It’s overwhelming to start on the path to learning web development. There’s seemingly infinite languages and tools required to do the job. In my opinion, here are the 5 best programming technologies to learn first.
5 Best Programming Technologies To Learn First
1. Command Line Interface (CLI)
People are going to disagree with me on this one, but I can’t tell you how many times knowing my way around my Mac terminal has saved my butt. I know it’s intimidating, but it’s incredibly powerful and it makes you feel like you’re a secret agent hacking into the matrix.
This is just one of those skills that, regardless of where technology goes, will serve you long into the future. And it will save you so much time when you finally get the hang of it.
Personally, I have a Macbook so I use the built in terminal application.
2. Git & GitHub (Or any version control)
As soon as possible, start learning the workflow of saving your work with git and pushing to a remote repository. Hiring managers have mentioned referencing Github activity histories when hiring so you may as well start building your reputation and work examples. Plus, I always find it motivating when I am able to push a few commits to my remote repository (Don’t worry if all that sounds foreign). This points back to small victories which are critical to stay motivated in this industry.
I use: git as my version control and GitHub as my remote repository hosting service. The difference between these two can be very confusing, but hang in there. It all starts to make sense after a while.
3. Text Editor – VS Code
I’m going to ruffle some feathers here and recommend downloading VS Code right off the bat. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a YouTube or Udemy tutorial and been very confused by the amazing features of the text editor used by the instructors (I started with SublimeText.)
Don’t be like me and waste 15 hours trying to figure out which text editor you should use. Use VS Code until you’re dangerous and bold enough to go rogue and down a path less traveled.
4. Chrome or FireFox Dev Tools
Learning how to use the dev tools hooked up to either Chrome or Firefox would have saved me hundreds of hours of trying to figure out why my custom CSS class wasn’t changing the font color to blue.
Seriously, pick either Chrome or Firefox and start to learn how to use all the amazing features on the dev tools. Most instructors are very pro Chrome which I am not. But I’ve never had an issue using Firefox and following along.
As a privacy enthusiast, I personally recommend Firefox on this one.
5. LocalHost
You can use your computer to behave as a host for any website or web app you’re developing. This is great because it allows you to do all your development locally before worrying about deploying to a server or host who can serve your website or web app for you.
I started with Bluehost then moved to my own VPS on Hostwinds.
I recommend starting with a more managed setup like Bluehost until you’re starting to need your own IP address and wanting to resell your hosting.
Wrapping It Up
If you can start learning these tools right off the bat, you will be leaps and bounds beyond the rest of the people at your stage of learning. My advice is to be flexible and be patient. None of this is ‘required’. Heck, I didn’t start using version control until I had been developing for 6 months because I had absolutely no idea how to use it or what it did.
The name of the game is persistence. You must be persistent and hang in there long enough for your snowball to take form and start rolling down the hill.