Jens Oliver Meiert

How to Become a Solid Web Developer, the Short Version

Published on Feb 12, 2010 (updated Feb 5, 2024), filed under (feed). (Share this on Mastodon or Bluesky?)

This and many other posts are also available as a pretty, well-behaved ebook: On Web Development.

Every once in a while people ping me on how to master web development and design. Given how much there’s still to learn for me this makes me blush. Chronically short on time I typically reply in just a few sentences, though I welcome to ping me again, and to keep me posted on the effort. Here’s one of my recent responses. Slightly edited.

The three major recipes, from my point of view, are these:

  1. Read the specs, in particular HTML and CSS. Sounds intimidating at first but you’ll get a good understanding of what’s going on, and what can and cannot be done.

  2. Practice, practice, practice. Set up your own website if you don’t have one already. Do some projects for friends, family, smaller businesses. Try to somehow get into really, really big projects—that’s where the key lessons winter.

  3. Get hold of the best resources. Subscribe to blogs from real masters. Read only the best books. Don’t settle for anything other than expert knowledge. (It doesn’t hurt to read outstanding literature out of neighboring fields, either, such as works from Edward Tufte, Donald Norman, or Jakob Nielsen.)

This is far from complete, but it reflects a good part of my professional philosophy. Which did indeed evolve to keep things short.

About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on November 9, 2024.

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a web developer, manager, and author. I’ve been working as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you’ve never heard of and companies you use every day, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)