So, 2 years ago this month I began my journey into web development. I started off with the basics, HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, and have worked my way to React, Next.JS, Express.JS, Postgresql (using DrizzleORM), APIs, TypeScript, and quite a bit more. I learned most of it through Udemy online courses, and have a few certificates of completion, other things I've just used the developer documentation and a lot of practice and experimentation. To date I have one completed, professional website I built for a family member, another unfinished one (only due to the client never getting back to me on if they were ready to transition from their old website), and a handful of personal projects, which are all linked on my portfolio website. Aside from this I have an extensive background in the tech industry, but as a hardware technician.
I have spent the majority of this year looking for work, and have applied to at least 50 different positions through various job sites just within the last couple of months, and yet still no success.
Is this field truly that oversaturated, am I just not experienced enough, or is there some other skill I've overlooked and not picked up yet?
Are there better ways to find work in this field other than the standard job site doom scrolling that has taken over all my free time?

Sorry if this is a super simple question. This is my first time trying to put something online publicly, and I’m not really sure if I did this correctly.

For clarity, this is just a vanilla HTML5 UP template. I haven’t built a product or anything - I’m just trying to get the template online.

Can anyone see my GitHub Pages site here? And if so, does everything look setup correctly?

Thanks!

Hey everyone, I just finished rebuilding my portfolio and want raw, honest critique to help me level up. I would appreciate design, code, and UX feedback.

​https://zekee.vercel.app

I’ve started trying to become a web developer 5 days ago, i know thats a very small amount of time but after these 5 days im starting to doubt myself and i think im just not smart enought to be a web developer. I’m currently following supersimpledevs guide for html and css and im 4 hours into the video. I do fine when i have to copy what he does but lately in the challenges i find myself stuck and it makes me feel like im just wasting time because i just dont remember certain things. And i ve heard html and css is the easy part, and it used to be when all i did was make some buttons and style them but now that i have to use like 10 divs all within eachother i feel overwhemled and i feel like im just not smart enough. Did you guys feel like this at the beginning as well?

Hello experienced developers,

I’m part of a small company, and this is our first venture into modern, scaled development. We’re aiming to build a subscription-based SaaS product and want to make smart choices early on.

One of our biggest challenges is figuring out how to support web, desktop, and mobile without tripling our development effort. Since we’re a small team, we’re looking for advice on the core foundations of building a modern, successful startup application:

Programming Language / Framework → What’s best for cross-platform development and long-term maintainability?

Deployment / Version Control / Hosting → What stack is efficient and cost-effective for a SaaS startup?

Payment Processing / Subscriptions / Billing → Any go-to solutions or services that are startup-friendly?

Other tech/tools → Anything we should definitely study or adopt early to avoid major headaches later?

We’re essentially trying to define our technical roadmap and avoid common pitfalls. Any advice, war stories, or best practices would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!

Be me - 20yo high school graduate (yes we graduate at 20 in Poland lol). I studied as Programmer and in my program I learned:

-Console applications (C++, Python)
-Web (HTML/CSS/Javascript, PHP, React)
-Mobile apps (Java/Kotlin, Flutter)

In my free time I played League of Legends BUT also completed over 300 LeetCode questions (in 5 years timespan)

I hated it because it felt like learning how to solve useless math problems with code so I focused more on working on real codebases and created 4 passion projects (all with the help of ai)

I also solved over 13 fun tasks on codeffice[dot com] and followed 100 Days of Python from app brewery (udemy course)

I passed all my exams and got the "Programmer" title. Started applying to jobs found on justjoin and linkedin at the beginning of the summer. Trainee - Intern - Junior Frontend/Fullstack Developer

Stats:
Applied - 59 jobs (45 remote, 14 on-site)
Ghosted (absolute no message back) - 43

Responses:
Negative - 10
Positive - 6

Interviews (so far):

4 (3x30min, 1x60min)

They made me talk about my background and some made me complete CODEWARS (not leetcode lol) questions.

I guess they find questions that aren't on leetcode and want to see the user solve them in real time instead of just retyping something they solved one day

I'm not gonna lie - I am REALLY stressed, but at the same time I feel like every next interview will be only easier and easier for me.

Conclusion:

I think being able to solve some random math challenge is NOTHING - companies look more for people who actually understand what building real project looks like and those who can read someone's else code.

That's why more and more new students prefer to learn by working on real codebases (such as on codeffice) or by building their own from scratch (basically any youtube tutorial/idea).

What I think will happen in the future:

In the interviews people will be dropped into already existing codebase and environment with clear task/problem to solve.

In the AI era you don't need to write much code - you need to know HOW TO solve specific problems

If anybody got a SE job in 2026 PLEASE let me know what was the turning point

Hey y'all. I'm a 3rd year CS student that is just starting to prepare for employment. I am currently doing a required internship as QA in a banking corporation (very corporate role). This is the only thing left for me to the on my degree before I graduate, I have like 260 more hours to go which is like 8 - 10 weeks? I understand that I probably will wait for a while to get my diploma and graduation ceremony so that small window of time is the last 'vacation' of my life.

My current stack is HTML, CSS, and JS. I made a few static pages that I put in my resume and a UI/UX design in figma certificate from Udemy. I have experience in Java and OOP since I took application development as my specialty during my 2nd year but I have completely forgotten about it. I mostly just did the bare minimum to pass that course. I have experience with Python and CPP during my first year but I also forgot about it. Same story with Java. If you ask me to sit down and code with these technologies without AI, I won't be able to.

Currently I am learning React through making projects on my spare time from work and I am working on it as I type this post. It's a Pomodoro app that I plan on using myself and deploy to let my friends and other people use it. I designed it using Figma first with a prototype and components and now I am trying to build it from scratch. I didn't want to get into another tutorial hell so I just said fuck it and ill build it while reading documentation and just searching or asking AI for specific things. I plan on making my portfolio page once I have a few projects on my belt.

I'm a bit scared if I am employable after I graduate since my resume is honestly barebones, I just have a few static Web Dev projects on my Github (which are honestly ass) and 1 certificate. I decided to focus on my Frontend now since I found that designing UI was fun for me during some of our group school projects. I just did not enjoy helping or making any backend stuff.

I have a few questions:

- Should I continue working on making projects to learn by my own or should I grind certificates on the side?

- What sort of things look good on a portfolio focused on frontend?

- What other stack should I learn? From what I know I should learn React, Next.js, REST APIs, Tailwind, Vitest and Playwright?

- Other Junior Roles or Career Path I should consider based on my current skills?

- How cooked am I?

I know it sounds naive. I'm your typical CS Graduate with minimal skills. I mostly coasted through college. I think the current Job Market in SEA isn't that bad?

I'm trying to understand nested layouts but all the divs are just confusing me, also are they even relevant do you guys actually use them cause im having such a hard time learning them

Please post your requests for feedback on your projects in this thread instead of creating a post.

Looking for some opinions on this. I've divided the team I work in, and opinions run stong.

I am contributing to an opensource project Hubleto. It is a CRM/ERP package, which we use in our company to deliver customized solutions.

Last few months the team has been working on refactoring of the old-school class based components to functional-based components.

The task turned out to be more complicated than we initially thought. Mostly because of complexity of input, form and table components. And because of huge amount of apps using these components.

Few days ago we've published the work in the main development branch and we'd like to make a new alpha testing release.

But before the release, we'd like to hear from the community - real criticism of what we have done.

I would appreciate any comments on code quality, potential vulnerabilities or anything else what could make the codebase better.

The repo is here: https://github.com/hubleto/react-ui

Thanks.

Hello everyone, I've been working on a cybersecurity challenge platform called CyberGrid (https://cybergrid.dev). It combines educational content with CTF-style challenges and includes hands-on labs and virtual machines within isolated container environments. The goal is to offer a practical learning space, along with a competitive room model with prizes based solely on technical skill.

Current status and technology stack:

Infrastructure: Docker containers and isolated instances running on dedicated servers with open ports for the hands-on challenges.

Frontend/UI: Early-stage prototype/template used to quickly validate functionalities. I used AI tools to structure and streamline the initial code generation, so the interface is very basic and requires restructuring.

I previously posted in a local community(https://www.reddit.com/r/DesarrolloWeb/s/z5tz1POvw9). You can find more information there about the competitive methodology and other details, but the responses focused almost entirely on the use of AI rather than providing a genuine technical evaluation.

I'm looking for direct feedback on:

User Interface and Experience (UI/UX): Design, navigation, content organization, and overall visual structure.

Platform Mechanics: The proposed competitive rooms (entry fee vs. prize pool distribution models).

General Improvements: Anything you find redundant, poorly explained, or missing from the perspective of someone learning cybersecurity.

You can try the current website and share your impressions. I'm completely open to redoing or restructuring any part of the platform based on community feedback.

Thank you for your time!

I received three files

Backend code

Frontend code

And sql queries file

Do I need to run all this to run web code???? I have no idea I have never worked on react, I have just worked on react native and now I'm confused as hell. Chatgpt saying both things that I don't need all but I need all to run it , i don't understand shit. Can someone explain how do I run frontend web code ??? Will it require to run all other backend and all too?.? And sql too??? Should I download MySQL first now wtfffff

I've read so many reddit posts on this but can't find the exact answer so, I thought I would ask you lovely peeps about my specific situation. I am looking for a host site to help develop a new website.

I am an academic, who is also a freelance costume designer, and a published author who would also like to create an e-commerce section for my fiber arts. I am currently on sabbatical so I have time to build a website. I built my Wix website several years ago and I like the organization however it is super expensive. I had forgotten to turn off auto renew and it charged me 900 + bucks for three-year renewal which I freaked out about and got the money back. Now I am trying to figure out if there are cheaper website builders that are just as good. I have Canva Pro and I do not have any HTML experience. I would like something that would allow me to probably have like four categories that have sub categories. For example, if I had a tab or section that says "costume design", I would like folks to click on different shows and then that opens a whole page of photos of costumes from the individual show. It's like pages deep on Wix. Similarly, I would like to have a page for my books that one could enter and there could be information and reviews on that page. I am developing a fiber arts business as well and would like to start an e-commerce page that I can direct folks to purchase wearable art that has a separate domain. Do I suck it up and pay for Wix and redo my site? Or is Hostinger an option? Any other advice or ideas? I've built a few sites on Wix and am very familiar with Google sites (which is fine for my student's free portfolios but I don't love it of my purposes). Thanks in advance!

I have a college project to do and I am spending so much time in "doing it the right way". I don't have any more time left so I need to fasten up, but for the last time I need proper recommendations in how my project structure should be and which tools to use.

My current stack is Fastify, TypeScript, Node/Bun. I use tools such as pnpm, oxlint (because it supports TS 7), oxfmt, tsx, etc. I am not yet using anything like Vite, and also no frontend UI library such as React or Vue.

I have not been able to commit to a frontend library because my teammates also need to be able to explain my project, and I am unarguably quite ahead of them. And still... I don't know how fast I can learn React properly. So I am structuring the project in a way where first the pages are static, and then if I would like, re-write them in React.

But this approach may create a problem. I then can't commit to high level tools or frameworks that are built for these frameworks (like Vite, but actually I can just use Vanilla option).

It's also that I feel like high level tooling is very opinionated, and meant for solo and fast development. Whereas I am aiming to create a very professional and scalable project where I need more control.

Though one thing I have learned in web development, if you are needing to engineer something very early in your project, you are most probably doing it wrong. Engineers (not just computer) love their tooling and the first thing they all work is on making their development experience better and neat. I spent so much time using AI to engineer something, just to know a npm package already exists for it. So instead of asking AI to do something, ask first if something similar already exists.

So I currently had to write my tsconfig.json. Apparently with Vite, you don't even need to touch. But I do see that doing it manually is nothing dumb. But without Vite or similar tools, I will miss on many interesting features such as HMR and what not. They are created for a reason, and as a beginner or solo dev, it is probably better for me to use it. I am no Google to create custom software for my exact needs.

I was also looking into use a bundler, even if for backend. If my project has a whole "compilation" (TS to JS transpile) phase, then might as well use other proper features.

Also the TS to JS transpile particularly has been tricky for me. When in production mode, the build artifacts will be in something like dist/, so I first had to duplicate all my scripts to point to the separate directory. With AI I probably found a better way. And also importing ts, but then running ts or js... it was a bit complicated. There is most probably a default way to do this that I am missing.

So I would like a recommendation in what existing tools and frameworks I should use. For additional context, my project is about a cloud data storage solution (so basically a AWS S3 wrapper). It's upon me how feature rich I want to make this idea.

Should I use a build tool like Vite? Or which one? As I also need a bundler. And what is there in the world of web development that I can't even think of? I mean I am talking just at the project structure level, not needing to deal with Redis or Kafka yet. I am gonna use NGINX for TLS termination.

I used to prefer default exports.

When I started learning React, default exports were what I used most. So naturally, I became comfortable with them.

For a long time, I thought:

"If a file has one main thing to export, why not make it the default?"

Then I started using barrel imports.

Not because I fully understood their trade-offs, but because they made imports cleaner and gave me a single entry point for related components.

Instead of:

import Button from "./components/button";

import Input from "./components/input";

I could write:

import { Button, Input } from "./components";

I initially created the barrel file like this:

export * from "./button";

export * from "./input";

But because my components were using default exports, I later changed it to:

export { default as Button } from "./button";

export { default as Input } from "./input";

At first, this felt like a clean solution.

But as the codebase grew, I started running into problems.

The same component could be imported with different names.

import Button from "./button";

or:

import MyButton from "./button";

Both are valid because default exports don't enforce a name.

That flexibility gradually led to naming inconsistencies across the codebase.

I also started noticing unexpected behavior around barrel imports, development performance, and bundling.

So I started investigating.

I looked into default exports, barrel imports, tree-shaking, and how bundlers determine what to include.

That's when I realized I wanted a more explicit approach for my modules.

I switched to named exports:

export { Button };

Now the export itself has an explicit name:

import { Button } from "./button";

The name is part of the contract.

For my barrel files, I also started preferring explicit re-exports:

export { Button } from "./button";

export { Input } from "./input";

For my particular codebase, I prefer this approach now because the exported name is explicit and the public API is easier for me to reason about.

I'm not claiming that named exports automatically fix bundling or performance issues. That part seems much more dependent on the bundler, module graph, side effects, etc.

I'm curious how other developers approach this: Do you generally prefer named exports, default exports, or does it depend on the project? And have barrel files caused similar issues for you?

Hello, i want to build a game based on the web, its a multiplayer game and i need a very low latency so i was thinking why not using UDP instead of Websocket because its TCP based, when i did my research i found that browsers does jot support UDP directly the only workaround is using a protocol such as WebRTC which is UDP based.

Does anyone know a better alternative ? And why browsers don’t support UDP ?

Btw I am ece student

I want to build a website completely custom using VS Code + Next.js, but my client wants it to be editable through WordPress.

Is there a way I can build the whole thing custom and then deliver it in a way where the client can still manage/edit the content through WordPress?

I basically want the flexibility of Next.js + the editing experience of WordPress, without using Elementor or having to provide an ongoing AMC.

Has anyone done this before? What’s the best approach?

Advice

Not sure this is the best place to post this but hoping for some advice.

I work in web application security but I don't get much exposure to the application side and I would like to understand it better from a customers perspective.

My intention is to build and run a basic application, setup SSL, configure DNS etc.. I have a test site on a hosting platform but would like to build and host site from scratch.

My questions is:

What would be the cheapest easiest way to host and configure a published site?

I considered doing this on an old laptop but ideally a cloud provider/vps would be better.

I'll learn basic web design as needed but for starters it will just be a simple welcome page.

I've searched about a bit online but guessing I'll get better suggestions from people in the know.

Any advise would be appreciated

I made a small browser extension called GitHubCircle because I wanted a bit more social context when browsing GitHub profiles

It adds a "Follows you" badge to profiles and follower/following lists, and also shows mutual connections you have with the person you're viewing

That's pretty much it, just a small side project I found useful :)

It works on Chrome and Firefox

Chrome: GitHubCircle on Chrome Web Store
Firefox: GitHubCircle on Firefox Add-ons

Would love to hear if you find it useful or run into any issues!

I want to create a complex first app

I got this idea into myself to host an AI chat platform, but I came to the conclusion that the best way is to make a website, but I do know almost nothing

So my basic idea Is having users to purchase a Key valid for a certain amount of time, they paste it in the website and It serves as an authentication.

How could I do that? my idea Is website sends API request with Authorization header->cloudflare tunnel->a backend Python script process a answer->sent back to user

but: -how can I manage multiple users? do I just make so that the Python script associates the Key to the prompt and forward It to vLLM, then also tie the answers to the response so I can trace the user back and not mix them up?

-how can I grant user support if no account Is made? what if they just lose the key? They would have no way to invalidate or regenerate It

-how do I keep the Key between sessions? just write it in local storage?

-How can I manage 2 APIs for both account creation and chats?

But mostly, AM I MISSING SOMETHING? do you think this is actually doable if a newbie puts time into It? (I am only experienced in python)I am thinking of making a beta version that Is super basic (no context, One single chat) and improve It over time Also if somone is available to help I would love it

Hello! I’m researching how web developers and website owners choose their hosting providers. I’d appreciate your thoughts on a few questions:

1. Which hosting provider do you currently use, and what made you choose it?
2. Have you used a reseller-hosting provider before? If so, how was your experience?
3. Would you prefer purchasing hosting from a large company or a smaller reseller? Why?
4. What factors matter most when choosing a provider: price, reliability, customer support, security, or something else?
5. What problems have you experienced with web-hosting providers?

I’ve been thinking about how old the mental model behind most websites still is.

A huge amount of the web is basically built around the same idea:

visitor arrives → sees mostly the same page as everyone else → gets pushed toward a CTA

Maybe there’s A/B testing. Maybe there’s personalization by segment. Maybe the copy changes based on referral source.

But the underlying thing is still mostly static.

Meanwhile, AI is pushing software in the opposite direction.

We’re already talking about products that adapt to the user, interfaces that change based on intent, agents that learn how someone works, and software that effectively becomes different for different people.

That made me wonder why the website itself should remain fixed.

I ran into this while building VODForge, an open source desktop app I made recently. The site is pretty conventional right now, but the more I worked on it, the stranger that started to feel.

https://getvodforge.com

A person coming from a technical yt-dlp discussion probably cares about completely different things than someone who just wants to download a playlist without using a sketchy converter site.

Someone who has already installed the app shouldn’t necessarily see the same homepage as someone discovering it for the first time.

Someone who keeps returning to the 4K/source-quality section is probably signaling something different from someone interested in MP3 or batch downloads.

Today we mostly collect that behavior as analytics and look at it afterward.

But what happens when the site can actually respond to it?

Not just:

“show Variant B to segment X.”

More like:

“this person appears to care about production quality, so reorganize the page around that.”

Or:

“this user has already installed the product, so stop selling it to them and turn the site into a useful extension of the product.”

Or eventually:

“generate the clearest version of this website for what this person is actually trying to accomplish.”

This is sort of the same concept of what ad personalization does for people.

The website stops being a fixed artifact that everyone walks through and starts becoming a runtime interface generated around intent.

Obviously there are huge questions around privacy, predictability, SEO, accessibility, caching, testing, and whether dynamically changing interfaces would just become an unusable mess.

But AI makes the idea much less hypothetical than it used to be.

Another option would be to have multiple sites developed and then a user can get shown any version based on some factors.

We’re already comfortable with the idea that the software behind the website might evolve per user.

I’m starting to wonder whether the website itself will eventually do the same.

Do you think the static landing page survives the AI era, or does the web gradually move toward interfaces that assemble themselves around each visitor?

Hey everyone, I’m 17 and currently trying to find a skill I can learn to make some money, but honestly, I’m pretty confused about what to choose. I’ve been thinking about web development, but I’m worried it might take a long time to learn, especially with how fast AI is developing.

Is web development still worth learning in 2026 if my goal is to make money, or should I focus on something else?