Learning on the job. Documenting my first three months as a junior software developer.

Starting something new is scary, and my journey into software development was no different. When I completed my bootcamp in July 2021, the journey of searching for jobs began. I landed my first full-time web developer role in December 2021, a few months after completing my bootcamp and it has been an incredible three months.

During my boot camp, I pursued the full-stack software development path where I learnt HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and JavaScript for website development, Angular framework, Python (Flask and Django framework) for web application development, and Django Rest Framework for API development. In true technology fashion, my first job and project was built on the Laravel framework and I had to get in the trenches and learn as we built the product.

The first two weeks were spent learning how the project works, the problem it was solving, the team, future plans and definitely going through the codebase. I have come across the statement that it is important to understand and learn how to read other developers' code, this is because more often than not, we will be collaborating and creating with other developers. It was important to learn the PHP and Laravel syntax in order to navigate the codebase and understand how different elements work to create the product that I would be part of. Coming from a python background, I started by picking up the fundamentals and building on these fundamentals all the while contributing to the improvement of the product. I initially started on the smaller, more manageable parts like the style of the website pages and contributions during the team sessions. I am grateful to have a great team where I was able to ask questions and consult on any new concepts that I came across. My team has been quite instrumental in my growth as a developer and my understanding of the Laravel and CodeIgniter frameworks. The beauty of growth is that it is small, progressive and more often than not, it will take a moment of reflection to realize how far you have come. I had my 'moment' towards the end of the last week when I realized that I am now handling features and I can confidently debug, ask questions, and research on the bugs that come across in my day-to-day work.

I am incredibly proud of the work that I have done so far, my growth and my progress, my team and the work that I continually put in, and the realization that every day is a learning opportunity. I cannot wait to see how my journey looks six months and even one year down the line.

Conclusion

If you are looking to get into your first software development role, just starting your new job, or even looking to pick up a new language when building a product, lean on your team, ask questions, keep putting in the work, and appreciate the work that you get to do every day. At the end of the day, what matters is that you keep moving forward and that you constantly remind yourself of how great you are, especially in those moments when you do not feel like it.

I would love to hear about your first job experience or even when you transitioned to a new project and had to learn a new language.

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