blhack is right. PHP has undergone a lot of changes since the 90s, but it's still the tops when it comes to open source languages that companies are looking for...at least in Philly. It looked like everything was going to Ruby a few years back, but PHP is holding steady. If you have the time, I'd learn full stack JS - but you can't go wrong with PHP.
Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
111–120 of 121 posts
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a desktop applications dev working for an engineering consultancy. I mostly develop and maintain our GIS and simulation applications. We use a combination of C++ and Java with an Oracle PL/SQL back end. We plan to deliver some of our applications through web applications/services over the next few years. I've touched on Javascript a bit but as of this moment, I have very very limited exposure to web development o…
Do you sometimes feel left out or that you may be limiting your future career prospects? I am a Java application developer with also limited exposure to web development and it is difficult to not feel disconcerted with all the JavaScript talk. I've started tinkering around with NodeJS but I'd hate for it to get lambasted just as soon as I've mastered it. The frameworks and tools in web development feel transient to m…
> Do you sometimes feel left out or that you may be limiting your future career prospects?
Sorry for the late reply.
I definitely feel like the longer I remain with my current employer the more I'll stagnate and the less employable I'll be over time.
We have plans here to start offering some of our applications through web services/web applications but realistically we won't even hit the implementation stage for another three or four years. SO as of now, most of the developers here basically only have raw desktop development experience.
This is the reason I am currently looking for a new job. I have a couple of interviews lined (also turned a few interviews down due to distance from my home) up and the main concern with most of the telephone interviewers has been my lack of exposure to web technologies. Most are understanding enough though to see that an 'easing in' period would be required for me to start working with Javascript and RESTful services etc. It may also help that I haven't been programming professionally for very long.
I should say though that these positions I have interviewed/am interviewing for are back-end Java/C++ positions with companies that offer their products and services through web and mobile applications and not purely web developer posititions, so I would still be working mostly with either Java or C++ technologies and frameworks, just with an eye towards web and mobile delivery.
I don't particularly want to be purely a 'web developer' anyway, but i do want to learn more about web technologies, and I want to learn it as soon as possible.
As it stands now I am considering learning (in my own time) more about Javascript and associated frameworks so I can understand more about web development in general. I have the same concerns as you though, things seem to move so quickly in that arena, frameworks seem to fall in and out of fashion in the course of months or even weeks and I am having trouble knowing where to start.
It also doesn't help that I'm trying to (slowly) learn to the Android 6 SDK at home with an intention to try to pick up the Rust language as well. I'm clearly trying to take too much on.
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#113Wow, there is a lot of awful advice in this thread. HTML, Javascript and CSS are still extremely important and they have come a long way since 1990. Forget everything you knew about them and research their state in 2016. You have a lot to learn, but you'll find all three more powerful and expressive today than they were in 1990. There is currently a big shift in the way clients want their websites to work. In the pas…
But users hate them. Users want their browser's back button to work in a sensible way.
So true. But people who pay web designers like them.
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#114Wow, there is a lot of awful advice in this thread. HTML, Javascript and CSS are still extremely important and they have come a long way since 1990. Forget everything you knew about them and research their state in 2016. You have a lot to learn, but you'll find all three more powerful and expressive today than they were in 1990. There is currently a big shift in the way clients want their websites to work. In the pas…
But users hate them. Users want their browser's back button to work in a sensible way.
[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#115Wow, there is a lot of awful advice in this thread. HTML, Javascript and CSS are still extremely important and they have come a long way since 1990. Forget everything you knew about them and research their state in 2016. You have a lot to learn, but you'll find all three more powerful and expressive today than they were in 1990. There is currently a big shift in the way clients want their websites to work. In the pas…
> in the future, we're shifting towards ... Javascript centric applications
Are we? I expect 2016-2017 to be a turning point in the history of client-side web-development due to WebAssembly. Is it just my wet fantasy?
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you sometimes feel left out or that you may be limiting your future career prospects? I am a Java application developer with also limited exposure to web development and it is difficult to not feel disconcerted with all the JavaScript talk. I've started tinkering around with NodeJS but I'd hate for it to get lambasted just as soon as I've mastered it. The frameworks and tools in web development feel transient to m…
> Do you sometimes feel left out or that you may be limiting your future career prospects? Sorry for the late reply. I definitely feel like the longer I remain with my current employer the more I'll stagnate and the less employable I'll be over time. We have plans here to start offering some of our applications through web services/web applications but realistically we won't even hit the implementation stage for anot…
No worries, thanks for responding. I'm in a pretty similar position to you although I haven't yet reached the 3 year mark, more like 2. I also tend to have ADHD with my hobby projects that I do on the side. There's this open source project based on Rust that I want to contribute to on my spare time (I've already looked at Android and made an app, but for some reason I'm not compelled to pursue mobile development professionally) and of course I've already told you about NodeJS.
Easier said than done, but I'd advise to just stick with the web dev right now and focus on the other stuff later (if ever). Web apps are increasingly standing in for native mobile apps (that's partly why I gave up on Android) and Rust hasn't really reached a level where it's lucrative for professionals. Just be pragmatic and catch up on your web stuff right now (like I am right now) and once you think you've covered your bases then you can focus on the "for fun" stuff (Rust - although it would be awesome if someone could prove me wrong).
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#117It depends on what you want to do. If you want to get a pro job then it takes a lot more time investment then a hobby.
I started out in the same tech stack and have been doing this since late 2000s. TBH, a modern web framework with a js frontend is overkill for a hobby project. If you want to mess around with just the front end, start with a hackable static site generator like http://spress.yosymfony.com/ Hack the templates and you can get a good starting place for how much has changed on the front end.
Learning WordPress templating is another good hobby kind of place to start. Actually, if you get really good with that, you can probably turn it into a job on its own (though less money than more full stack type work).
If you were wanting a career change, you need to learn just enough of one backend framework and just enough from a frontend framework to land an entry job. Then learn everything you can from reading someone else's code. There is no project that you can do on your own that would teach you the entire stack as quickly and you'd get paid to learn it.
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Do you sometimes feel left out or that you may be limiting your future career prospects? Sorry for the late reply. I definitely feel like the longer I remain with my current employer the more I'll stagnate and the less employable I'll be over time. We have plans here to start offering some of our applications through web services/web applications but realistically we won't even hit the implementation stage for anot…
No worries, thanks for responding. I'm in a pretty similar position to you although I haven't yet reached the 3 year mark, more like 2. I also tend to have ADHD with my hobby projects that I do on the side. There's this open source project based on Rust that I want to contribute to on my spare time (I've already looked at Android and made an app, but for some reason I'm not compelled to pursue mobile development prof…
I can see what you mean with regards to mobile development. Android is not exactly 'fun' to work with so far.
So much XML, it feels like you need to write two or three times as much code to implement any functionality than you do on any other language/platform. It feels so heavyweight.
I think you're right though, I might delay picking up Rust for a while and learn some web tech. It was just going to be something fun to do in my spare time.
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#119Wow, there is a lot of awful advice in this thread. HTML, Javascript and CSS are still extremely important and they have come a long way since 1990. Forget everything you knew about them and research their state in 2016. You have a lot to learn, but you'll find all three more powerful and expressive today than they were in 1990. There is currently a big shift in the way clients want their websites to work. In the pas…
> in the future, we're shifting towards ... Javascript centric applications Are we? I expect 2016-2017 to be a turning point in the history of client-side web-development due to WebAssembly. Is it just my wet fantasy?
I hope so but it's going to be a while before we have a decent, feature-rich language (with accompanying frameworks) that compiles down to WASM and wide-enough browser coverage to make it a practical development target.
Re: Ask HN: How does a 1990s web developer get back on track?
#120There's a lot of great advice (and some not-so-good advice) in this thread. I happen to be a '90s web guy who's spent the last six months building and deploying an Ember.js SPA backed by a Sinatra.rb RESTful API. It shouldn't be too hard to find me on Twitter if you want to chat. :-) Best of luck.