About a year ago, I switched from full-time Java development (15 years, mostly server side -- some Swing) to full-time Javascript development (React at first, t

About a year ago, I switched from full-time Java development (15 years, mostly server side -- some Swing) to full-time Javascript development (React at first, then Angular) with all of the mental anguish that the amazingly arcane world of modern Javascript entails. I did have a little bit of a leg up in terms of previous html/css experience, but other than that it was a whole new world. It seems to me that there is no other way to go other than full immersion and feeling really dumb for quite some time. The thing is though that you really need to depend on an unshakable faith that you will eventually come through the other side. You need to be firmly convinced of this. If not, convince yourself. It really helps to have done these career pivots before (which I have) and that may be the best thing about being an older developer. I know that there is nothing that I cannot come to grips with given time and effort. Some hints: Never pretend you understand something unless you do. Always admit "I don't know that" rather than fake it. This rule can be bent for small stuff that you are going to look up when you get back from your meeting. Take notes (which you seem to be doing already). This is what you will google when you get back to your desk! ;D Have a really understanding tech lead. Of course, I realize that this is just luck and a crap shoot, but working with great teachers and humane people is always best. Have faith in the fact that the problems in your new domain are largely (probably) problems of computation that are generally applicable in ALL programming domains. Look for patterns that you are familiar with, like: what are we actually doing here? Reading some data files, transforming the result and storing them somewhere else? Oh! It's ETL! I know this. Ignore the weird jargon and get to the heart of the matter. Give yourself time to feel like a dunce. You aren't, it's just gonna take time.