From Hating Code to Building Startups: My Dev Journey

I never thought I’d become a developer.
In fact, I used to hate code. I mean, truly hate it.

Back in school, when others got excited writing Hello World, I rolled my eyes and asked myself,
“Why does this even matter?”

The Start: Frustration and Fear

My earliest memory of coding was staring at a black screen filled with error messages. I remember typing some Java code during a lab exam, and nothing worked. I failed that subject—and more importantly, I failed to see the point of programming.

“I’m not cut out for this,” I thought.
“Maybe I’m just not smart enough.”

Everyone around me seemed to get it. They talked about building apps, joining hackathons, and deploying projects. I just wanted to pass and move on.

The Turning Point: Curiosity Sparks in the Dark

Ironically, it wasn’t a teacher or a class that turned things around for me.
It was a simple game.
One night, I was browsing online and stumbled on how someone created a simple RPG using HTML and JavaScript. It wasn’t flashy. But it worked. It responded. It felt alive.

I copied the code.
Tried to break it.
Tweaked it.
Suddenly… things clicked.

That was the first time I felt code instead of just reading it.

That curiosity led me down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos, Stack Overflow threads, and tons of trial and error. I didn’t have the best resources, and I wasn’t even sure what to search for at times. But for the first time, I wasn’t afraid to learn.

Self-Taught, Self-Doubted

Learning alone isn’t glamorous.
I’ve doubted myself more times than I can count.

  • I built ugly landing pages no one saw.

  • I launched projects that didn’t work.

  • I compared myself to developers who were way ahead.

But every failure made me braver. And each tiny success made me hungrier.

Eventually, I started freelancing. Small gigs at first—fixing WordPress issues, editing PHP files, debugging broken layouts. It wasn’t always fun. But I was finally using my skills.

Building Not Just Code—But Products

I started to notice a pattern.
Clients didn’t just want code.
They wanted solutions.

They wanted:

  • To sell something online

  • To automate a tedious process

  • To bring their idea to life

That’s when it hit me:
I didn’t want to just write code.
I wanted to build things.

I started learning product thinking, UI/UX, how to validate ideas, how to launch fast. I joined startup communities, watched bootstrapped founders share their journeys, and slowly… I became one of them.

From Hating to Owning It

Today, I’m not just a developer. I’m someone who builds digital products—small apps, startup MVPs, internal tools. I mix code with creativity, logic with empathy.

Looking back, I realize I never really hated code.
I hated not understanding it.
Once I found meaning in it—once I saw code as a tool, not a test—everything changed.

“Code isn’t the enemy. It’s the canvas.”

For Anyone Who Feels Like I Did

If you’re reading this and you’re struggling with code right now—
I see you. I’ve been there. And I’m telling you, it’s okay to hate it at first.

But give it time.
Give yourself space to learn badly.
And someday, you might wake up and realize…
You’re not just writing code anymore.
You’re building something.

And that changes everything.