I have a C/C++/C# background originally, and what I can tell you is this: be prepared, WordPress and its ecosystem are both very cool, but way too much code for what it does, and written by very different types of people! The quality also varies from one plugin to another.
Use absolutely the minimum of plugins you can. And, in fact, don’t hesitate to write a few lines of code (through Code Snippets for example, which is a plugin that allows you to add some) instead of adding a big plugin that will give you headaches later. More importantly, focus and enjoy the process. If you do, that means you understand it prefectly and you’ll love the outcome even more. Enjoy ??