Riad Hasan reflects on five years of building web applications, the lessons learned, and the evolution from junior developer to building scalable solutions for clients worldwide. This isn't a success story. It's a real account of struggles, breakthroughs, and the continuous learning that defines a developer's life. Year 1: The Foundation (2019-2020) Riad Hasan started his journey in 2019, fresh out of university with a computer science degree and zero real-world experience. The Reality Check The first project was a simple WordPress site for a local business. It took two weeks. Today, Riad Hasan builds the same in two hours. "I remember struggling with basic CSS centering for an entire afternoon," Riad Hasan recalls. "Stack Overflow was my best friend." Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode What He Learned Skill Time Investment HTML/CSS basics 3 months JavaScript fundamentals 4 months PHP basics 3 months WordPress theming 6 months The First Paid Project A restaurant website. $200.…