Hello, I'm Vasili and I've been working as a web developer for the last 7 years. I was working as a waiter on a 7-day basis, but that changed 7 years ago. I've always been good with using PCs and doing stuff with them. But I never thought my hobby could also be my job because I always thought something many people are thinking right now.
If you want to work as a programmer / web developer, you HAVE to have university degrees
Well guess what ? That might have been the case 20 years ago, but NOT ANYMORE
If people like me, have followed this path and managed to get a job in the industry, that means that you can also do it as long as you persist and focus on it. To help you, I will share with you how I learned what I know and I really hope that it helps you.
Please note : I am NOT affiliated with any of the following websites / youtube channels.
Basics
These are the really basic stuff you need to know. Without them, you will not be able to do anything at all. For me, it was 6 full months of learning through websites and youtube videos but it might take longer for some people. The goal is to build habits and to be learning something no matter how big or small... Here is a list of the main websites / youtube channels that helped me a lot during this phase.
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FreeCodeCamp : If you follow frecodecamp's Curriculum, you will have pretty solid foundations to start your career as a web developer.
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The Net Ninja's Youtube channel : I used this channel, alongside FreeCodeCamp because NetNinja has the right combination of explaining and teaching by example.
Congratulations ! You now have what it takes to land a job for junior roles. Find a job and get more exposure to JavaScript.
Tips on growing and learning more
After you know the basics, you have to keep experimenting. Try to recreate existing websites / applications. You will gain enough experience to start having a better view of what is happening. I started making clones of small projects and once I was more confident, I moved on to learning new concepts / frameworks. TypeScript, Node, Server Side Rendering with NEXTJS, Redux, UI libraries, PHP, Symfony, you name it.
The best way to learn at this stage, is by being exposed to JavaScript.
There will be bad days, programming is hard. Why would companies pay so much money to get developers if it were easy?
The key here is CONSISTENCY.. Learn the basics, land your first job and keep learning. You don't need to be at the top 5% to get a job, but you HAVE to learn something small every day. Make it your goal to keep learning.
You will see that there is ALWAYS something new to learn.. that's part of a programmer's career. You have to stay up to date and keep up with the evolution of your tech stack. You will experience imposters' syndrome. You will be stuck on a bug/problem for hours. Your skills will improve over time, but even people with decades of programming experience use google, reddit and stack overflow DAILY to find information and get the help they need to complete their objectives.
Good luck, and remember. It's hard, but it's well worth it.