High Demand Profession: Frontend Development - A Guide to Breaking In
In the rapidly evolving world of technology, Africa is witnessing a surge of self-taught developers who are making their mark in the industry. From Rwanda to Ivory Coast, these individuals are leveraging online resources and personal dedication to carve out successful careers in software development.
In Nigeria, for instance, Bahati Robben, a developer at One Acre Fund, entered the field through Andela's bootcamp. Robben, however, began his journey by learning through YouTube tutorials, Udemy courses, and W3Schools due to financial constraints. He warns against getting stuck in "tutorial hell" and emphasizes the importance of practicing and attempting real-world projects.
Similarly, André Atchori, a software developer working remotely for a company in Italy, spent three years self-studying before finding a job. Atchori and Lucas Gompou, another self-taught developer from Ivory Coast, honed their skills by buying books, taking online courses on Udemy and Coursera, and practicing on Behance and GitHub.
The landscape of programming education in Africa is shifting, with companies like Andela, Decagon, Semicolon, and online learning platforms stepping in to fill the void. These entities offer courses that provide a more practical approach to learning, better preparing students for the real-world challenges of the industry.
The demand for frontend developers is high, as evidenced by the 24% of tech job openings in Nigeria in 2019 that were for frontend developers. The foundations of frontend development lie in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with JavaScript being the most commonly used programming language in the world. JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue are also among the most in-demand in the business.
Ire Aderinokun, a co-founder and VP Engineering at BuyCoins, shares a DIY syllabus for learning frontend development that includes blogs, videos, and online courses. Robin Wieruch, the creator of the blog series for self-study to become a frontend developer, even visited Ghana and Nigeria in Africa to expand the teaching collection.
Learning to be a developer requires personal dedication and can be disorienting with the abundance of resources online. However, with a good guide, it can be transformative. Robben recommends courses by Mosh Hamedani and Brad Traversy for beginners, as they provide an overview of setting up a development environment and deploying an application.
Aderinokun advises taking breaks when encountering difficulties in learning and applying for jobs when one feels ready. Leshabane, a developer for PwC South Africa, learned primarily from YouTube but emphasizes the importance of learning on the job. He also suggests that the fear of rejection should not be a limitation when seeking employment.
Lastly, it's worth noting that African talents made 40% of open source contributions on GitHub last year, demonstrating the significant impact these self-taught developers are having on the global tech scene. The story of these self-taught developers serves as a testament to the power of self-driven learning and the boundless opportunities that exist in the tech industry.
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