I’ve seen a few posts on this and other Shopify communities of people asking how to become a Shopify Developer.
A lot of the responses don’t really go in depth on all the skills required to become a Shopify Developer so I figured I would make a post about it.
I’ve been working as a Shopify Plus Developer for the past 4 years and this is what I would do if I was learning Shopify Development again from scratch.
There’s 2 things you need to learn to get into Shopify Development:
- Basic Web Development with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
- Shopify specific skills like Shopify Liquid and the Shopify API
Basic Web Development
A Shopify Store is a type of website so you need to have a good understanding of the basics of Web Development.
Web Development can be broken down into 3 separate skills:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
Having those 3 skills will set you up for success with Shopify Development since a lot of the features and functionalities you’ll see in a Shopify Store are based on them.
That’s a lot of stuff to learn in a short period of time so what I recommend is to look up a channel called “Free Code Camp” on YouTube and do some of their free video courses on HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
When I was first getting started with Web Development, I used Free Code Camp’s website and YouTube channel to learn the basics and I was blown away by how much value they were just giving away for free.
So your first move should be to hop onto Free Code Camp and start your learning journey there.
Pro Tip: If you’re watching a video course, test yourself by trying to build what you saw in the course yourself and add your own features to it. Doing this is a great way to make sure you understand what you just learned.
For example, if you watched a project on how to create a product page for an online store, you can follow along with the video and then add your own features or customizations on top of it.
Learning Shopify Theme Development and Shopify Liquid
Once you have a solid grasp on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, you’re ready to move onto learning Shopify Liquid.
Shopify Liquid is a language made by Shopify that uses HTML as a base and allows you to get access to the data of whatever Shopify Store you are working on.
Shopify Liquid is an essential part of Shopify Website Development so make sure you spend the time to learn it well.
To learn Shopify Liquid and Shopify Theme Development in general, you should first start with the Shopify Academy (which is a learning resource from Shopify).
And you can supplement that with what you can find on popular Shopify YouTube channels like:
- Coding with Jan
- Weeklyhow
- Chris the Freelancer
Pro Tip: Looking through the code in the Shopify Dawn Theme is a great way to get started with understanding Shopify Liquid and Shopify Theme Development. Some of the stuff in the Dawn theme is a little confusing at first but you’ll get a sense of what is possible when working with real Shopify Store data.
And once you’ve got a solid understanding of Shopify Theme Development, you’ll know pretty much all you need to start looking for work.
At this point you can start looking for freelance work or even start applying for the Shopify Developer jobs you might see posted online.
You can even use these skills to make your own Shopify Themes and sell them on the Shopify Theme store or on 3rd party marketplaces like Theme Forest.
Learning Shopify App Development and the Shopify API
If you want to take your Shopify Development skills to the next level, you can get into Shopify App Development.
Shopify app development is the process of creating apps to extend the functionality of an online store built on the Shopify platform.
Getting into Shopify App Development will require you to get pretty comfortable with Backend Development. To get started with Backend Development, we need to head back to Free Code Camp to get a basic understanding of how to do it.
At this point you should know the basics of coding with JavaScript, so you could learn how to do backend development with NodeJS (this is what I did).
But if you want to explore backend development with another programming language, I would recommend learning either Python or Ruby since they are both easy to learn and there is a lot of content out there on how to use them.
Pro Tip: Don’t listen to people that tell you that one language is better than the other one. All that matters is that you can build stuff that is useful. Pick whatever language you like.
Do a few backend projects on Free Code Camp to get yourself comfortable with the basics.
Once you know how Backend Development works in general, now you need to look into how to use the Shopify API.
Probably the hardest part at this point will be getting through the Shopify App Authentication process. I’m not gonna lie, getting through the Shopify Auth process took me years to understand because Shopify has horrible documentation.
But instead of banging your head against the wall for years like I did, just focus on how the auth process works in general and then adapt that to whatever language you are using.
Pro Tip: Don’t use one of Shopify’s app development templates. They’ll help you get through the auth process but you won’t really understand how everything works. It’s important to understand how everything works so you can develop a Shopify App in whatever language you want to work in.
Once you have a solid understanding of Shopify App Development, go build a couple of simple Shopify Apps to solidify what you learned.
The best way to practice is to look at apps that Shopify have built and try to create your own version of them.
After building a couple of simple apps, you should be good enough to start offering your new found skills to Shopify Plus companies or maybe you can apply to become a developer for a Shopify App company.
Or if you’re crazy like me, you can try to build your own Shopify app and try to get customers.
Either way, knowing Shopify App Development will open a lot of doors for you in future.
Shopify Development Resources
Gil Greenburg, a popular Shopify App Developer, launched a resource called “The Shopify Developer Training Plan” on Github.
If you search this up on Google you should be able to find it:
“Shopify Developer Training Plan Gil Greenburg”
It’s a list of all the things you would need to know as a Shopify Developer.
It covers various topics related to Shopify Theme Development and Shopify App Development.
I recommend checking it out to get a full overview of everything you will need to know.
How I would approach learning all this stuff
If you’re completely new to web development, it’ll take a while to learn all of this stuff.
Don’t try to rush your way through everything. Take it slow and make consistent progress.
I would aim to spend about 2-3 hours a day learning and practicing. And if you can stick with that, you should be able to understand basic Shopify Theme Development in maybe 3 or 4 months.
Hopefully you enjoyed this post and found it helpful.
By the way, I’m building a community for Shopify developers. If you’re interested in connecting with other Shopify developers, send me a DM and I’ll shoot you a link to join it.
Also, I’m offering a free one-on-one mentorship to help someone get started with Shopify development. If you’re serious about diving deep into Shopify development and want personalized guidance, reach out to me directly or leave a comment on this post.
