Developer Diaries #4
Today was a great day: Overcoming challenges and gaining confidence as a developer.
Today has been an incredibly productive day for me. You may be wondering why I’m so enthusiastic about it. Well, let me share my experience with you. I had the opportunity to create an entirely new page on my client’s CRM system. Although it wasn’t an overly complex task, the sense of achievement I felt was remarkable, as it proved my capabilities as a developer.
I must admit that I had been apprehensive about this project for some time. Whenever I’m faced with such situations, I tend to procrastinate, which often leads to unnecessary stress. However, this week, I took advantage of a learning week offered by the client. This allowed me the necessary time and space to immerse myself in the work and strive to excel.
My determination to complete the task and prove my abilities served as a driving force throughout the entire process. It was liberating to focus my time and energy on a relatively simple task. At each milestone, marked by a commit in my Git repository, my confidence grew exponentially. The task gradually became less challenging and more enjoyable.
One of the most effective strategies I employed was approaching the problem with a well-defined game plan. In advance, I had already designed the page and established the file structure in my local development environment. However, I encountered a major roadblock: despite having created the page, which required no user permissions, I couldn’t access it and received repeated 403 access denied errors. After some aimless clicking and, more importantly, seeking assistance, I finally found a solution to this issue, enabling me to execute my game plan. So, what was the game plan? I broke down the problem (the page) into smaller, manageable components:
- Establish the basic structure of the page.
- Add core content to the page, excluding images.
- Incorporate images into the page.
- Style images and text to match the design.
- Implement all links and other minor features on the page.
By breaking down the problem into these smaller steps, I was able to maintain focus and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the bigger picture. It’s crucial for me to extract the lessons I’ve learned from this experience, particularly the surge of confidence and satisfaction it has given me, and apply them to my future tasks and development work.
All in all, today was a truly great day, and I look forward to many more like it in the future.
Until next time,
Derek