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Q:

Hey pato, hope you are cool me calling you that. am titus and i got to know you online. i started self learning web development at codeacademy.com about 3 months ago. at the moment i know a little bit of html5, css3 and just started javascript. before deciding to do web development i had zero programming skills but i wanted to learn because at that time i found myself spending a lot of time online. i also wanted to have a career change. i've seen your website and what you've done is really impressive. you really know your stuff. the reason am writing to u is to ask; is web development something to do that can lead to a career, especially here in kenya/ nairobi? i was in mombasa but i've relocated to nrb now!
2. how long did it take you before starting making good web applications?
3. did you teach yourself online or you went to school for a degree/ diploma?
4. when learning, how did you stay motivated? because some of the things are quite hard, especially javascript!
5. are there meetups in nrb or clubs on web developers that i can join?
thanks patrick for reading through this long msg. i know you are very busy and i will let you go back to work. i hope you reply soon. thanks again and God bless you.

A:

Yes. Web development can be a career by itself and already is. You just learn other stuff to support you in it. New stuff popup daily in tech.

I took around 2 months to do really cool stuff. Because I got a boss who pressured me. Pressure made me get outta my comfort zone and do more. That's when I realized I can be better. I became better.

I leant basics in school. Did IT in college, always loved IT. Job was different. Most of the stuff I learnt in school was not at my workplace where I was an intern. I taught myself php and javascript among other stuff. I love the two. They do wonders.

Motivation came from challenges. When I solve a challenge, I feel wanting for more. Take it as gaming. When you get bored of playing in some level then you beat it, you even sleep smiling and wanting more.
Not easy though. This is clients' work we are talking about.

Yes. There is an active Js [ https://telegram.me/nairobijs ] and PHP [ https://telegram.me/phpkenya ] communities, where devs share knowledge and stuff.
See  meetup.com/nairobi-js (https://meetup.com/nairobi-js)   and https://www.meetup.com/phpkenya/ for events to the respective groups.
Feel free to join.

Joining is free.