| I've been writing about this a lot recently -- particularly with React, where do you start? I think your "start from scratch" approach is actually the right one, and the only caution I'd add is that you'll probably be tempted to "introduce dependencies" TOO EARLY. Everything out there will guide you toward adding everything at once, or ramping up too quickly. Many tutorials are "full stack," and so you're tempted to make your stack match theirs just to make it easier to follow. Add to that the groupthink around the idea that you really need React+Redux+Webpack+etc+etc+etc to build anything of any meaningful size, and you're stuck with a lot of pressure to add more than you need, before you need it. Oh, and nobody really says "wait until X happens before you add Redux," it's much fuzzier than that, more like "you'll know it when it happens." Great. I wrote an article just the other day about this learning process: https://daveceddia.com/timeline-for-learning-react/ A key to the process is building a bunch of throwaway apps, I think. You don't want to dive in and try to build a full-stack app. Too many moving pieces, even if you're adding them one at a time. They're all independent libraries, right? That's what everyone keeps saying anyway. So why not just learn "pure React" (no Redux, no backend) first: get it down rock-solid, and THEN add one more library to the mix. Build a few small apps, add another. Eventually you'll know the whole stack cold, but not if you start with a shaky foundation. |