Best language to learn to get an office job?

Jinxus

Jinxus

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Jun 18, 2009
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Awhile back, I saw a poster on here talking about how he spent a year learning PHP and after that amount of time he had enough knowledge of the language to get a $50k/year job as a PHP developer.

Does that sound reasonable?

I've already started with Ruby on Rails. I just want to make sure that I'm making the right decision.
 


Being able to type code doesn't matter. Being a creative problem solver who's capable of learning and doing his own research does, and that's what your pay rate is going to be based on.
 
Sorry, I didn't answer your question, did I? Depends on where in the US you live, but I'd say you can expect to start at lower than $50k/year. It'll probably be more around the $35k mark, but if you're good and prove yourself, you could easily work your way up to $50k within probably 6 months even.
 
rails is a good skill to pick up, most dev jobs post that they are looking for rails or php devs from what i've seen.

i live in new york and an entry level dev job for someone who knows rails will pay around 60k a year.
 
Doesn't really matter which langauge you use if it's modern & up-to-date.

Being bloody amazing at maths is what's really required. I don't mean just arithmetic - I mean actual maths.
 
This is like asking which branch of medicine is the best to get a good hospital gig. It's just not a good question and it doesn't confer any real insights.

Programming is a diverse trade with diverse toolchains across diverse problem domains.

First you need to learn enough about programming to build a concept of what you want to actually be able to do. Write 3D geometry shaders for a gaming company? Make websites? Get a soulsucking $50k job working on the desktop app at an insurance company? Submit Flash games to Kongregate?

Being a programmer demands that you want to be one, that you "enjoy the hunt", building things, and problem-solving. And that you can do these things in your free time because they compel you.

I don't know if you can pick a worse profession than "programming" if you just want something to pick up just to score a desk job.

That said, web development has a super accessible roadmap. Look into Ruby, Python, or PHP.
 
There are usually some pretty great lists posted by the IEEE and other organizations showing trends on languages year over year. If you're looking to score a more corporate style programming josb, especially in larger companies, the bigger languages are usually ones like C# and Java.

If you're looking more toward mobile development, you'll need C#, Java, and Objective-C.

If you're looking more toward web development, PHP and JavaScript are by far the the best to know (in terms of number of jobs out there), but Java, Python, Ruby, etc. are all out there to a lesser extent as well.

Newer languages like Python, Ruby, Haskell, GO etc. are all available, but in much smaller numbers. Usually more leaning towards smaller companies or startups who have the luxury of starting projects from scratch and not having to work with decades of legacy development. Although, there are obviously exceptions such as Google programming a lot in Python.

Learning the first programming language is the hardest. After that, most of them are just a variation on how you do things, but the flow is the same.

My suggestion would be that if you already know PHP, maybe learn something more traditional like Java, C++, or C# so you have a bigger breadth of knowledge and are open to a wider range of jobs. Ruby on Rails is very similar to PHP in the types of jobs that would require it. So, unless you are specifically really, really interested in only web development jobs, I'd suggest mixing it up a bit.
 
I think knowing both code and being able to design - whether it be in psd or css design would be more beneficial to a company than just one. Basic html&css is standard, but rails is coming of interest.
 
If you have some basic coding knowledge do this:

Learn some ruby, just the syntax and basic stuff: codecademy.com (do the whole ruby section, takes a few hours tops).

Since you're already using rails enroll and complete these two:

https://www.edx.org/courses/BerkeleyX/CS169.1x/2013_Spring/about
https://www.edx.org/courses/BerkeleyX/CS169.2x/2013_Spring/about

Make sure that you actually follow through and don't just give up after the first homework. If you give up - quit.

As someone already mentioned starting out is the hardest part.

Here some extras if/when you have time:

1. Great course for python newbies/intro to programming: Udacity - Introduction to Computer Science Course (CS101)

2. Good follow up python course (I really enjoyed this one): Udacity - Design of Computer Programs Course (CS212)

3. Rails tutorial/screencasts (book is free online, screencasts are paid): Learn Web Development with the Ruby on Rails Tutorial

4. More Rails screencasts: Ruby on Rails Screencasts - RailsCasts

You have to pick up some background/basic programming knowledge somewhere... I hear this course is good for that kind of stuff (possibly better than Udacity CS101): https://www.edx.org/courses/MITx/6.00x/2013_Spring/about

What programming language you choose to learn doesn't really matter.
 
Javascript. Bypass all Luddite companies and go straight to the Silicon Valley funded startups commanding 100k/annually + 1% equity for being their front-end jockey.
 
PHP for serverside and jquery + tweenmax JS (don't waste time on learning actual javascript) for front. Take care.
 
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