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Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#51

Post by arvinsim »

_benj wrote: post #42

As a self-taught developer (although I don’t think self-taught has anything to do with it) I strongly relate to you! I’m currently a full-stack and working hard to transition away from webdev. The first (and probably hardest) thing for me was to decide what to transition towards, and that’s a question that only you can answer. If you are self-taught I’m gonna take a guess that you once had this huge curiosity and str…

> Another idea about transitioning could be taking a break from development. Maybe there are other technical skills that you have or can learn (i.e. video editing, 3D design, penetration testing, etc...) that might spark that original flame or leaning and enjoying what you do.

As someone who is in the same boat as OP, I think this is the path I want to take. I am currently learning UI and Product Design to augment my web coding skills.

Seems to be a natural path since I got frustrated that I can code websites but couldn't conceptualize one in the first place.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#52

Post by actionowl »

> I'm not passionate about this field

What are you passionate about?

> I'm unemployed.

Now is the best time to really ask yourself what you're passionate about and how you really want to spend your finite time on earth.

> I basically want to get as far away from Node and React and CSS as possible. What's a good path out?

It's hard to give any suggestions without know what you want to get more into? Do you enjoy web development but hate what it has become? If so, you're not alone for example the NoScript extension has 1,688,456 users in the Firefox Add-on store. You can still make web applications with 0 lines of JavaScript. Just hare React? Well, jQuery didn't stop working when React was invented.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#53

Post by kangnkodos »

EADGBE wrote: post #50
catacombs wrote: post #49

> thirteen years of beginner experience My God. I'd love to learn more about your background. How, if you've worked in web development since 2007, consider yourself a beginner?

Could be humble. Or could be like me and have a severe inferiority complex, mostly from the constant flexing of recent CS grads always makes you feel like you really don't know what you're doing. Even if you do.

I feel like a beginner a lot of the time.

There are several competing forces at play.

On the one hand, JavaScript is changing every year. CSS releases new features such as grid. New releases of frameworks such as Vue and Svelte are released. React launches hooks. The list goes on and on. You read the headlines about all of the new stuff, but you may not actually use the new stuff in a real project.

On the other hand, the client needs features yesterday, and there's a need to deliver new features as fast as possible with the functionality you know inside and out.

You keep using the small core of functionality you know over and over again for years. You know a small number of things very well, but you know nothing about many things you read about. There's a whole world of things that experts know that you have never used.

Maybe a lot depends on your environment? If you're at a shop with 100 developers, a few developers might spend a lot of time playing with new stuff, and teaching it to others. In a small shop, your results may vary. Not every shop has that new junkie who jumps on the newest thing, evaluates it as appropriate for this shop or not, and efficiently teaches the new stuff to others.

I try to use and learn new things, but it's time consuming. So even though I am learning new stuff all the time, I often feel closer to the beginner side than the expert side.

The default is to make the donuts every day with the tools you have. It takes effort to learn new things and use them in a real project.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#54

Post by staticautomatic »

collyw wrote: post #18
staticautomatic wrote: post #2

Back end Python web development is a joy these days.

Depends who's code you have inherited. Agreed Python is a lot more pleasant than Javascript, but people still write some horrible stuff.

Sure, I meant for greenfield projects.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#55

Post by akor »

severak_cz wrote: post #28

I understand you. I am also self-taught webdev working in small company with loooots of legacy/scary code behind us. I somewhat lost interest in new cool frameworks/technologies and somewhat stagnated in "JQuery era". For me, these three ideas helped: 1) have life outside work. Have some hobbbies/friends/social activities. Do not try to find meaning in work. 2) do something completely different with computers. For ex…

I think I actually agree with your #1 item but also find it sad as 8-10 hours a day is a lot of time to just grind for the sake of supporting your other activities. I'd love to find a middle ground but it may not exist.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#56

Post by jobseeker990 »

tiborsaas wrote: post #45

Go learn Rust (no pun intended). You can still do web stuff with it, but it will open new paradigms for you. With the stricter rules it enforces on you, your craft will level up. Not sure where to go from there though :) To leave frontend behind, you can maybe check out database focused projects, try devops, learn graphics or the ultimate answer: try management as a team lead or product owner, I'm sure in 13 years yo…

Why rust vs python or golang?

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#57

Post by csomar »

This has been suggested by someone else but I'll suggest it again: Learn Rust. I was in your shoes a couple years ago, and decided I'm done with the Spaghetti. I got lured into Rust, somehow. It was the best thing that probably happened to my programming/development skills.

I've been doing some JavaScript (again) lately, and I have decided that I can only go on forward with TypeScript. Rust strict types, traits and patterns will completely change how you approach and think about code.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#59

Post by codingdave »

Can you clarify whether you are asking how to get out of web dev, but stay in tech? Or are you asking what to do with your life because you lost the passion for tech?

Because the answers to those questions are completely different.

Re: Ask HN: How do I escape webdev?

#60

Post by mkez00 »

I was re-invigorated a few years back after doing nothing but webdev when I was thrown into a SysOps role (on AWS primarily). Having a webdev background helped when building small applications to hack things together.
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