[kirso]

Yep. Resonates a lot. I've tinkered with code on the side and realised its very hard to do it "part-time".

Learned HTML/CSS in 2012. Built an app in Rails in 2014. Learned basic Javascript in 2018. Delved into React in 2020. Shifted to no-code. Back to Fundamentals in 2023.

I think its hard to really be good at it, but depends on the goal. Most people want to be software engineers for the wrong reasons these days. To me it was always a hobby and if I can build some small useful things for people with just front-end and a database its a win.

Its not easy though. It never was. It requires commitment and patience as well as regularity beyond tinkering with it 1 time a month.