How I learned to code

Jan 21, 2025

The date was June 8th 2023 - a day that would kick off an unexpected chapter of my life. At that point, I knew just enough HTML and CSS to create the landing page for my startup idea, Bizmo.site. It was a small win, a basic but functional page, and while I was proud, I quickly realized something crucial: I wanted to do more. I wanted to bring the entire application to life myself. The problem? I had no idea how to do it.

The Beginning

Before diving in headfirst, I decided to start with research. I wanted to understand the landscape of software development. What does it even mean to "build an application"? What tools and technologies do real developers use?

I began by reading articles, blogs, and watching countless YouTube videos. One term kept popping up: the stack. At first, it felt like developers were speaking in code. Terms like frontend, backend, frameworks, and APIs overwhelmed me. I broke it down, piece by piece, and created a bird鈥檚-eye view of what building a modern application looked like.

Choosing a Tech Stack

The next step was deciding on the stack I鈥檇 use. For the frontend (the user interface), I discovered that React.js was one of the most popular libraries. I didn鈥檛 even bother about the backend at this point鈥攎y sole focus was on creating something visual, something I could see and interact with.

Around this time, I stumbled across a YouTube channel called Code with Harry . It was a goldmine of knowledge, especially for beginners like me. Harry had a comprehensive walkthrough of JavaScript and React, and his approachable style made the learning process feel less intimidating. I decided to start with the first five videos of his JavaScript playlist to brush up on the basics. Once I had a decent grasp of JavaScript fundamentals, I dived headfirst into his React tutorials.

One of the first projects I built while following along was a TextUtils app. I鈥檒l admit, in the beginning, I was just typing whatever he showed on screen, almost like a hands-on crash course. But Harry didn鈥檛 just hand over the code鈥攈e explained the concepts behind every line, breaking down the purpose of states, props, and how React components interact with one another. It wasn鈥檛 just about coding; it was about understanding the "why" behind it all.

By the end of the week, I was introduced to Material UI, a library that simplified the process of designing sleek and responsive user interfaces. I immediately started experimenting with it, spending the entire week brushing up on my frontend skills and crafting a UI that I鈥檓 still proud of to this day.

This project became the foundation for one of my proudest creations, the Bizmo Builder. that initial version is still live at bizmo.site/builder. There鈥檚 no any kind of functionality yet鈥攋ust a plain, static UI. But it was my first attempt at creating a polished interface, and the experience taught me so much about designing with intent. Seeing the builder come to life on the screen gave me a rush of excitement and a deep sense of accomplishment.

That week of immersion in React, Material UI, and frontend design set the tone for the rest of my coding journey. It was a reminder that sometimes, taking small, focused steps can lead to big, meaningful progress.

Adding Functionality with AI Tools

As I became more comfortable with React and UI design, I started thinking about ways to add real functionality to my projects. I wanted to build features like drag-and-drop components, but I wasn鈥檛 entirely sure where to start. That鈥檚 when I decided to turn to AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude.

At first, I used ChatGPT as a learning assistant鈥攁sking it to explain tricky concepts or help me debug issues in my code. But soon, I realized its true potential. I began asking it for snippets of code to implement advanced features. Want to add drag-and-drop functionality? ChatGPT walked me through libraries like react-beautiful-dnd and react-dnd, even generating working examples I could tweak to fit my project.

Similarly, Claude helped me brainstorm how to structure my code and optimize my workflows. The combination of these AI tools sped up my learning process exponentially. They didn鈥檛 just give me answers鈥攖hey became collaborators, guiding me through complex ideas in a way that felt intuitive and approachable.

By this time, I鈥檇 also dived into Next.js. I鈥檇 heard about all the perks it offered, especially in terms of SEO and server-side rendering (SSR) and SSG . Since Bizmo is a website builder, these were crucial features to consider. Next.js seemed like a natural progression from React, offering a more robust framework for building performant and scalable web applications. I started migrating parts of my project to Next.js, exploring its routing system, dynamic rendering and what not. These tools and frameworks gave me the confidence to push the boundaries of what I thought I could build. I was no longer just creating static UIs鈥擨 was adding functionality and optimization, taking my projects to the next level.

The Missing Component: "The Backend"

The next couple of months were all about tuning everything I had built so far to fit my needs. By this time, I was very comfortable with frontend development. I had learned enough to confidently build almost any kind of user interface, manage states, props, and design polished, responsive UIs. But as I progressed, I realized there was a critical missing piece: the backend.

Without the backend, everything I was building felt static鈥攋ust a collection of pretty pages. I wanted my application to have functionality, store data, manage users, and truly come to life. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea where to start.

A Chance Encounter with a Backend Developer

As luck would have it, I made a friend, Sree Sayanth, at an event in Kochi. He happened to be a backend developer, and one day, he visited my place I shared with a few friends. That visit ended up being another turning point in my coding journey.

I didn鈥檛 hold back鈥擨 bombarded him with questions about backend development. What is it? How do APIs work? What鈥檚 a database schema? How does user authentication actually happen? At this time, I was aware of tools like Supabase, a no-code backend solution that was trending in the developer community. But every time I opened the platform, I felt completely overwhelmed. I didn鈥檛 have the foundational understanding of backend concepts to make sense of it.

That day, I showed Sree Sayanth the platform, He immediately grasped the concepts and started explaining them to me in a way that clicked. He walked me through building a simple backend project from scratch: setting up sample tables, defining schemas, and structuring the database. More importantly, he explained why each step mattered and how everything fit together.

It wasn鈥檛 just a technical lesson鈥攊t was like opening a door to an entirely new world of possibilities. The couple of hours I spent with him gave me the clarity and confidence to finally dive into backend development.

Setting Up My First Backend

That same day, I sat down and spent the rest of it experimenting with everything Sree Sayanth had shown me. I was determined to put my new knowledge into practice. Starting with Supabase, I set up my first backend from scratch鈥攃omplete with authentication, database tables, and all the necessary configurations. To my surprise, it took no more than a day to get everything running, even though I was starting with zero experience.

The process was exhilarating. I went from feeling overwhelmed by backend concepts to having a functioning backend that could store data and manage user authentication. Suddenly, my application wasn鈥檛 just a collection of static UIs anymore鈥攊t had functionality, logic, and data persistence.

That day marked a huge milestone in my journey. It wasn鈥檛 just about learning a new tool鈥攊t was about bridging the gap between frontend and backend development. The experience showed me that with the right guidance and a willingness to experiment, even the most intimidating concepts can become approachable.

From there, I knew I could take my projects to a whole new level. My newfound understanding of backend development was the final piece of the puzzle I needed to start building fully functional, end-to-end applications.

First Customers

I finally reached a milestone I had been working toward: I built an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for Bizmo. It wasn鈥檛 perfect鈥攊t had its quirks, but it worked. The interface I had spent weeks perfecting, the backend that I had pieced together with the help of Supabase, and the functionality I had painstakingly added all came together in a way that was usable and functional.

The real validation came in the next couple of days when I landed my first customers. It felt surreal to see real people using something I had built from scratch. All those hours of coding, debugging, and learning weren鈥檛 just for me anymore鈥攖hey were solving problems for someone else.

The Reality Check: Legalities and Business Challenges

But this small victory was followed by a reality check. With paying customers came the need to make everything official. I suddenly found myself diving into a world I had no experience in: company registration, tax formalities, legal documentation, and even applying for grants to fund the project. These tasks were completely foreign to me, and they consumed weeks of my time.

While I managed to get through the process, it was a huge setback for the momentum I had built. I couldn鈥檛 spend as much time coding or iterating on Bizmo, and I began to feel like my progress was stalling. This was when I started thinking less like a coder and more like an entrepreneur. I realized that for Bizmo to truly succeed, I couldn鈥檛 just do what everyone else in the market was doing. I had to differentiate myself鈥攖o create something unique that offered value beyond what competitors were already providing.

The Flame to Learn Never Faded

Despite the challenges of running a business, the flame in me to learn more never left. I knew I had to sustain myself financially, so I started taking on freelance work. It began with small projects鈥攕imple websites or fixes for clients鈥攂ut eventually, I worked my way up to bigger projects. I tackled everything from frontend development to backend integrations, and at one point, I even had to dive into Python for a specific project.

Freelancing wasn鈥檛 just about earning money鈥攊t became another avenue for learning. Each project presented a new challenge, a new problem to solve, and a new opportunity to grow my skills.

Learning Through Problem Solving

Looking back, most of my learning didn鈥檛 happen by watching endless tutorials or creating clones of existing apps. It came from identifying real problems and figuring out how to build solutions. Whether it was creating functionality for a client鈥檚 project, fixing an issue in Bizmo, or optimizing a feature, I learned by doing.

This approach taught me to think like a problem solver. I stopped worrying about what I didn鈥檛 know because I trusted that I could learn whatever was necessary to get the job done.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

  1. Starting Small: I didn鈥檛 try to build an entire app on day one. I started with the simplest components and gradually added complexity.
  2. Embracing Failure: My code broke constantly. And that鈥檚 okay鈥攄ebugging taught me more than any tutorial ever could.
  3. Staying Consistent: Coding became a daily habit. I spent entire days coding sometimes never slept fixing that annoying bug.
  4. Building Real Things: Tutorials were helpful, but projects were where the real learning happened.

The Result: A Year of Growth

Less than a year after deciding to teach myself to code, I鈥檇 built over a dozen projects, each one more complex than the last. Bizmo.site went from a static landing page to a functional web app, and along the way, I gained skills I never imagined I鈥檇 have.

Now, when I look back on that June 8th 2023, I see it as the moment everything changed鈥攏ot because I knew how it would end, but because I chose to begin.

And in the end, I realize this journey was never about Bizmo in the first place. It was about proving to myself that I could learn, grow, and build things I once thought were beyond my reach. Bizmo was just the starting point鈥攖he catalyst鈥攂ut the true story is about how I transformed along the way.

Built by sreeragh.