Overview
🖐️ Hi there! My name is Aditya, I'm a student and a 💻 developer. I've always been 🤓 fascinated by technology and the endless possibilities it offers, but it wasn't until I started college that I decided to take my passion to the next level. I embarked on a journey to learn and explore different areas of development, from competitive programming and automation to web development, A.I.🤯, and blockchain. It has been a thrilling and enriching journey 🚀, something worth sharing.
So in this blog post, I'll be taking you on a journey through my year of growth and improvement as a developer. I hope that by sharing my story, I can inspire others to pursue their own development journey and learn from my mistakes and successes 🏆.
So, without further ado, let's dive into my year of growth, learning, and improvement as a developer. 🚀
The Start
It has been more than a year since I first started learning to code 💻. I've always been fascinated by technology 📱 and the endless possibilities it offers, and have always wanted to create something of my own. While preparing for college entrance exams, I dabbled a bit in coding 🤔, but I never really delved deeply into it 🤯, like any other Indian engineering aspirant, I too was more focused on getting good grades 📝 and getting a good college than on learning to code.
But after finishing my exams I now had a couple of months of free time 📅 before college started, I finally had the opportunity to explore my passion for technology and coding more fully. Spent my days watching YouTube videos and learning as much as I could about different areas of development. I was especially drawn to the CS50 series by Harvard on YouTube 📺, which I got to know about through some YouTube developer influencer. The lectures, taught by David J. Mulan, were engaging and informative, and they covered a wide range of topics 🧑💻 from the fundamentals of programming and basic data structures to Python, databases, web development, and the basics of cybersecurity.
Watching the CS50 lectures was an incredible experience 🤩 for me. I was able to learn from one of the top universities in the world for free 🆓 on YouTube itself. Now after finishing the playlist I at least had some background In the field because of which I was now a little comfortable, I knew that I had a lot to learn and how to start, and I was determined to work hard. I set myself a goal to learn as much as I could and make the most of my time before college started 🎓.
#100 Days of Code
After completing the CS50 series 📚, I was on the lookout for my next coding challenge 💪. That's when I stumbled upon the #100DaysOfCode challenge and a related course on Udemy called "100 Days of Python," which was recommended by the YouTube channel RealToughCandy. Without hesitation, I took the course as it was available for sale on Udemy, it was taught by the amazing Angela Yu.
Around this time I was committed to posting about my progress on the #100DaysOfCode hashtag on Twitter and was motivated by reading other people's stories and receiving support and encouragement from the community 🌍. The course was structured with daily assignments, and I breezed through the first 40 days. However, around this time, my college classes also started 🎓, and I had to balance my academic responsibilities with my coding journey. Although my #100DaysOfCode streak was disrupted a bit 😅, I still managed to make steady progress 📈 on the course.
By the time March rolled around, I had finally completed the #100DaysOfCode challenge 🏆 and the "100 Days of Python" course. It was a challenging but rewarding experience 🤯, and I learned so much about Python and programming in general. It was also my first time living away from home in a college hostel, which added an extra layer of difficulty and adjustment. Overall, it was a memorable and transformative experience 🙌, and I'm grateful 🙏 for the opportunity to have taken part in the #100DaysOfCode challenge 🏆.
Confusion Period
After completing the "100 Days of Python" course, I felt confident in my Python skills and even made some basic projects like a daily greeting messenger 💬, a hotel finder 🏨 with a Selenium web scraper, and some websites with Django. I was loving the versatility and power of Python and was excited to continue learning and building with it 🤩.
However, my college curriculum threw a curveball at me when I had to study a totally new language - C - in the first semester😭. As someone who had already learned programming basics, learning C was relatively easy for me 🧐, and I even got an AA grade in C and a 9.03 CGPA overall in my first semester without much effort 💪. Unfortunately, my focus on C meant that my Python development took a backseat.
During the semester break, I decided to shift gears and focus on web development. I took another course and finished it 🎉, but even though I enjoyed making some cool projects, they were all guided and not as much fun 🎉 as creating something on my own 💪. I was continuing this coding journey but was feeling a bit lost and unsure of what to do next. That is until I stumbled upon a web3🔥.
Introduction to Web3
I was already familiar with blockchain and NFTs thanks to the hype surrounding them in 2021. However, I didn't know much about them beyond the basics 🤷♂️. That's when YouTube again played a major role in introducing me to web3. The first time I heard about it was from Tanmay Bhatt's 3rd YouTube channel (now rebranded as SuperTeam Podcast). The concept of a peer-to-peer network and the immutability of the blockchain piqued my curiosity and did motivate me to learn more.
That's when I discovered this awesome developer YouTuber Patrick Collins, who produces some of the best educational content on web3 for free. His videos helped me get started with web3 development and taught me so much about it. I also discovered other helpful channels like Finemtics and Whiteboard Crypto that too contributed to my learning journey. Overall, YouTube was an invaluable resource for me in learning all this.
Patrick's 32 hours massive web3 Bootcamp on FreeCodeCamp.
One of the most impactful resources I've encountered on my web3 journey was this course. To this day, I would argue that it's one of the best resources for anyone looking to get started with web3. It covers everything from core blockchain concepts, writing smart contracts with Solidity, deploying full-stack web3 dapps, DeFi, JavaScript, Chainlink, IPFS, and more.
As someone with a love for building and creating, this Bootcamp felt like a feast to me. I remember the excitement I felt when I first discovered it and my eagerness to complete it. The thought of being able to deploy web3 dapps at a professional level was so thrilling to me.
Here is my first comment on the video:
There's also an awesome community on GitHub around the course, where people like myself ask questions and discuss all things web3 in the discussion tab of the course material. I have to admit that web3 development can be a little challenging at times due to the technology still being in its early stages and the tech stack sometimes being a little unstable. But interacting with the community and asking for help kept me going, and eventually, I was able to deploy my first fully-functioning NFT marketplace 🎉!
Chainlink Fall 2022 Hackathon.
As the end of my semester approached and I finished Patrick's BootCamp, I still had some time left for exams, So I decided to take part in Hacktoberfest, an annual event where new developers are encouraged to contribute to open-source projects on Github. However, I made my contributions early in October itself, as my exams were fast approaching. After my exams got over, I again found myself with a lot of free time thanks to the holidays before the start of the new semester.
During this time, I stumbled upon the Chainlink Fall 2022 Hackathon, and instantly, I knew I had to participate. Not only did I have the time to dedicate to it, but my love for creating and collaborating with others made it a natural choice for me. This was my first hackathon and, although I tried to find a team through Twitter and other developer forums, I ended up going solo. The final product may not have been as polished as I would have liked, but the process of building it and pushing myself out of my comfort zone for learning more and endlessly debugging my code😅 was extremely rewarding. In the end, I was able to submit a working prototype🔥 that I am still proud of. (here is what I made)
While I didn't win any prizes at the hackathon, I still consider it a success because I was able to complete and deliver at least something for my first hackathon. Reflecting back on the experience, I am grateful for the skills and knowledge I gained from participating in the hackathon.
ETHIndia 2022 🤩
It is 25th November nearly 20 days after I applied for the hackathon, I finally see this:
I was over the moon when I received my acceptance email for the hackathon, as I had never expected to be chosen in the first place. The excitement and thrill kept me up at night in the days leading up to the event.
Finally, the day arrived and I boarded a flight to Bangalore, marking my first-ever solo travel experience. It was truly a memorable moment that I will never forget.
Some mandatory pics :)
At the hackathon, I was fortunate enough to find an amazing team on Discord even before reaching the venue. After reaching the venue however, we quickly got to work on our project idea. The hackathon was a non-stop, intense experience as we worked for two full days and one night, meeting, interacting with, and learning from some of the best developers from around the globe. I even got a chance to meet Sandeep Nailwal 🤩.
When it was time for project submissions, things didn't go exactly as planned, but we still managed to deliver a solid project. To my surprise, our project was even able to bag prizes in two different tracks by Filecoin, one of the sponsors at the hackathon. It was the cherry on top of an already incredible experience. The hackathon was truly the best experience of my life.
2023: Way ahead.
It is already January 9th as I continue to edit this blog post 😅. This year, I look forward to learning about React Native, improving my web development skills, diving deeper into the world of Web3, building awesome projects with the Lens Protocol, participating in more hackathons, and hopefully securing a Web3 internship.
I hope to continue learning and growing as a developer and to make a positive impact in the tech industry. I am excited to see where my coding journey takes me in the future🚀!
Thank you!!!
If you made it this far, I want to express my sincere gratitude for joining me on my journey and sharing in my experiences. I wish you a successful and amazing 2023🔥, filled with new opportunities and exciting challenges. I hope that you will continue to pursue your passions and grow overall, just as I am striving to do as well.