How to Become a Software Developer?

Bodrum

Would you like to hear my take on the most popular question of the last decade? First, I must admit that I’ve given different answers to this question in different contexts. The answers I’ve provided reflect my thoughts at that time. However, I now believe I’ve found the best answer to this question. Remember, this article reflects my current perspective; things may change in the future :)

If I knew nothing about software development and didn’t have a roadmap, I would start by dreaming up a project!

Close your eyes and imagine. What kind of project would you like to create? Something like Twitter or Facebook? Or do you have an amazing mobile app idea that you believe could make you rich? Think about what kind of product you would create if given the chance.

f you’ve come up with a project idea, you’ve already tackled one of the major challenges. Now, let’s move on to the other big part—how are you going to bring this project to life? If your project is mobile, start learning about mobile app development; if it’s web-based, start learning about web development. Don’t waste time figuring out which language or framework to use. Remember, your goal is your project. Apply everything you learn to your project. To make things easier, start by finding a sample project to follow. You can draw inspiration from it and create something similar. Your main goal should be to work on your project every day. What you need to learn next will be determined by your project’s needs. Finished with the frontend? Then, how will you handle the backend? How will you deploy it? The things you need to learn will reveal themselves one after another.

At the end of the day, the product you create will bring you to a certain level in the software field. Rest assured, when you start working at a company, you often only get to work on one part of a project. But remember, this project is yours! You can design and build it however you like. Additionally, since you’ll be handling everything from the frontend to deployment, you’ll have the opportunity to discover which area you enjoy the most.

Once you’ve brought your project to a certain point, there are several paths you can take. You can use your project as a reference to find a job in the field you want. Or, you can take your project to the next level and start your own business. Or, you can take the experience you’ve gained and start a new project.

I want to take a moment to add a side note here. If this were my journey, my next goal at this point would be to figure out how to make money from this project. After all, software development is a profession to earn money; it’s nothing more than that for me. Thinking about how to monetize my project is essentially the marketing aspect, which would provide me with experience in another area.

The key point here is to have a project you dream about. Remember, it’s a dream that motivates you to do something every day. Keep your motivation alive by reminding yourself of your dream every day.

Although I started this article with advice for beginners in software development, I believe this approach is also beneficial for those who have been in the industry for a while but haven’t yet reached their desired level.

There’s nothing that dreams and proper planning can’t achieve! With that reminder, I’ll end the article here.