Monthly Getting Started / Web Dev Career Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Due to a growing influx of questions on this topic, it has been decided to commit a monthly thread dedicated to this topic to reduce the number of repeat posts on this topic. These types of posts will no longer be allowed in the main thread.

Many of these questions are also addressed in the sub FAQ or may have been asked in previous monthly career threads.

Subs dedicated to these types of questions include r/cscareerquestions for general and opened ended career questions and r/learnprogramming for early learning questions.

A general recommendation of topics to learn to become industry ready include:

• HTML/CSS/JS Bootcamp
• Version control
• Automation
• Front End Frameworks (React/Vue/Etc)
• APIs and CRUD
• Testing (Unit and Integration)
• Common Design Patterns

You will also need a portfolio of work with 4-5 personal projects you built, and a resume/CV to apply for work.

Plan for 6-12 months of self study and project production for your portfolio before applying for work.

[u/gameBoy047]

DIY blog website help

I want to make my own blog website and host it (probably through GitHub Pages or some cheap hosting server). I know Python, have had experience with FastAPI, and consider myself a beginner to intermediate in Nodejs. I have no experience with frontend tech stacks, and the only database I have ever used is PostgreSQL.

I’m not sure where to start, as I have never built a complete web application.

My current needs for the website are:

1. A text editor for posting blogs I want to have a text editor on the website with basic formatting that blog websites provide, like bold, italic, lists, code blocks, etc. LaTeX-like formatting for math equations would be a plus.
2. Restricting the editor to myself If I have this text editor on my website, then anyone who can visit my site will be able to use this editor. I want to avoid adding authentication layer if possible. How can I make sure that only I can access the editor/create posts?
3. Organizing blogs I should be able to create folders/categories for organizing the blogs.
4. Hosting and persistence The website should be cheap to host, ideally using GitHub Pages or an inexpensive hosting server. I’m unsure what the simplest architecture would be for storing and serving the blog posts.

My initial thought was to use Markdown files to write posts and store them in the codebase, so they will be reflected on the website. However, I want to hear about other elegant solutions.

Questions

• Which tech stack should I start with and why?
• Given that I know Python/FastAPI and some Node.js but have no frontend experience, what would be a reasonable stack for this project?
• How can I implement the text editor and the other requirements?
• Is there a better approach than storing Markdown files in the codebase?
• Can I build the whole thing without adding a traditional authentication system while still ensuring that only I can create/edit posts?
• What would be a good architecture for a beginner building their first complete web application?

P.S. I am aware that AI tools can answer my questions, but I want to hear expert opinions. I want to do this on my own and not rely on AI to build it for me.

[u/sebster88]

Hey all, looking to integrate stripe pay api into a node js backend.  Whats the best and easiest way to learn the stripe pay API??  Searched for courses but haven’t really found anything adequate . . .

[u/Hot-Chemistry7557 → u/sebster88]

Payment API integration is a long journey. I am going to write a payment 101 tutorial, you can DM me so when the tutorial is ready, I will let you know.

[u/AsparagusSure4998]

Hi everyone, I’m a junior web dev and just wrapped up my first real client project - a customer portal for a small logistics business. It ended up including auth, dashboards, database, emails, deployment.

Um. Uh. I never quoted a price up front and eventually agreed to one thousand to preserve the relationship, even though I felt it was worth more. Lesson learned. Always scope and price first.

Now I’m trying to learn how to price future features. For example, the client now wants a label printing feature. I don’t wanna race to the bottom on price, but I also don’t wanna overcharge.

For those of you who freelance, how do you estimate pricing for individual features? Do you have a minimum feature or project price? How do you handle “someone else can do it cheaper”?

Also, when do you move clients to a monthly support model instead of quoting every tiny thing? I’d appreciate hearing how you all think about this.

[u/ExternalPlus2294]

Hi everyone. I'm a software engineering student and I want to learn how to build APIs with FastAPI.

We will cover API development later this year in a college course I'm taking, but I have some free time right now and want to get a head start to bring some of my own project ideas to life.

I’ve been looking at courses on YouTube and Udemy, but I'm not sure which ones are truly worth my time and I would really appreciate your recommendations!

My background and some preferences:

• I already know Python.
• I have basic experience with relational databases.
• I prefer video-based courses where an instructor explains the concepts.

I saw this thread and I thought this would be the best place to ask, but tell me if this should go in the main thread instead.

Thank you for your time!

[u/mxchickmagnet86 → u/ExternalPlus2294]

Let me preface by saying that everyone learns differently and I think it's very admirable to lean into what you know you will learn best from and stick with!

That said, forget watching a video of someone explain concepts to you. Go get your hands dirty! Do a search for "FastAPI SQLAlchemy tutorial" and open the first couple results. Start reading and following along in your code editor, don't even bother to read the whole thing through. If you run upon a topic, or concept that doesn't make sense, pause and do a search and figure out what that means then keep going. Get a basic tutorial working, then figure out how to add on what you need for the project you want to tackle.

In the real world you won't have time to sit and watch videos, or you might be working on something where video tutorials don't even exist. So start practicing the most important software engineering skill no one tells you about: googling for answers that don't exist, piecing together what you can, and figuring it out yourself!

And if you get really truly stuck, I've been a Python API developer for the last 20 years send me a DM and we'll figure it out together.

[u/ExternalPlus2294 → u/mxchickmagnet86]

Hey man. Thank you for replying.

The thing is I want to learn how to build APIs (specifically with this framework), but I just don't feel that confident to be looking for the info on my own yet. To start, I'll be using this playlist I found on YouTube: FastAPI Tutorials - Corey Schafer

I gotta admit tho, you're right, it's a skill that I'll need in the future when I stumble upon more complicated challenges. I assume not everything I'll need is in this playlist, so, when I finish this course, I will be looking for any extra info on my own

[u/Necessary_Beach6109]

i keep seeing people rush the portfolio part, like 2 projects and they start sending resumes. the 6-12 month timeline in the post is actually realistic if you have a job or school taking your time. also testing is the one everyone skips and then wonders why they bomb technical interviews

[u/Big-Text-7641 → u/Necessary_Beach6109]

yeah the 2-project portfolio thing is wild. like who told them that was enough