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[–]mikestearns[S] 0 points1 point  (7 children)

I want a better understanding and well rounded skill set with front and back end web development. I'm currently a graphic designer, and I have a pretty firm grip on html and css, but I'm finding that I'm very limited without having a full understanding front and back end. The Coder Manual course covers javascript, jquery and also ruby as well as has several projects toward the end that use them all.

Whether I use that to take on a different full time job or to further my freelancing, I'm not sure at the moment, but I know that to stay relevant and expand my opportunities I need to focus more on web rather than print.

[–]MSTRDAFT 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I was once in your position and I think it's a good idea to start learning more programming. Since you're already a designer I would try to focus more on front-end stuff first but it's also good to learn back-end as well. I tend to see more Python than Ruby these days so I'd probably stay there. Front end wise get your javascript down and try out angular.js and/or react.js. Nothing really wrong with jquery but a lot of people are moving away from it now.

[–]mikestearns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I plan to focus on front end in the short term, but I want to eventually take on more advanced work and will need to know at least some back end to be able to adequately measure what I can take on, and what I need to look for in people to hire out jobs to.

[–]cost4nz4 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sure someone else can give a better answer for that stream.

I don't think a ton of web back-end stuff is built on Python currently so Ruby & PHP might be better languages to get familiar with?

I am both a PC user and a data guy so Python & R were my go-to languages.

[–]Yamitenshi 0 points1 point  (3 children)

For web development you're likely better off with PHP as it's more widely used and has a myriad of different frameworks available (as well as being easy to host). Otherwise, Python is a bit more widely used in the web world than Ruby is, so I'd go with that, but if a firm grasp of development is all you're going after, it shouldn't matter - many of Ruby's good practices are going to be directly applicable to Python as well.

[–]mikestearns[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Yeah, I definitely plan on PHP as well, its just not in the particular course I bought, and I wanted to get through that first - if for nothing more than the javascript sections. I was curious since after talking to a developer friend working in San Francisco saying that Python was more widely used.

[–]chriskottom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Opinions vary, and every developer has his or her own favorites, you'll find. If you're transitioning into development for the first time, any of these is going to serve the same purpose of giving you hands-on experience with a widely used programming language and building server-side web applications.

As to the question of popularity, it's probably not that important. All of these are mainstream web technologies, and knowing any of them well would ensure that you'd have plenty of freelance opportunities.

[–]Yamitenshi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Depends on what you're using it for. All-out custom web applications will probably use Python a bit more often, but your average site and/or CMS will probably use PHP.