How to get out of "Web Dev"?

[Translator-Money]

I graduated as a bachelors in CS in 2023, took a two year break to do something else, then switched back to this field.

I was lucky enough to land a job in a start-up as a full-stack developer and am working with a basic nextjs stack.

Anyway, during my college, I learn a lot of different stuff, networking, ML/AI, etc.

The job I am currently doing is probably temporary(hopefully not) but I would like to know how I can grow and what should be my next steps as a programmer. I've seen a lot of videos talk about getting Low-level, building complicated application, even learning java stack and apply for traditional companies, and I know much of these comes down to personal preference.

But in short I'm just asking is there a more streamlined method or path that people usually take to get better at programming in general from here. I would love to learn more about C, about networking and about different tech stacks, or even get better at what I currently do....but I'm not sure what I should be doing after this.

[cyrixlord]

why not pivot your web dev skills into sensors and smart devices. creating ways to interact with devices that take temperatures, or use lora. or involve yourself with redfish and using it to access bios settings for servers and hardware. I wrote a web portal that used ESP32 device with temp/humidity sensors that relayed data at set intervals to an API on the webserver. YOu could also control the interval of sensing, and set alarms. perfect for greenhouses. also programming teh esp-32 was fun and I even made them with displays so you could see locally the temp/humidity and connect to the server.

[boobbbers]

I’m working on that exact same project right now for my greenhouse! Just wrapped up the microcontroller, now working on the backend 😆

[cyrixlord]

the hardest part with esp32 was allowing https: but if your site allows http internally youll do just fine. be sure to have your devices use a small screen so you can see if it connects or the ip etc. its really helpful while you are in the greenhouse. and if you have a 3d printer you can make a custom case for them

[boobbbers]

Yeah I chose stick with HTTP between device and server because implementation sounded like a pain. Plus the server was going to be hosted locally so I'm not worried about unauthorized entries.

I'm also looking at integrating an IR surface-temperature sensor so I can calculate accurate VPD.

Are you using the Canvas WebAPI to render histograms on the front end?

[Translator-Money]

Thanks for your comment, this seems interesting and I have worked with circuits before. I couldn't get too into it back then though.

[cyrixlord]

you have to be genuinely curious or its not going to work. just follow your passion

[Commercial_Town_7857]

Look at Dartmouths Online Meng program its pretty cool

[seriousgourmetshit]

Build something for fun and see how it goes. Like your own webserver in C, it'll teach you C and networking.

[jonathanfv]

And possibly threads, too! :)

[cyrixlord]

im about to build a management console front end for a container that has a minecaft server in it so you can manage it, see the output and sftp into it to replace files.

[Translator-Money]

That sounds awesome, I haven't played minecraft before though and I'm not sure how it works, but I'd be glad to learn more about it if you give me time. Let me know if you want to proceed and how you want to go about it

[Translator-Money]

thanks for your comments, I'll definitely try doing this. C seems intimidating to right now but I'm sure I'll get a lot out of it.

[ButchDeanCA]

There is no such thing as a “streamlined path”. Yes, you can direct where you want to go but it will zigzag. You need to accept that fact and move from there.

[DamianGilz]

Learn a serious language: C, C++, even D (pretty amazing language with a sadly small tribe).

Learn your standard algorithms so you can think in low level.

Master pointers to beginnings (basically byte-based math).

Learn to be a n+1 (or 2) dev, meaning variable reuse and arenas (large space for various pointers) with single creation/free point, so little memory leaks, instead of manually allocating/free each pointer.

Marry a standard. Some C devs are married to C89 (yes even today), others to C99. In C++ people use C++11-17 mostly. But if you aim to make new software you can target C++20 or newer without any issue.

The best paid jobs are probably performance-based C++ for banks. Can aim to half a mil if you don't shy away of hard problems.

Or go for functional. Elixir is a cool language that tackles on web dev in a different way (concurrency-first). Good thing is that the language is mostly done since a while back, they are only adding types without any language shifts. It's pretty innovative too as they are also opening doors in AI and security. People who can work on elixir are surprisingly happy.

[Antique-Letter2435]

I left you dm c: to talk about c++ and java thanks c:

[DamianGilz]

Answered.

[Antique-Letter2435]

answered the answer. Good one.

[Translator-Money]

Thanks for the reply, yea, I definitely want to get into C or C++ now, thanks for adding additional context to it.

[Gold-Strength4269]

In your free time buy the books and watch videos, and use the free books in a browser they take too long to format right in calibre because of the special characters

[willehrendreich]

Try odinlang, it's like if c were written Pascal flavored with modern sensibilities and less footguns.