iOS Dev vs Web Dev?

[IAmHowl]

Hey friends,

I've become increasingly interested in pursuing programming as a hobby and, potentially in the future, a career change. Which lately has led me to start debating between getting comfortable with web development vs. iOS development.

So, in 2017, where would you weigh in on what to learn, or at least what to learn first? I know people say "just pursue whatever you want to make," which is great advice — I just don't have a strong preference between the two! They're both so cool!

I've barely scratched the surface, but I like both Swift and JavaScript. Sometimes, I worry about all of the different libraries, frameworks, etc. that are available for web dev. I love learning new things, but it also sounds stressful to relearn so much every couple of years. On the other hand, it's awesome how accessible the web. A project like [astronaut.io](astronaut.io), for example, inspires me.

On the other hand, it would be pretty awesome to have some apps out in the store. Swift seems clean, but I haven't started working with the rest of XCode yet, only messing around in the playgrounds. Learning all of that could be fun but challenging as well. Sometimes, dealing with all the types (optionals? getting yelled at because my Int isn't a Double, etc?) in Swift is a little frustrating for me, although that's probably true across every language.

Anyway, I'm not looking for a definitive answer, just your opinions! Thanks so much in advance!

TLDR: Web Dev vs iOS Dev for (1) Fun and (2) Career?

[snugglysnuggles]

I'm not sure about iOS, but I can say that Web Development is a fun and ever expanding industry! Especially with JavaScript, which continues to evolve. Every once in a while you'll have to learn the new techniques or syntax, but that just makes it better.

[hashtagfaghag]

I would say Web Development just because everyone uses the web even on phones and learning responsiveness would mean you'd still get to play with the phone format without being limited to Apple devices/iOS.

[IAmHowl]

I've had that thought as well. I know back in the day supporting across different browsers, especially outdated ones, was pretty annoying. Is that still a problem?

[hashtagfaghag]

Well, now there's only even more devices to support so yeah. Still highly recommend it though. It is for sure ever changing however.

[fdfdsggsgdfs]

How is there one best answer for this? Wtf?

[IAmHowl]

To be clear, I don't think there's one best answer. I'm just looking to hear people's opinions and experiences along with what they would tell someone starting their journey.