The purpose of this project was for me to refresh my knowledge of how to use React after taking a 3-month break from my first front-end web development internship.
Initially, I followed a tutorial on how to code the basic functions for a dictionary, which was just to get the user's input in the search bar and spit out the definition using Axois and an online dictionary API.
However, every other functionality such as saving words, saved word list, and quick search words on the antonym and synonym lists by clicking on it, was coded by myself with a lot of help from the internet and chatbot (amazing teacher).
This project has allowed me to learn a lot about the engineering aspect of programming. Sure this web app was fairly simple and wasn't anything too crazy that required game-level developmental logic. However, what it did teach me was something far more useful than learning any other coding language or framework, this project taught me a new perspective on my obstacles and challenges. It gave me a paradigm shift, a mentality of growth, and the mindset to see the opportunities for growth in every complaint/ error message I get.
I know it's quite common for new developers to feel a strong sense of defeat and the urge to give up after spending so much time on something for it to spit out an error. However, after completing this project, my mindset has changed to the point where instead of getting restless and one inch closer to alt-tabbing onto Netflix, I tell myself,
"Look, you're only getting this error because you're not a competent enough programmer, thus, you need a lot of learning. Therefore, if you can conquer this complaint and solve it, you're one step closer to becoming a better programmer and another step closer to landing your dream job."
This mindset alone had given me so much willpower, firing up my motivation whenever I saw red letters, I slowly found myself craving for it.
This new shift in mentality made me so hungry to improve, starving for more challenging tasks, and greatly fueled my desire to grow and see how much further I could level up. Nowadays coding feels like my leisure time. Gaming, movies, and especially Netflix feels like a waste of time to me. I no longer see these activities of recreation, but merely a distraction from my true goals.
You can say that this project has truly set my heart ablaze for my passion for programming ;).
Anyways, coming back to the web app, to search for a word, type your word in the search bar, press enter then voilà. You can save words and access them on your "Saved Words List". These words will be stored in your local storage.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really do appreciate it! BYEBYE c: