So I've decided I want to learn web development. Cool. Great. Except then I actually sat down to start and realized... I don't even know what to start with.
HTML? CSS? JavaScript? Python? React? Back-end stuff? People keep saying different things and every video has a different "you should start with THIS" opinion. It's honestly kind of overwhelming for someone who hasn't written a single line of real code yet.
So instead of learning anything, what I actually did was open like 15 tabs, watch parts of a bunch of videos, and close my laptop feeling more confused than when I started lol.
what I've looked at so far
Not much tbh. A couple YouTube videos comparing front-end and back-end (still not 100% sure I get the difference). One video tried explaining what JavaScript actually does on a page and I understood maybe half of it. And I've been scrolling posts here on DEV a lot, just reading how other people started. That part actually helped the most, not because anyone gave me THE answer, but because everyone started differently and that made me feel less stressed about "picking wrong."
how I'm picking
No real system, just vibes basically:
- HTML/CSS feels the least scary to start with because you can actually see something change on the screen right away, and that feels good when you're this new to everything
- if a lot of people keep saying "start here" for beginners, I figure there's probably something to it
- and mostly I just need to pick SOMETHING and stop researching forever. I think the real mistake isn't choosing the "wrong" language first, it's never choosing anything at all
I'm not trying to get this decision perfect, I just want to actually start building stuff instead of just watching people build stuff.
so if you've been where I am right now, if you were starting completely over, what would YOU learn first?
not looking for a "correct" answer since i don't know if there even is one, just curious what actually worked for real people instead of another "top 10 languages to learn in 2026" article lol
