I am capable of making entire web applications all on my own. I use html, css, and vanilla javascript on the front end, and php and mysql (phpmyadmin on wamp server) for the back end. However, this is only with the help of the internet. If I don’t know how to do something, I research it on youtube, stackoverflow, or here, and I can’t do much without them. I can write html, css, and most javascript from memory, but I have little to no experience with actually using object oriented programming in my applications. Also, I know only vanilla javascript, and have no knowledge or experience of javascript frameworks like JQuery. As for the php, I only know the raw basics (variables, loops, etc.) and don’t even have the functions I use memorized (like mysqli_query(), whose name I had to look up just now). Again, though, with help from the internet, I can make very professional looking applications that work.
Could I call myself a full stack developer or should I get more experience? (I don’t even know how to use github yet, but)If I started a github repository full of my projects, could that be used as proof of my work experience? If someone wanted to hire me after seeing these applications and then found out I couldn’t make any from memory, would they care?
I hereby proclaim you a “Full Stack Web Developer” !
Yes, you should definitely work on the getting yourself a github account and learning how it is used and putting all your projects there. And also try some open source work (maybe right here on freecodecamp!) so you can build up your github account history too.
If you don’t have anything concrete (like a degree or a portfolio) to show employers though, I would not start to look for a job quite yet. Get your portfolio together asap and then start the job search. Nothing preventing you from learning more things as you look for a job (as that can take months).
As for ‘researching your answers’, man, that is the very definition of software development! The more you code, the less you will need to lookup, but also conversely, the more you will need to lookup! Why? Because what will decrease is your need to look up stuff you’ve seen before (and solved before) multiple times, and what will increase is the complexity of the work that you’re doing (hopefully) which forces you to keep learning and keep researching and keep learning and keep researching! (and then you hit the wall and you find yourself working on stuff that no-one else has seen or worked with before and then you’re into inventions and patents and making your own programming language … just kidding… or am I?)
You had me until you mentioned youtube. If you have to look up tutorials to do something, then perhaps you don’t really know it. Googling something or having to check SO for some obscure thing that you can’t quite remember hot to do? No problem.
Could I call myself a full stack developer or should I get more experience?
Yes and yes. You are a full stack develop, just not an “advanced” one, maybe not even “intermediate” yet. But you are a full stack developer. And you should never stop learning/getting experience.
But most coders probably end up looking at the docs and or SO from time to time, even a lot if the project is a little outside their ken. But they aren’t using a tutorial to build the knowledge from scratch.
I don’t even know how to use github yet,
OK, that is troublesome. You need to start at least saving your code on github. Period. Most people aren’t even going to consider you unless you have some basic git knowledge. After you learn how to do that, you should learn how to do some basic open source stuff so you learn about pulling and merging and PRs. This is really important if you’re working on a code base on which others are also working. You need this skill. Plus, having activity on github looks really good to employers. And having contributed to open source looks good to employers - it shows that you are an enthusiastic coder, can work with others, and understand modern git workflows.
But get out there. Apply for jobs. Take chances. Don’t lie about what you can do, but be bold. Who knows? But also keep learning.