A Difference of Just a Few Years

Check out this XKCD from 2014:

Just seven years ago, the idea of digitally identifying arbitrary subjects in an image was a massively ambitious goal.

Today there are dozens of companies that offer it as a service, many of them for free.

The field that you have chosen as a new profession moves at blinding speed. If you're just getting started it can feel like you're trying to jump onto a speeding train from a standstill. And you basically are.

I'm not trying to scare you. I'm hoping to liberate you, maybe just a little bit.

See right now, you're working on getting competent with a set of tools. But your job is not to be a React/Node/Python/Whatever developer. Your job is to solve problems. These tools are your entry point into a new domain of problems to solve. I guarantee you that seven years from now you'll be working with a different set of tools on a related but new set of problems.

Whatever you were doing before you started learning software development, I'm sure you were solving problems on some level. Once you get comfortable with the tools, problem-solving is the skill that's going to carry you through decades in this field.

Solve problems. Don't just apply tools.

Next Up:
How to write better code faster

Previously:
Testing FTW!