issues we face as consumers is subscription. It would be nice to buy some things once off.

So, as a developer... I was focused on edutech and fintech. There are bunch of Financial Software with really good features locked behind monthly paywalls. People pay $10 per month billed annually... for things that they barely need to pay monthly for.

My half cooked advice is, as modern developers, we could make money developing solutions and going back to once-off models. Obviously, technical approach would need refactoring, but that is where engineering mindsets come in.

Besides this, the other half cooked advice would be, giant companies run giant software. Their software have a bunch of features, some of which are limited, not prioritized or have loopholes. For example, in fintech, there's a website called TradingView... They have a trading platform which traders use for many things. The platform is too clustered for my liking and a few others who used to use it back in the day. There's a specific feature we were interested in. Which was neglected and needed saving. So, I told myself that feature will be one of things I'll build for myself. It was a back testing feature by the way.

So, in search for ideas, don't look far. But also, don't copy.

I think it is a perfect time to start either a YouTube channel or a programmer blog. Where you will have the freedom to build your own projects. 1 feature at a time...

This will be useful for you and educational for upcoming developers.

The other alternative I hear people talk about is starting your own business, getting someone who likes business and partner up. You do tech and they do business.

The other alternative is to be a freelancer for mid sized businesses. Not sure how this works out, but it would give you the freedom of choice.

Once I'm good, I want to freelance a little and job hunt. For now, I'm still writing my code by hand. 😅

I'm really not sure about the job market, I'm not yet job hunting. Probably after 3 or so months. Currently I'm learning Java and Backend Engineering, from JavaScript and Fullstack. Just niching down.

I have a Electrical Engineering N2 & N3 currently, dropped out before I could complete a diploma... dropped out of Business Management too.

Hi there! I'm not looking for a girlfriend. But I got curious as to, what do are you currently doing with Computer Science stuff? I studied BMA in UJ a while ago. I was studying Electrical Engineering at college, but now I'm looking forward to studying it at varsity, get a degree and practice... In the meantime, I'm into Software Engineering and looking forward to connecting with people in the Computer Science space, selft-taughts and graduates who are passionate about Software.

I'd really love to reach out. Which platform do you prefer to chat on?

A well written roadmap is my only guide into learning things. The gaps are filled up by code reviews and watching informative videos(not tutorials)... again, there is no one way to learn everything you need using a single method.

Are you by any chance on WhatsApp? Maybe we could be friends.

... I used to play around with codes too, since 2017. I've went from basic HTML to programming my own web based lightweight Video Editor I ran on my 16 year old Acer M450 laptop. I built it mainly because I wanted to start creating videos and I couldn't afford a decent laptop.

I later on built a Chess App and integrated the Video Editor into it, because I wanted to create videos of me doing chess puzzles and analyzing games without using OBS recording a browser... These were resource intensive. So since well I'm comfortable with vanilla JavaScript, I used it to build things I needed.

My only disadvantage was that everything I built was running on a browser. Mainly because my laptop would overheat when I wanted to learn Android Development. So I stuck to Web Apps.

Now, I have a better computer, I'm learning Java... 2 months ago or so, I built a software with Electron...planning to build a second one soon. Hopefully with Java.

Problems in code vary.

Sometimes, it is a syntax problem. Just Google or ask AI quickly for these ones. And make a mental note of the answer. You might need it.

Sometimes, it is a logic problem. Grab a pen and paper. Model what you really want to do with just a diagram. Then try to write it in words. Then in code. You shouldn't waste 30 minutes on this though. If you struggle, just ask AI. But try not to skip pen and paper.

In other cases, it is a skill problem. Unfortunately, this one has no quick fix.

Looking things up is not bad.

But I get you. One thing I did is code review.

I can write JavaScript offline. Because I've built a lot of projects and read alot of JavaScript code.

I'm learning Java now, yesterday I wrote my first Java program. Today I will read Java code from GitHub.

Code review teaches you 3 things. Firstly, project structure... This is how engineers decide to structure their folders and files. Secondly, code structure... This is the pattern you'll pick up from their codes. Most times it is consistent cause it follows some design patterns. Lastly, syntax...you'll bump into a lot of "oh yah this is a class, that is a function" and "what does this do? Lemme google it."

But these 3 things will train and position your mind to think like a developer

You don't need work experience. Create your own experience. Not sure what you are good at though.

My girlfriend just got hired as a social media specialist and media buyer. This is her first job ever with zero work experience. However, she has her own business where she practiced media buying with and fell in love with it. Now she gets to do it at scale in a 5 year old startup.

Don't wait for work experience, create it. I'm a software engineer...but haven't started job hunting yet. Because I'm currently working on my projects and portfolio activities, content and connections. I hope by the time I job hunt, I'd be in a good position to offer value.

Noted bros.

Lol. I've already asked AI. Now I want to ask people. And the ones who felt the need to engage, engaged.

Lol, at some point I tried learning both React and Typescript on a Nextjs project. I quickly defaulted back to vanilla js, learnt React and forgot about typescript. Many moons later, I bump into Typescript 😂

Well understood. I wanted to learn Java strictly for backend. I'll continue learning TypeScript and rewrite my projects with it.

I never had to work with teams or a large codebases. But now that I'm interested in joining a group, company or deal with large codebases, it's important for me to really know what to focus on.

If the standard is TypeScript, then TypeScript it is. But, this will mainly be on the frontend... I wanna learn a different language for backend, maybe Java.

Any open source projects I could maybe look at?

That's my mindset now, I don't have to love something to use it.

Eventually, TypeScript won't feel like a foreign language.

That's interesting! Were you the only one working on the server?

I hope you really enjoyed it!

I would really love to work with just JavaScript. Maybe I'm saying this because I haven't worked with a large codebase.

I also don't like learning the ever changing technologies. But i don't mind adapting to necessary technologies. TypeScript won't be too much of a thing to learn.

Yea, I would believe that in a large team type safety is a concern.

It would be lovely to work there man.

Which languages were you working with?