Learning is Hard

I started my career as a web designer. Soon enough, I learned front-end development skills. Starting with simple HTML and CSS, I built myself into a front-end developer by trade. I spent the next five years plying that trade, using my design acumen to create fun and useful interfaces.

During that time, I always wanted to learn how to make things “work.” I wanted to know what was behind all the interfaces I’d built over the years. I wanted to understand how things operated behind-the-scenes. I wanted to learn PHP.

Last year, I was assigned “Project X” as a full-stack developer. It was my first project I lead, and my first foray into backend web development. I had a great team around me, and some great mentors, so I felt optimistic, but the sheer amount of “firsts” involved made me nervous.

An Embarrassing Story

We’re friends, right? Phew, just checking. This is terribly embarrassing, but it proves how little I knew about PHP when I started “Project X.”

Before I landed my current job, I was interviewing at an E-commerce shop. It was going well. They were super nice, interested in me, and I felt comfortable. Then, the interviewer asked, “Ok, Glen, if you don’t get this, I’ll just ask you to leave right away [friendly laughter]. How do you instantiate a class?”

I couldn’t answer the question. Luckily, they were nice and didn’t actually ask me to leave on the spot.

I just sat there, half-horrified. As embarrassing as that was, I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t claim to be a back-end developer. I knew Wordpress. Wordpress doesn’t teach you the basics of PHP if all you’re doing is theming.

Everyone starts somewhere, right?