My Journey to Software Development
Beginning with Netscape
The year was 1999 and I was introduced to Netscape Navigator and the creation of simple web pages that gave users some information, showed them a photo or two, and had some links to other content. For the time, they were still impressive. I remember having to code each page of a website independently of each other, typing the <head> and <html> tags over and over again (or at least copying the code to each page). A lot has changed since then - thankfully I don’t have to worry about typing some of the same code over and over again - thanks to technologies like React.
Loving Javascript
Javascript has come a long way since 1999. I remember learning how to use Javascript to make rollover images and adding the infamous marquee and/or blinking text. Years later I had an “A-ha” moment when I figured out the javascript for loop to parse through multiple elements on a web page. This moment resulted in a breakthrough in my understanding of how to think about code. Today, Javascript is my preferred programming language.
Why Code
There are three main reasons why I was drawn to software development.
- With code, I could control what was displayed on a computer screen
- With code, my creativity could express itself
- With code, it felt like I had access to a secret language that only a few knew
Software development today is more exciting than even, if you ask me. There’s many tools and platforms that make it easy to code, if you take the time to learn them. I’m sure most programmers would say that the tools available today make coding easier than it was just a few years ago. In theory, creating software should be easier too. However, I feel that the modern tools allow for software developers to spend less time on mundane tasks and focus more on the creative and complexity of building websites that continuously push the limits of what is possible.