Where I Am Right Now as a Frontend Developer

This is not a success story.
It’s not a roadmap.
It’s not advice.

It’s just an honest description of where I am right now.

I’ve been working as a frontend developer long enough to feel comfortable and long enough to feel uncomfortable again. I know many things, but I’m also very aware of what I don’t know. That mix defines this phase of my journey.

I’m Past the Beginner Phase

I don’t struggle with the basics anymore.

I know how to:

Build interfaces
Read documentation without panic
Debug without immediately blaming the framework
Break features into smaller parts
Understand other people’s code, even when it’s messy

Earlier, every problem felt new and scary.
Now, most problems feel familiar.

Not easy just familiar.

I’ve seen enough bugs to recognize patterns. I can often guess where something went wrong before opening the debugger. That confidence didn’t come from talent. It came from repetition and mistakes.

But I’m Not an Expert Either

At the same time, I don’t feel like an expert.

There are days when I:

Read the same line of code five times
Try three solutions before one works
Realize I misunderstood something basic
Feel slow compared to others

And that’s uncomfortable.

Earlier, I thought experience would remove confusion. It didn’t. It just changed the type of confusion. Instead of “What is this?” it became “Why does this behave like that?”

The questions got deeper, not fewer.

I Work With Real Constraints Now

My work is no longer about building perfect examples.

It’s about:

Deadlines
Trade-offs
Existing code
Business decisions I don’t fully agree with

Sometimes the “right” solution is not possible.
Sometimes clean code loses to speed.
Sometimes the best fix is not touching the code at all.

This was hard to accept at first.

I wanted everything to be clean and well thought out. Over time, I learned that real projects are messy by nature. Learning to work within that mess is a skill of its own.

I Think More Than I Code

Earlier, progress meant writing more code.

Now, progress often means writing less.

I spend more time:

Thinking before making changes
Reading existing logic
Understanding why something was written a certain way
Deciding what not to do

This shift surprised me.

It’s not as satisfying as pushing commits. But it saves time, reduces bugs, and creates fewer regrets.

I Care More About Code I’ll Read Later

One thing that changed a lot is how I think about the future.

Not the future of the project, the future me.

I ask:

Will I understand this in three months?
Will this confuse someone else?
Is this clever or just unclear?

Earlier, I optimized for “it works.”
Now, I optimize for “it makes sense.”

Not always successfully, but intentionally.

I’m Comfortable Admitting Confusion

This is new.

Earlier, I tried to hide confusion.
Now, I talk about it.

I ask questions
I say “I don’t understand this yet”
I pause instead of guessing

This doesn’t make me weaker.
It makes my work better.

Most bugs live in places where no one asked questions.

I Learn Slower, but Deeper

I don’t chase every new tool anymore.

Earlier, I felt pressure to keep up with everything.
Now, I’m more selective.

When I learn something new, I try to:

Understand why it exists
See what problem it solves
Decide if it fits my work

This makes learning slower but it sticks longer.

I’m Building Habits, Not Just Features

My focus shifted from output to process.

I care about:

How I debug
How I name things
How I structure files
How I review my own work

These things don’t show up in screenshots.
But they shape everything else.

I Still Get Stuck

This is important to say clearly.

I still get stuck.

Not once in a while.
Often.

Sometimes for hours.
Sometimes on simple things.

Experience doesn’t remove being stuck.
It changes how you respond to it.

Now, when I’m stuck:

I slow down
I simplify the problem
I remove assumptions
I walk away if needed

Earlier, being stuck felt like failure.
Now, it feels like part of the job.

I Care Less About Titles

I don’t think much about titles anymore.

Frontend developer.
Senior.
Mid-level.

They don’t change my daily work.

What matters more is:

Can I solve problems better than yesterday?
Can I communicate clearly?
Can I leave things better than I found them?

Titles don’t answer those questions.

I’m More Aware of My Limits

I know what I’m good at.
I know where I struggle.

And I’m okay with that.

I don’t need to be good at everything.
I need to be honest about what I know and what I don’t.

That honesty helps me choose what to learn next.

I’m Writing More Than Before

This is new and important.

I write to:

Understand my thoughts
Capture small learnings
Remember what confused me

Writing slows me down.
And slowing down helps me see things clearly.

That’s why DailyDevPost exists.

Not because I have answers.
But because I don’t want to forget the questions.

I’m In the Middle

That’s the best way to describe it.

I’m not starting.
I’m not finished.

I’m in the middle.

Where:

Progress is real but uneven
Confidence exists alongside doubt
Learning feels quieter but deeper

This phase doesn’t look impressive from the outside.
But it’s where real growth happens.

Final Thought

If I could describe where I am right now in one line, it would be this:

I’m no longer trying to prove that I can code.
I’m trying to understand why I code the way I do.

That shift changed everything.

And I’m still figuring it out, one small step at a time.