Lessons I've Learned as a 15 Year Old Web Developer

Keep at it, build things you like, learn to love the process not just the results.

I find this attitude incredibly arrogant and toxic. Why wouldn't a 15 year old be able to experience a burnout? I don't think this is age related at all. If anything a 15 year old that goes to school and has a dev job should be more likely to burnout.

OP, good for you learning how to code at a young age and for taking the time to share your lessons learned along the way. Don't get discouraged by the inevitable troll comments here. I'm sure you're already inspiring the next generation of young coders because your journey will be more relatable to them than a programmer with 15 years of professional experience. Thank you for taking a risk and posting here. Keep learning, keep sharing, and keep at it.

I wanted to see it from a 15 year old's perspective, not just some generic advice, especially given the title. Talk more about stuff that's unique to a teenage developer for more interesting content.

Hi Josh, thank you for sharing your experiences, and I'm glad to see the journey you've been on and the lessons you've learned.

A lot of the lessons you're talking about come to those of us later in life (college, jobs, projects), so it will helpful to you later on when you run into these same situations and have a better understanding how to handle them compared to trying to figure it out/deal with it later.

A few people here seem to be laughing due to age or experience (or lack of experience, in whatever area). Please don't take this to heart, as a lot of us may have forgotten that we had to conquer similar hurdles and deal with these issues and feelings, too. From the people I know around 15, you seem to be doing very well. Please continue on the path, though. Talent can get you to the race track, but hard work will make sure you're at the front of the pack.

It's a bit refreshing seeing a viewpoint from your eyes and mind. A lot of us began in a similar path to where you are, and, at least for me, it's been very rewarding. Things change all the time, cool new stuff comes out, and you're able to do things you thought impossible a year ago.

Reading through your site a bit, it seems you are working on some interesting apps and are solving problems that you'll continue to run into later (DRY, Writing Tests, etc). So far, you're on the right track. You build a house a brick at a time, and so far you're laying a good foundation.

I would actually add a lesson or two for you:

There is no Perfect Solution. Just because somebody really likes Python, or React, or Rust doesn't mean that those are the right languages to use for everything. Each language, framework, or mental-model has its strengths where it will work better than others, and weaknesses where it will not. You are not married to one thing, and no one thing will be the "perfect" solution to all of your problems.

Secondly, release. Playing with cool new libraries and frameworks is fun, but a lot of maturity and project knowledge (as a whole) comes from the big changes that releasing something to public (and making new releases and changes often) brings you. It also requires that you be consistent and learn what and who to prioritize.

Good job so far! Keep it up