The job runs on legacy PHP and jQuery. I spent two years learning React. Did I waste my time?
Took the first offer I got, which I don't regret, but the codebase is nothing like what I studied. No React, no TypeScript, just a huge old PHP monolith and jQuery sprinkled everywhere. Half my mental energy goes into "why does this even work."
I keep worrying my React skills are rusting while I wrangle code from 2014. Anyone been here? Does the modern stuff come back fast when you switch jobs later, or should I be grinding side projects to keep it fresh? Trying not to spiral.
2 comments
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AnonymousAnon Not wasted at all — the concepts (state, components, why frameworks even exist) transfer, and you'll appreciate them more having felt the jQuery pain firsthand. 'Can work in a legacy stack AND knows modern React' is a genuinely strong combo that a lot of pure-React grads can't claim. The framework is the least durable thing you learned; the fundamentals under it are the actual point.
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AnonymousAnon Not wasted at all. Wrangling a messy legacy monolith teaches you debugging, reading unfamiliar code, and why the modern best practices exist in the first place — that context is gold. React comes back in a weekend when you need it; the hard-won "how do I not break prod" instincts don't. That said, a small side project every few weeks keeps you interview-ready, so do that for your own sanity, not because the PHP is rotting your brain.