Information Overload: Digital Ocean

Overview

Inspired by the possibilities of software development, I was eager to take my first step. However, I was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available online, and it left me with many questions. Contradictory articles and opinions on various programming languages and technologies left me confused. Some suggested learning certain topics first while others recommended different topics instead. It felt like I stepped into the digital ocean and I was already drowning.

Developing my roadmap

When I decided to become a self-taught programmer, I knew the first step was to create my roadmap. The question I asked myself was, "How can I get from having no technical knowledge to working as a junior developer?". I began by searching for a programming language to learn and information started to flood in, learn JavaScript, Python, C#, C++, etc... Articles on why you should learn a specific language and another on why you shouldn't learn that language started surfacing. I started to drown in information overload, making no actual progress.

I pondered on my problem for a while and asked myself a new question, "If there are a lot of programming languages, what did other successful developers learn to get their first job?". As I researched how other self-taught developers found success, one common thing I ran into was learning web development fundamentals, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Taking small action

Diving into web development, I finally had a scope of focus. An amazing free resource called freecodecamp eased me into programming. I also conversed with my high school friend Emmanuel, he mentioned tech stacks and frameworks to learn. Honestly, I didn't understand what those terms were however, the more I learned and researched the more those words surfaced. I was overloaded with information again! New terms like front-end, back-end, and full-stack development began to arise. Diving into those, acronyms like MERN, MEAN, and LAMP started showing up. I decided to halt any research on these topics until finishing web development.

Slow progress

Going through freecodecamp lessons daily, I felt I was learning concepts too slowly. At this pace, I predicted I wouldn't reach my goal in time. A lot of my time was spent doing theory, writing notes, and following tutorials. I was not creating projects that challenged my knowledge. Around this time negative doubts began to surface such as "Maybe it's impossible for me to become a developer", and "Maybe I should have attended a Bootcamp or school instead", along with plenty of other doubts.

I was also concerned about which topics to learn after going through the fundamentals of web development. The fear of learning irrelevant material or getting trapped in tutorial hell loomed over me, and I felt that time was not on my side. Personal change in lifestyle and mindset of this magnitude was already difficult for me, these additional problems were quite a blow to my confidence. Despite being only two weeks into my self-taught journey, I was already considering giving up.

Motivation

Lack of motivation, feelings of doubt, and life felt like it was slipping away, I was on the edge of quitting. My limited understanding of how to learn and acquire knowledge only added to my frustration. Fortunately, I discovered motivational videos on YouTube, featuring inspirational speakers like Jim Rohn, Les Brown, and many others. Their words of wisdom fired me up with hope and inspired me to believe anything was possible. One key message that resonated with me was the importance of having a mentor to guide you through life's challenges.

I realized that in a school or boot camp setting, teachers served as mentors, but in a self-taught environment, I had no one to turn to. I thought about reaching out to Emmanuel, but he was always busy. I knew that I couldn't do this alone, I had to find a mentor who could help me bridge the gap from having no technical background to landing a junior developer position. I kept my mind open and remained determined to find the right person, no matter what it took.

Lesson

It's great to know that you can learn anything. The first hurdle starts in the beginning, "What is my roadmap?" and "What should I learn first?". Everyone's situation is different, it may come easy for some and difficult for others. Find a mentor, follow podcasts, read a book, or just do anything to get started. As you begin to take action, specific questions will naturally arise, and you can focus on answering those. In the vast digital ocean of information, it's important to stay focused and avoid pursuing topics until they become relevant to your learning journey.

Thank you for reading. If you believe my story will benefit someone who's attempting to make a change please share this post. Feel free to contact me, I would love to hear from you. Please subscribe if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published.