" I feel that i cannot do it "

You Can Do This!
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Hey everyone!

I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately and needed a place to share my thoughts, which is how I found this awesome forum. Here’s my story:

So, I started my coding journey back in November by attending a Bootcamp. Fast forward to February, I graduated, and since then, I’ve been learning non-stop and creating projects. But here’s the problem – every time I want to create something new, I discover all these technologies that my Bootcamp didn’t cover. During the course, I learned HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and basic React (and by basic, I mean we only touched on useState and using APIs with axios). Now that I’m out in the real world, I’m constantly bombarded with useRef, useEffect, useReducer, useMemo, etc., and i have no clue when i have to use each and which occasion. Not to mention all the talk about frameworks like Redux and Next.js (especially Next.js, with everyone saying it’s going to take over React).

Now, I’m just sitting here, staring at my screen, feeling like I know nothing and that I’m not good enough. It’s frustrating because I’m on a tight schedule, and I thought my Bootcamp knowledge would be enough to land an internship and move forward. The more time passes, the more I realize how challenging coding is and how rapidly it’s evolving. It’s scary, and I feel lost without any guidance.

I appreciate any advice or encouragement you all can share! Thanks for listening.

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Hi,
This is exactly how I felt a few months after I started coding and I think every coder has been through this phase. My opinion is " Don’t Worry!". Everything will work out for you but you have to just keep going. There will come a time when you look back at your projects and say wow, i created all these projects and know a lot of stuff. You’re right, the more you learn, the more challenging it gets and you realize there is a whole new world of coding and programs out there. But don’t let that take your attention and focus. Believe me, if you just keep going with what you have and not worry about other stuff, it will help you a lot. Eventually, you will learn at least a new thing in every project. I know people who can do many things just with HTML, CSS and Javascript. Just don’t think of giving up and keep coding. That’s the one rule of coding ig.
Have a great time!

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regarding React - useState, useEffect and useContext are all you will need 99% of the time, so just focus on learning those (useMemo, useCallback are on their way out anyway, useRef and a lot of the other hooks are for edge cases)

Redux is unnecessarily complicated for what it does, but the good news is it’s being abandoned. If you want global state just use React context. You can always pick it up later if you need to (ie. you find a job that still uses it)

Nextjs is basically React. If you’ve mastered React you can learn Next.js in a day.

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Hi @ILynn !

Welcome to the forum!

Bootcamps by design will only cover a short amount of technologies in a compact set of time.

So the goal of the bootcamp is to give you the initial set of knowledge to get started but then you will need to keep growing from there as you found out.

The more projects you build and the more real world experience you get, then the more you will learn when to use which hook.

As mentioned earlier, if you know React then you basically know Nextjs. So it won’t be that much of a learning curve to start building nextjs applications.

Also, in the JS world, there will always be a new framework.
Some libraries and frameworks will slowly fade out while others will become more prominent.

The goal is to learn JavaScript really well and know to learn well.
If you can do those things, then you will be able to keep up with the industry changes.

That’s not true. You are good enough.
You took a leap of faith and tried learning something new.

That is a difficult task.

You should be proud of how far you have come in the last few months.

It is normal to feel lost and overwhelmed.
And breaking into the industry without a CS degree is no easy task.

But if you continue to put in the work and build up a solid foundation and rock star projects, then you will make it. The path will just look different then what you imagined when you first started. But it is possible.

Hope that helps

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I think you might want to find a community.

Being apart of a community building a project together, means you don’t have to know it all.
You can contribute in areas you feel comfortable and help others to understand that area. It will also give you some experience working in a team, and to understand what languages are valued by teams.

I find a community can help me stay grounded. I can focus on the thing I’m learning, share my progress and ask for code reviews to help me grow.

There are a few small communities working on projects together that stream on Youtube and Twitch, even if their in the middle of a project, you can jump in and ask questions about it.

Its possible working on a project as part of a team might help towards an internship.
But personally, I’ve found I grow quicker in a team than I do on my own. It adds a little structure and direction that keeps me motivated.

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Hey : )

I really appreciate your kind words. Sadly, I find it so hard to find someone to talk to when I’m feeling down like this, and your words are giving me a lot of encouragement, so i really appreciate it. I just believe I had so many expectations for myself, and now that I see I’m not meeting them, it’s really tough.

May I ask you: So far, I’ve been trying to create projects following tutorials. Do you think this is wrong, and I should make my own even if I get stuck? I’m still trying to figure out how to approach this.

Thank you again : )

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Hey Mike : )

Thank you for the information. It is actually very good to know this and it makes it easier for me! I appreciate it : )

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You should build projects on your own.
I think tutorials are fine in the very beginning(first few months or so) but then you want to break out of them and build stuff on your own.

That is where you will learn the most.

getting stuck is a good thing.
It’s actually a great thing.

You want to challenge yourself tackle projects where you are constantly getting stuck.
Because when you do, you will level up so much.

When you push yourself outside of that comfort zone, it will be hard in the moment.
But then you will look back and grateful that you did.

The people who become professional developers are the ones who continually push themselves outside of their comfort zone and build ambitious projects.
They struggle a lot in the short term and make millions of mistakes.
but they keep trying and building.
as a result, they have incredible skills and grow much faster in their career versus the other developers are stay in their comfort zone.

It is normal to have it feel scary trying to build something on your own.
But it is the exact right growth you need and will be the only way to get to you to where you need to go.

hope that helps

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@jwilkins.oboe
Thank you as well for all these kind words, as i mentioned earlier it can be tough holding all these feelings for myself and it is so nice to see that there are people like you all with these kind words and encouragement. I will keep everything in mind : )

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It does, very much :heart:

Thank you a lot, you really helped me to overcome heavy feelings and keep going.

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Hey : )
Thank you for your advice : ) It’s something that I’ve thought about, but I still don’t know how to find these communities. So, I always end up forgetting about it and keep coding on my own. I don’t know if it’s too much to ask, but can you suggest any of these communities? How can I find them or join them? Thank you a lot!

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Hi again!
Yeah feel free to share your thoughts here on the forum when you need something or someone to talk to. I’m more than glad to help you out. It’s because I’ve been there and I know how tough it is to code by your own. I think doing your own projects is better. Because following tutorials first of all wastes more of your time and sometimes you realize you could have done more. I personally prefer you do your own projects. Of course you’re gonna get stuck and that’s a part of coding. Nobody gets it right in the first turn. You will have to search and watch videos to solve the problem or even sometimes just copy codes to make your project work :sweat_smile:. At the end of the day, you are a web developer and those are the things web developers do.

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You guys are great. I have no words. I spent my entire day feeling down and not able to do anything. I am so glad I decided to visit the forum and open up myself. Thank you truly :heart:

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I’m currently in the Dev Mentor Dave community on discord.
Its still a very small community but is full of a range of different people from all over the world.

Even if your not wanting to be a backend developer, I’d suggest this as a good place to try out.

Even tho I’d never touched the back end or done anything with databases before, I’ve found I’ve grown the quickest here. Many of the things I was avoiding because I found them too scary, I now have the confidence to try out.

At the beginning it can be daunting how much there is to learn, I found I often became overwhelmed and stopped enjoying the process of learning.
I’ve found this community to be a safe place to express how I’m feeling.

There’s a project that’s just started, But no code has been written yet, its still in the planning stages. The idea is to treat the project as you would in a company.

Heres a link to his YouTube channel:
(7) Dev Mentor Dave - YouTube

The discord link should be on the most recent vid if you want to look around to see if the community is a good fit.
Also we all get together in a live stream once a week on Saturdays 10am central time.

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I will definitely take a look. Thank you so much :heart:

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I don’t know if it makes you feel any better, but here’s where I’m at: I just finished my html/css cert in fcc. I started javascript, and halfway through the first “project” I realized, I don’t have foundational knowledge other than html/css. So I went back to my studioweb course, where they truly hold your hand (too much I think in html/css) and started learning the VERY basic Javascript, and started harvards cs50 course, only to realize again, half the time, my sub-par education prior to this is holding me back. It’s like taking a 101 biology course when you only had a marine science class in high school (true story, ridiculous school).

So I’m maybe halfway (if I’m being generous) to where you’re at and feeling thoroughly overwhelmed. It seems like every time I get some small sense of achievement, 3 more dragons rear their head to defeat, and behind each head, 3 more will take it’s place. I realize this is the nature of the beast, and that the best thing to do is remain in the moment slowly learning more every day, as it adds up more than we think, but I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely understand this feeling. I’m proud of you for getting work! To me it still seems like a pipe dream. I’m constantly worrying about “what if I’m not creative enough?” Or “maybe I should just do backend where I can solve problems without designing anything new?”

My advice is simply to keep going one step at a time, because in my eyes, you’re killing it. Honestly, you’ve been at it since november? I started in March, and it feels like you’re years ahead by what you’re describing. Be proud of where you’re at and embrace the journey, because though you may be behind others, you’re in a position that many of us are still dreaming of.

I will add, that the change aspect is terrifying. The fact that (using myself as an example), I just learned html/css, hell, even thinking a few months forward when javascript makes more sense, but…but a.i., but new languages, but younger people who have been coding for years and it’s their second language, right? It’s crazy, but there are other skills than coding. Interpersonal skills, imagination, creativity, problem solving, all are important skills.

I hope you found your stride these last few days. Keep your head up and remember, you can’t hike 20 miles in 3 steps :slight_smile: Gotta enjoy the view as you go.

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Hello Timothy :slight_smile:

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It means a lot to hear from someone going through similar challenges. I can really relate to what you’re experiencing. It sounds like you’ve been pushing through various courses and challenges like myself, so I truly appreciate your encouraging words.

Sometimes It’s tough when we feel like we’re not progressing as quickly as we’d hoped, especially in a field where things can sometimes seem overwhelming. And I came to realize that not being alone and having people who can encourage you or just simply talk, helps a lot.

But yeah, I’ve been doing the same thing as you. When I feel that I cannot understand something, I always go back to re-learn the theory and practice. But that doesn’t make me think that I am not good enough. I got that feeling when I was trying to follow advanced tutorials and couldn’t understand or follow along. I had the feeling I wasn’t progressing and automatically I was comparing myself to these developers without realizing it.

As I said above, i had big expectations not only from myself but from the fact that I was hoping to find sooner a job and that killed my confidence after the numerous amount of rejections. But I did learn a lot and I am still learning. But I didn’t count the fact how oversaturated is the market right now and I need to keep trying.

Also, congratulations on your achievements so far—it’s clear that you’re dedicated and capable. Thanks again for reaching out and sharing your thoughts. Wishing you the best on your coding journey.

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You definitely have a support group here at the forum, and I’ve found that sometimes even friends who aren’t in the business can help if they are that personality type anyway. Our own expectations can be our worst enemy in every facet of life (I feel). I’ve tried to give myself a long timeline for actually acquiring a job in this field. Some of it is to alleviate that sense of “expectation” and some of it is as you said, there is a saturated job market, and finding how you fit into it can take time. Thank you for your kind words, and all the best to you as well :slight_smile:

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Hey ILynn!

Thank you for sharing your story with us I can feel it takes a lot of courage to open up about feeling overwhelmed. I want you to know that you’re not alone; many of us have felt the same way when starting out in coding. Okay?

You’ve accomplished so much already, from graduating Bootcamp to continuously learning and building projects. It’s completely normal to feel lost when faced with all these new technologies like useRef, useEffect, and frameworks like Redux and Next.js.

Remember, coding is a journey, not a race. Right? It’s okay not to know everything right away, No one does! Focus on learning one thing at a time and don’t be afraid to ask for help. You can ask in different groups and communities on Facebook or LinkedIn. The tech world is vast, but also incredibly supportive. Celebrate your progress, even the small wins, and trust in your ability to learn and grow. You’ve already shown tremendous dedication and resilience, so keep going, you’re on the right path. If you wanted to explore more about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React you can explore it by visiting my Roadmap on my site in blog section at xavor dot com.

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