Why learn Web Development?

Blogs & Digital Gardens

Some people call their blog a digital garden. A place to develop ideas and write about topics you find interesting. Things you can't stop thinking about. Things you are curious about but are just starting to explore yourself. So, these ideas don't have to be fully developed or thought through. You are documenting your current opinions and refine them over time. People might even comment and give you feedback which further improves your understanding and exposes you to new ideas. If you do this long-enough you will develop a good understanding of the world and might also learn a few things about yourself.

In general, writing has many benefits

As mentioned above it improves your own understanding. Also, when you try to explain a concept, it might be more difficult than you initially thought. So, you identify knowledge gaps in your own understanding. Then you can read up on your gaps and refine your explanation further. This kind of process is also known as the Feynman Technique which is a collection of principles and processes that Richard Feynman observed.

Choose a concept that you want to learn about
Explain it in simple language without hiding behind terminology to someone who is unfamiliar with the topic
Identify gaps in your understanding. Read more about it if necessary
Revise and improve your explanation. Simplify it further. Go to step 2 and iterate.

Quick Start: Platform vs. Building Your Own Blog

You can start out on platforms like twitter.com, medium.com, substack or posthaven.com (for technical writing: dev.to, hashnode.com or DZone) and get going quickly. Just keep in mind that you are making yourself dependent on the platform. They might change their rules or kick you out for no obvious reason, destroying all your hard work on a whim. By building your own website (either with code or by using website builder tools) or using a content management systems you create a space that you own. You can control the design and create a memorable brand. You can add specific features and customize everything to your liking.

Of course, there is nothing wrong about starting with such a platform. Maybe it is even advisable rather than spending lots of time on creating a website first. Better write 3, 10 or 20 posts on a platform instead of depleting all your energy by finally finishing a website that gets abandoned after the second post. And I am saying this as someone who has a slight grudge against these options.

On the other hand, building your own blog website (or portfolio) can be a great beginner project to learn web programming or a particular website builder tool. So, it depends on what you want to get out of it, to decide what approach you want to take.