Like most people in tech, Reddit is where I spend the last part of my day unwinding, occasionally stumbling upon fascinating posts that expand my understanding of programming. About a month ago, I came across a post looking for a frontend developer for a project - but in Vue/Nuxt.js 3.
I don't know what compelled me to open it. I had never seen a single line of code in that framework, and beyond knowing it existed, that's where my knowledge ended.
The Comment That Changed Everything
Among the comments, I saw someone write: "I work in React and Next.js, but since it's similar, I'm willing to work in Nuxt.js too."
I thought, why not offer the same? But with brutal honesty.
I sent a message saying I had never worked with it before, but if I could get an easier project and a few days to prepare, I'd give it a shot. I also mentioned that money wasn't the main concern - if I delivered quality work after completing the project, we could discuss the price then.
I got a call from Luke very quickly, and he was thrilled by my transparency.
Choosing the Right Project
He offered me three projects. I chose the only one without a deadline - deadlines scared me at that moment.
I had just two days before starting, and I used them to watch a crash course on Vue and another on Nuxt, just to have some basic understanding. Fear was definitely there, even though the concepts seemed very similar - more a question of syntax than anything else.
Diving Into the Unknown
I jumped into the project. Everything moved slowly because I was questioning every little detail, Googling to learn best practices. My goal wasn't just to finish the project, but to establish a long-term collaboration.
I have to admit, Nuxt has some specificities I liked:
- Components don't need to be imported
- Two-way data binding with v-model - way less boilerplate code than React's
value+onChangepattern - It feels like a framework that's easier for beginners, though perhaps not as powerful for more complex things
- What I didn't quite like is that it seems to have strayed a bit more from vanilla JS
The Result
I worked on the project for just under 10 days, and the result is https://www.fakturify.com/
What I Actually Gained
What's more valuable than the result itself is my realization that I have a programmer's mindset and that I'm capable of learning new things and adapting.
This made my decision to start learning backend-related things even firmer.
Also, in the end, came confirmation from Luka - first in the form of kind words saying he was more than satisfied and that my code was much cleaner than his previous collaborator's. But these weren't just empty words - he paid me at the maximum of my expectations.
The Lesson
Today, I'm aware that we can do more than we think. Frequently stepping out of our comfort zone and maintaining a constant hunger for learning new things is the only path to success.