121–130 of 246 posts
There is a surplus of beginners due to a surge in tech bootcamps.
If you're in the bottom half of talent it's a race to the bottom of low cost.
If you're top 25-50%, you'll probably have consistent good paying work.
If you're top 25%+ you can make a great living.
Probably similar to any skill set.
If you are thinking along the lines of the first example, eg. the "I know html and css, I can build a website with pictures and operating hours for a mom and pop shop" developer, this market is shrinking with platforms like wix and squarespace where regular people can build these sites and maintain them easily and for cheap. Not to say you can't still make a living doing this, but it is something to be aware of if it is the route that you choose to take.
If you are thinking more about the second example, yes, there is a high demand (and rapidly growing market) for this kind of developer at startups and fortune 500s and everything in between.
Overall, the answer is yes, web development is still a growing field and it is absolutely a viable career choice, but it is important to keep learning and be aware of the market and adjust accordingly
Right now yes, in the near future, probably not. As automation and better services come out, website development will be one of the first jobs to be replaced by this. Although services like Wordpress, Wix, have their problems, they get better and better every day. In the future, no one will be coding websites/not a viable career option (people may just code on the side website for really niche things) It is a great l…
I've been hearing this argument since CoffeeCup, HighPowerSites and Dreamweaver were still a thing.
Yes. I am the co-founder of Lambda School - (YC S17 - a CS education where the school doesn’t get paid unless you get a good job). Right now we see about 3 students/day get hired. You’ll likely hear a lot of people talking about how the market for juniors is flooded. That is partially true, but it’s flooded with people who cannot code . If you can actually be a productive employee I literally know 100 companies that…
As a sibling commenter said, define web developer first. I can see two viable, yet very different definitions: 1. Frontend web engineer: Versed in HTML, CSS, modern Javascript libraries such as React, Vue, Angular. This is a programming role first and foremost, better paying than #2, and what I would suggest focusing on. 2. "Classic web developer": Versed in HTML, CSS and just enough JS/jQuery. Knows the inside out o…
Bit elitist - the trouble with 1 is they can produce pretty one page sites which then suck when crawled by search engines and 90% of websites out there depend on search.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In theory I agree. But learning something just well enough to get your foot in the door as a junior will have immediate rewards and then you can learn more deeply.
Absolutely, I agree. But don't get lazy then and really take the time to learn the basics. Aside from all the webdev focused MOOCs and courses on the internet there is plenty of stuff about Computer Science theory and whatnot available, so the opportunity is there.
Here was a typical (not verbatim) exchange when I was a Front-End Architect interviewing candidates for my team back in 2012 or so:
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Q: Tell me about your experience with JavaScript.
A: I know JavaScript because I've been working in jQuery for a year.
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Further questions would isolate the fact that they've _only_ used jQuery. It was depressing, really.
I mentor developers to really strive to learn and understand the fundamentals precisely to stop propagating the idea that libraries and frameworks > fundamentals. Problem is, I've already started to witness history repeating itself when interviewing candidates and getting the equivalent answer above--but with "React" in its place.
As a sibling commenter said, define web developer first. I can see two viable, yet very different definitions: 1. Frontend web engineer: Versed in HTML, CSS, modern Javascript libraries such as React, Vue, Angular. This is a programming role first and foremost, better paying than #2, and what I would suggest focusing on. 2. "Classic web developer": Versed in HTML, CSS and just enough JS/jQuery. Knows the inside out o…
How about "web developer who thinks heavy client-side frameworks are a bad idea"?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is weird that you consider frontend frameworks programming but CMS frameworks might not be. You could fudge your way through a React tutorial just as much as someone could a Magento tutorial. It's the person not the tools that make you a programmer. Magento is a fairly complex platform too. It uses lots of very formal software engineering paradigms joined together in a well thought out framework. I would consider…
I might agree on the reality, but the market rate of pay for React programmers is considerably higher than that for Magento, whether this is fair or well advised or not.
It may be important to clarify exactly what you mean by web developer though. I work in many different portions of the web stack every day (database, server side code, front-end code, etc). The more diverse your skill set, the more opportunity there will be.
At any rate, web is a really good entry point, and after a few years in industry you'll probably start to see different branches of development that appeal to you more. If you start out as a web dev there will always be different avenues and opportunities as your career advances.
People say that web dev (the javascript/react/python/c#/java) fullstack kind is boring and mundane. But what else do people actually do? Sure, there's ML and embedded work but aren't most engineers doing CRUD work anyway?
At certain companies there are definitely people who get paid to write compilers or develop frameworks (for any which thing), operating systems, backend cloud tech, robotics, etc. but it would probably be seriously hard to break into this without a CS degree or relevant experience