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    Top mistakes while learning web development (and how to prevent them) learn programming

    September 28, 2020

    Top mistakes while learning web development (and how to prevent them) learn programming

    Top mistakes while learning web development (and how to prevent them)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 01:23 PM PDT

    Introduction

    I've been working as a frontend web developer for the last 3 years. I'm self-taught and made a bunch of mistakes along the way. I wanted to share with you guys my thoughts on some of the most common mistakes people make while learning programming and how to avoid them. Let's get started!

    Not Setting A Timeline

    Not setting a timeline or having a roadmap. Without a schedule to follow, you are going to feel less committed, time will just pass by, and you won't really have that drive to hit certain milestones (such as finish a course, build a project or start applying for jobs). Similarly, not tracking your time (you can use a Chrome extension like Toggl). Without knowing how many hours per day/week you're spending learning, time will just pass by and you'll have nothing to hold yourself accountable.

    However, if you do have a roadmap and are tracking your time, you'll be much better equipped at seeing where you are, where you should be, and how much longer before you hit that next milestone.

    Trying Too Many Programming Languages Right At The Start

    I'm not saying don't try different programming languages and experiment, I'm saying that once you have an idea of where you're going ("I want a job in frontend web development", lets say), you're still bouncing around trying PHP, Java and C#.

    When you're looking to get a job, specializing is key. You want to stick to one programming language, based on the job you're wanting to get. Don't get distracted by other languages. They're great and you'll get to them in time, but your focus needs to be on the core stack of the position you're after. You don't want to be a Jack of all trades, but master of none. You need to get vertical proficiency, not horizontal - and you get that by practicing that one thing, every day.

    Consistency

    When learning anything, consistency is key. If you've ever tried to learn a new language, French or Spanish, you know how important it is to be immersed in it. If you're immersed, you become a sponge and absorb everything that is being thrown at you. If you aren't, you're going to have a much more difficult time. With learning programming, consistency is the first step to being immersed.

    Again, this comes back to having a roadmap and sticking to the timeline that you have set for yourself.

    Not Learning How You learn

    Not learning how you best learn things. There are a bunch of different ways to learn coding, whether it is video tutorials, reading documentation, books or reading through other people's code.

    Everyone learns differently, so take a little bit of time just to explore different ways of learning whatever programming language you're going for. Maybe you struggle with video tutorials because it isn't hands on enough for you, so perhaps documentation or a good book would be a better fit for you. Having the right learning tool for you will really help you in the long run.

    Prioritizing Quality Over Quantity

    Prioritizing quality over quantity, RIGHT when you're first starting to code. When you are first starting out, I believe you should be writing as much code as possible and just getting it to work. In time you'll learn how to make your code more elegant and optimize it, but if you are focusing on this right at the beginning, it can be very demotivating.

    You need to be seeing progress, and to do that, you need to be getting your hands dirty. For example, if you're working on a to-do list app, just get it to work. Once you have it going, then write your functions better, then separate your coupled logic, then improve your CSS styling, etc etc. Once you have a strong foundational knowledge, THEN you should be trying to write clean, scalable code.

    Tutorial Hell

    Tutorial hell is when you have spent all of your time watching tutorials but you've never built anything past that. You understand the content while you're watching the tutorial, but when it comes time to applying it and building something your self, you draw a blank and don't know what's going on.

    The best advice I can give for this is when you watch a tutorial, to immediately afterwards start building a similar project. For example, if you're watching a tutorial on building a weather app, immediately afterwards you should be building a project with a different UI(colors and structure) and finding a different weather API (data provider) - and then use the core parts of the tutorial, like integrating the API and displaying the information. Use those core parts, but make it your own. By making the project your own, you'll form a considerably better understanding of the topics and techniques involved, and you'll have a much easier time remembering it when the time comes for you to build something new.

    Trying To Memorize Code Syntax

    Trying to memorize code syntax. That is, the grammar of code. Should a semi-colon be after this bracket, should this line be indented, should I have brackets around this, should I use let or const, single or double quotes, etc.

    It's funny to look back on now, but I used to handwrite out HTML on paper and memorize it, and that just turned into a complete mess, without really helping me (so don't do this). For a lot of the simpler things like semi-colons, indents and quotation marks, look into the free extension Prettier for whatever code editor you're using. It will fix all of these things for you, following best practices. Past that, it just comes down to practice. It will come to you.

    Trying To Learn A Framework Before Mastering The Core Language

    Learning a framework (Angular, React or Vue), before fully mastering the core language (JavaScript). This can be applied to any framework and language (Python/Django, PHP/Laravel, Java/Spring, etc). I think this stems from when we read job postings, they all say we need knowledge in these frameworks, so we think "ok, I need to get there as quickly as possible", and in turn you're going to skip over a lot of the more advanced features of the language. One problem with this is that you won't always be able to tell what is JavaScript vs. what is React. Also, if you skip over JavaScript and only ever master a framework, then when that framework inevitably gets replaced by another framework (as is the industry), then you're stuck in limbo. You won't be able to easily adapt to the constantly changing industry.

    The solution is simple: take all the time you need to master your core programming language and build a bunch of projects in it without any frameworks. You'll then fully understand what's going on in the framework, and you'll be able to adapt in the industry much better, absorbing new technologies at a much faster rate.

    Giving Up

    Sounds cliche, but you will inevitably hit roadblocks and when you do, you need to be able to power through them.

    I'd suggest you set a timer for 30 minutes and try everything you can to understand the issue. Review your notes, check online resources like Stack Overflow, etc. If after that time, you still aren't able to understand the issue, take a break. Sometimes you'll need to allow yourself time to slowly digest it. There have been a ton of times where I've left work and not understand what I was looking at. My brain was completely fried and I was confused. However, the next day when I return to work, all of a sudden things are clicking (at least a bit more) and I'm able to visualize the problem a bit clearer.

    Conclusion

    I hope this helped you understand some of the traps that are out there (some of them you may be falling into right now), and also give you some tools to navigate around them. Let me know if I missed any common mistakes and I'll add them to my list.

    If you did find this helpful and would like more web development topics broken down, I have a YouTube channel called Programming With Pax. It's mostly frontend related, along with succeeding as a self-taught developer. It would be great if you checked it out and gave me some feedback. Thanks a lot for your time and I'll see you in the next one!

    submitted by /u/ProgrammingWithPax
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    Last week I created a free online API Mocking Tool (API Mocha)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 06:47 PM PDT

    If you need to quickly create an API to test your software, or prototype an idea, please check out API Mocha. It's free and available at https://apimocha.com, no sign up required. Simply give your endpoint a name, make an API call to it and create a customised response, including response data, headers, status code and network delay!

    I wrote it using Python/Flask, it took around 30 hours to create and is hosted in a container on Google Cloud Run. Please let me know what you think, or if you have suggestions. I'm keen to add more features in the coming weeks...

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/petermoorey
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    Explain promises and observables like I am five years old.

    Posted: 28 Sep 2020 12:06 AM PDT

    I was learning javascript and I come across the concept promise ad observables. I read the documentation watch the tutorial but I don't understand the what is the purpose of promises.
    I am not able to relate promises concept to a real-life problem. Can someone please explain to me the concept promises with real-life example?

    submitted by /u/Wizzecian007
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    Advice needed about databases for a project I'm working on for Harvard's CS50x Final Project. My idea for this project is to make a website that can allow teachers to track a students records for assignments given.

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 06:59 PM PDT

    From what I've learnt from the course, I'll be using Flask, Python, HTML, Java Script, CSS and obviously, SQL for the databases.

    My idea currently is to allow the user to login and upload an excel file of a class they're teaching with all the students names. The program will he storing these names into a database. Then, as and when a new assignment is given and submitted, the user will be able to select which students have submitted or have not.

    I want to make it so that the user can check on the records of a particular student AND a particular assignment. So there will be a page that has the list of given assignments. Clicking the one you want to check will show the students who have done it and those that didn't. Similarly, if you select a student name from the list, it should be able to show which assignments he hasn't submitted.

    Further plans are to probably allow the teacher to upload more classes that they might teach and track those separately.

    One thing I can't figure out is how many databases I might need for all this stuff. Just wanna get a rough idea on how many tables I'll need to do what I intend to do. Or how it can be modified. Because for sure, some students will have more than 1 assignment not done. So I can't make another row just to store that other assignment... then ill have a lot of NULL elements for other students.

    Advice needed! Thanks!

    submitted by /u/swiftsausages72
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    Why should programs prevent exceptions but not errors?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:23 PM PDT

    From stack overflow

    An Error "indicates serious problems that a reasonable application should not try to catch."

    while

    An Exception "indicates conditions that a reasonable application might want to catch."

    They keep saying that "a program cannot recover from an error" which sounds weird. Why? What makes an exception recoverable but an error unrecoverable? Makes sense to want to recover the program from both (not that the distinction makes much sense to me).

    submitted by /u/BigBootyBear
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    What do you want to make?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 10:01 PM PDT

    Hi Reddit,

    ​

    I am a full-time working engineer, who made a switch in University 6 years ago from Economics to Computer Science. [3] Then, I had no technical background whatsoever. So I empathize with how some of you feel, trying break into the software world.

    To me, the programming can be very messy and complex, which is frustrating at times, especially in the beginning when learning programming. Yet, programming is super exciting that there are endless things you can make!

    I am thinking to create an online course. [1]

    The first part of the two parts of the course is making "applications", e.g. games and consumer/business apps. And the second part is about how a computer works (think building a small operating system). I believe making things is what motivates (many) people. [2]

    I'd want your inputs on what applications excite you. What do you want to make?

    Question to you: if you are not limited by technical abilities (you'd obviously need to be able to describe what the software should do), what would you like to make in 2 weeks' time?

    [1]: it would be interactive - there is interaction among the students and between students and myself (the learning facilitator)

    [2]: ability to make things is one of things I think people care about, there are probably more such as a career

    [3]: I work at a FAANG company if it helps me to get more attention, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tech

    submitted by /u/NothingButAKitten
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    Help Understanding Components of Web Application

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 06:34 PM PDT

    Hey everyone! I recently started working on a project for one of my classes, and my team is building a web app. I've never learned how to build one before (the closest I've gotten is building a static website on Github Pages using only HTML/CSS/Javascript). I spent a large portion of yesterday learning what I could about the process, and I gleamed a good amount from the online sources. I do, however, have some clarifying questions that I hope you guys could answer.

     

    To better help you guys answer my questions, here is what I understand so far. I've bolded areas that I'm not quite certain on.

    What I understand so far

    We used React to create the front-end, and my understanding is that through the front-end, the user can make requests to the server/database. These are in the form of GET/POST requests, among many others that I haven't used before. To handle HTTP requests, we are using axios.

     

    For our backend/database, we are using Node Express and MySQL. So far, I've only launched the site on localhost, which by default is on port 3000. My understanding of ports is that ports are just more detailed address on your IP address. In an analogy, the IP address would be like your house address that a letter is being sent to, and the port would be the person that the letter is addressed to.

     

    The server that is handling the HTTP requests, however, may not be on that port, which is why you set the server to be listening on some port (say, 8080), and then set port 8080 to be a proxy for your application (?). This is set in the package.json file. This means that requests being made on the application first get sent to port 8080 (and then sent to port 3000?). Your server is listening on that port, so it can then handle those requests as needed.

     

    In the server.js file, the server connects to the database, and depending on the requests made, will query the database based on the information provided/desired. For example, GET requests will query the database for some data, POST requests will add values to the database, UPDATE requests update existing values in the database, and DELETE requests will delete values from the database. The server can then send back the data to the requester (in our case, the front-end React, which will display whatever is needed based on the response).

     

    What I don't understand

    Now for the parts I don't really understand. Using the .get()/.post() methods requires an "endpoint". I looked into them a bit, and a lot of websites tell me what to use for an endpoint, but don't exactly explain what they are or why they should be structured the way they are. At the moment, my code just uses "/" as an endpoint as a placeholder, which works fine.

     

    Doing some reading, it appears that they are just URLs (I've seen them called URIs, and I believe those are the same?). There's also something called RESTful APIs that I read a bit about. There's a couple of questions I have this:

     

    1. I've only used APIs once before, which was when I was making Discord bots. They seem really fancy to me, so at first I didn't think I was technically making an API, but am I? Does creating a server that handles HTTP various types of requests count as an API?

    2. It appears that you set up your endpoints based on REST practices. Does this mean that technically my endpoints could be whatever they so choose to be? Based on the code I've written, I assume that you can't have two request handlers to the same endpoint in your server.js, but outside of that, can you write whatever you want for an endpoint? So is REST just a way you should structure your endpoints so that they are the most helpful for people wanting to use your API? If so, why is REST good?

     

    Endpoints are so far what I am struggling with the most, since I haven't found a source on why I should structure them in the way I've seen, only sources on how they should be structured. I'd also appreciate it if you guys could correct me on any misunderstandings I have so far.

     

    I'm sorry if the huge wall of text is hard to get through - I wanted to make sure you guys knew what I knew so far so that it'd better aid you in answering my questions. Thank you very much for your time and help!

    submitted by /u/Luclid
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    A small introduction on how to query and manipulating HTML elements using JavaScript.

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 06:32 PM PDT

    Hello, my name is Niels, and I'm studying software engineering. I've been working part time as a developer for ~7 years at this point, at various companies. Right now I am a TA for one of the courses at my university, focusing on web development.

    During this course I've created videos that help students understand the underlying technology, that I'd like to share with you as well.

    With that said, I just released a video that goes into detail: - How we can query HTML using JavaScript - Manipulate the DOM through HTML's tree structure.

    [JavaScript] HTML and DOM manipulation for beginners

    I hope this helps, let me know what you think.

    Cheers

    submitted by /u/Jazerix
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    I can't do CS50

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 12:45 PM PDT

    hi everyone. I wanted to give this course a shot a few weeks ago (this year's CS50 started like 4 weeks ago) to learn about programming, to get started so to speak, and the course seems like a really good course. but for the love of god, I cannot solve the problem sets. I feel like I understand what's being taught but when I get to the problem sets, I just feel like I have to see what others did and then do it myself.

    recently, I started to feel more and more discouraged about programming/coding because of my failure in CS50. I don't know what to do but if I try doing CS50 some more, I fear I might end up quitting because of the frustration that I feel. but the thing is, I don't wanna quit. I feel like I need to take smaller steps to learn programming. so my question is... what should I do? any help is appreciated. thank you a lot in advance.

    submitted by /u/ljb9
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    want to start a mobile app project using a web-based framework

    Posted: 28 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT

    Hello I want to start a mobile app project using a web-based framework (e.g. JS, HTML, ...etc).

    I am using Electronjs program on computer, and would like to port some of its features to a mobile app, and would like to use the same libraries there to preserve the UI. The closer the framework to pure web-dev technologies the better, it is desirable that it doesn't use other languages, e.g. Dart.

    I have used Nativescript, and it is a very good candidate regarding my criteria, but based on a previous experience, some of its UI components don't have important options (e.g. ListPicker component didn't have a way to modify font size).

    Your suggestions of such frameworks would be valuable.

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/JeddahVR
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    When you answer a question on stackoverflow, should you link the blogpost to give credit to the author?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:54 PM PDT

    I have started answering questions on stackoverflow, most of the time I study a blog post or official doc before giving an answer or writing a comment, but I am unclear whether it is encouraged to cite the link of your source or you can get blocked as mod might think you are fishing for backlinks. TIA

    submitted by /u/dsmedium
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    Having trouble choosing a stack for my app

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:54 PM PDT

    Me and a couple of classmates thought of an app idea we want to make. The app is a mix of Tinder and Uber (in terms of features not idea). So it needs a matching system like Tinder and a timer system like Uber.

    I know some Java and basic web dev (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) but don't know any frameworks.

    We're deciding whether to just use Java and make it with Android Studio or use React Native or Flutter to make it on both platforms.

    We also don't know anything about databases or hosting.

    submitted by /u/Razeoo
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    I never use exception handling, I don't see the utility in exceptions, and can't understand the explanations. Where to go from here?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:45 PM PDT

    Never in my life have I ever benefitted from writing something in a try/catch block (besides making the compiler shut up). I just don't get exceptions. For example, they say exceptions should not be used for control flow, and ONLY for "the unexpected". Not to be nitpicky, but

    1. If there's an exception for it, its kind of expected
    2. Try/catch alters how a program works, so it essentially controlling the flow of the program

    And what do exceptions give me? When I write bad code, the compiler tells me and I change the code. If the user tries to do something that may break the program (use a null object) I don't see how a try/catch block will prevent a bad experience. I still have to create another scenario via an if statement.

    I just don't see what value exceptions bring, nor do I realize the contradictory definitions of exceptions.

    submitted by /u/BigBootyBear
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    Are there any universal environment variables?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:42 PM PDT

    I am thinking about writing some test code that uses an environment variables function, but I'm not sure which ones I can expect to be available cross-platform. Are there any like HOME or USER that are reliably available?

    submitted by /u/SpecificMachine1
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    Anyone know of a program, API or script that is capable of "cleaning up" thousands of audio files containing speech?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:34 PM PDT

    I have thousands of audio files with short speeches. How would I go about if I wanted to automate the reduction of noise levels, cutting off empty segments at the beginning and end of the audio file and improve the general audible parts?

    Does anyone know of a service with an API or some open source project or a program that could automate this process for me?

    submitted by /u/WHYWOULDYOUEVENARGUE
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    [SQL] Issue with a query I have, it is always returning entries in alphabetical order

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 07:41 PM PDT

    I was looking into a SQL query here.

    The query has two columns of ID's. I want the username of the ID, which is in another table. I used a FROM statement to link that table. I noticed that the query as written would return what I want (the ids that I want) and also the names of the id's. However, the name is not linked to the ID specifically.

    For example, the first row would be Adam Adam, the ID would be 3. However, Adam Adam is not the name of the person associated with the 3 ID. It just lists Adam Adam because it's the first entry in the DB.

    Here is the SQL.

    select DISTINCT tb1.first_name, tb1.last_name 'Person 1', tb1.first_name, tb1.last_name 'Person 2', ID 'User ID', ID2 'User ID 2'

    from Table1 tb1, Table2 tb2

    tb1 contains the names of people, as well as their associated ID. Table 2 has a table of user ID's.

    The original plan was to use an INNER JOIN in order to link the ID's, as the same ID's exist in both Table 2 and Table 1. If you can link by table ID's, you could theoretically be able to derive the user name. However, this had the same result set as the script which has the INNER JOINs omitted.

    How would I go about creating a result set that would list the correct name of the USERID individual?

    submitted by /u/OfficeComputerChair
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    2nd year comp sci student and I want to learn web/app development. Which one should I choose?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:25 PM PDT

    Sorry if this type of posts are not allowed here.

    I've just completed my first year and I'm looking to get into freelancing. I've researched for the last two weeks and decided on either web development or app development. The reasoning behind this is, even though these are saturated fields and hard to get jobs in, even if I can complete a few projects properly they will help my cv(or at least I've seen people say they will).

    Now my question is where do I go? Should I get in to web development or app development. If web development then frontend or backend development?

    My main goal here is to earn a skill that will help me in my future life. So I'm willing to give as much time as necessary to learn properly. Thank you.

    submitted by /u/thatrandomanus
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    Unreal Engine and C++

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 07:38 PM PDT

    So I am fairly familiar with C++ and I've always wanted to create games. I've been looking at content online to learn unreal engine but can't seem to find something that is organised and isnt just bits and pieces of the topic or teaches c++ rather than unreal engine. Which channels / courses would you recommend for a total beginner to learn unreal engine? Thanks a lot for your inputs. :)

    submitted by /u/StrawBro
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    Help, I need book recommendations

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 05:18 PM PDT

    So, I'm starting on js learning and (since I usually learn from taking huge amounts of information at once) I'd like you guys to recommend me some books that cover the basics and intermediate concepts of JavaScript. Also, if you have any recommendations of books that cover intermediate/advanced concepts of html/css I'd be pleased if you helped me. (I really don't mind the book's length, as long as it can get me to learn new stuff) Sorry for bad english, by the way. It's my second language. Thanks for your time and happy coding!

    submitted by /u/Kimert-kun
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    Why is it so that only the basic "how to" in programming is given attention to in tutorials, but not the advanced "why" that actually makes you an independent thinker?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 12:57 AM PDT

    Programming is very odd. Its easy for example to learn how to write a unit test. But its very hard to understand (by yourself) how to test every part of your web app. I find that for every thing I supposedly "learned" I need to ask dozens of followup questions because implementation demands familiarity with dozens of "gotchas" and little nuances that are like 0.1% of the subject but can make or break it.

    Alot of it is about design. Ok I learned how to build an API. But how to design it? In terms of how the endpoints should look, how users should interact with each other, how to test everything etc. It's like every resource leaves about 10% of the subject uncovered because it takes another 90% of the time to cover.

    Sometimes it makes me feel like a nuisance in this forum. I ask alot of ad hoc questions about very specific problems. I would like to become a semi-independent programmer that can figure design by himself without needing a new thread for every new thing I want to do. The best way I can explain my problem is that I find myself asking a hundred "whats the result of X times Y?" questions instead of learning how multiplication works.

    submitted by /u/BigBootyBear
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    Help (functions in python)

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 11:08 PM PDT

    After defining a function with an attribute and a print statement, i assigned the function to a variable. While printing the variable, instead of the print statement ,None is shown as output....why???

    submitted by /u/r__007
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    AJAX and django to be able to submit without refresh

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 10:50 PM PDT

    I want to be able to click a button and submit data to backend and update front-end all without refreshing the page, I am using Django and I figured my best bet would be AJAX, I have never used AJAX and even after many tutorials I still do not know how to do what I need. I need to make the button's action when clicked to direct to a dynamic link (there is no form) it is a to-do app and what i want to do is when the user clicks the button associated with that task it either goes red or green, so i have many buttons with no form, in html it looks something like: 

    {% for task in tasks%} <button onclick="window.location.href='/change-state/{{ task.taskID }}';">{{ task.state }}</button> {% endfor %}

    I want to accomplish what this code would do but in AJAX so there is no refresh when changing the state (complete/ incomplete), I tried using a data attribute and getting the data in AJAX but that seemed to not work, I'm very stuck, Any help is very appreciated

    submitted by /u/Ali-sultan2154
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    Competitive Programming or App Development?

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 10:48 PM PDT

    Hello im currently enrolling in a cs degree in my first year and like many other university it has an organization which would help you excel in certain subjects of programming . One of the organization offers training in cp, web dev, web design, ui/ux,etc.

    Now I want to effectively join 2 , cp and mobile app development but they don't allow it (they only allow you to join 1). Which one would be most beneficial for me if i want to at least get a working experience in my second semester ? I know that cp helps alot in finding a job as most job interviews these days ask cp questions (this part got me confused alot in which training or program that i should be part of but i think if dont know kotlin or the basis of app development itd be useless as well). If someone could help that be amazing.

    submitted by /u/S0ULBoY
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    How is the total operations in this code only 3 when I counted 4

    Posted: 27 Sep 2020 04:32 PM PDT

    And how would I find minimum and max?

    READ number IF number modulus 2 is 0 THEN DISPLAY even ELSE DISPLAY odd ENDIF

    https://imgur.com/a/WhNs9Xl

    submitted by /u/throwaway88249
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