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1/x. In the past week I have done some pretty serious web dev. (Usually as a manager I have left this to the expertise of my teams. But I find myself having to go hands-on-keyboard right now.) And, holy moly, is the frontend world complex these days.

Amy Lee

2/x. Working in a Rush-managed repo with TypeScript, TSDX, design tokens, MUI, and an SVG library SVGR. It has been a week of writing a prototype, then solidifying into React components, testing in Storybook, and figuring out the naming.

3/x. The last time I seriously did React was years ago. Figuring out where things go now is a journey. Add TypeScript (which I have a passing knowledge), figuring out the build system, and bridging Storybook to a local package is tough. And there's a number of config files. I have enough familiarity to see how modules get imported, where build products end up, and managing package.json. I don't know how web dev newbies cope.

4/x. When I speak to people who are just getting into web dev, they ask what should they learn first. I always say vanilla HTML and CSS. Get the basics down pat. Understand how the web browser works, how the internet seems to work, and how to host it. (I know, hosting is a totally deep topic these days too.) Then I say to use a framework like React that has things set up and lots of DX tooling (like TSDX).

5/x. Then you get to what I'm doing now where it's build systems, configs, TypeScript, modules and dependencies. At least I have many years of dev under my belt. Newcomers must be super confused with all the naming conventions, file locations, JSON vs. YAML vs. code configs. Then trying to layer on and performance aspects. Wow.

6/6. Ending this thread, I have use "one trick" to help me learn. I start with forming a solid base of knowledge and really understanding it well. I see how to do a thing, I look up examples and tutorials, I see how to break the thing, I see how to optimize. And only after being comfy do I tack on a new unit of knowledge. Then repeat. It's the idea that making small adjustments allows you (and your colleagues) see how the systems change, and backtrack if your knowledge is wrong.