[thelist] What prog. language to focus on???

David Wagner dave at worlddomination.net
Wed Feb 7 16:13:38 CST 2001


David (and Janet),

On Wed, 7 Feb 2001, Scott Dexter wrote:
> 
> This brings up a great point, and I can't believe I missed it.
> 
> LEARN FUNDAMENTALS OF PROGRAMMING.

Gotta echo Scott's point here. Some of the most valuable lessons I've
applied to web development came from a basic C++ course I took a few years
ago. I'd also recommend, whatever direction you choose, that you find
people to work with, either formally (classes) or informally. You can
often find a better solution to a coding problem in 5 minutes of
discussion than in hours of banging your head agains it.

But I'm sure the web is full of this kind of advice. I'll drop that now.

More specifically, I'd take a look at the kind of work you want to be
doing, and _why_ you're pursuing a new direction. If you're picking up new
skills to make yourself more valuable to an employer, but the employer
doesn't have specific recommendations for you, I'd offer PHP/MySQL as a
great starting point. Not only will you get the basics of web-database
interaction, you won't have to spend thousands of dollars to get things
running.

If your company already has a Microsoft/IIS focus, then ASP is potentially
a good choice -- but remember that you still need to get some good
database experience in there, too.

If you've got a budget to work with (and here I'll express my bias in all
its glory), go out and try Cold Fusion. It kicks ass. Buy a good database
to go with it (Sybase ASA makes me happy, but I'm less biased there), and
you'll be the envy of all your friends.

Java could put you into good territory, too. I hear that employers are
still clamoring for more Java programmers, and paying big bucks. It sounds
like a lot of work to me, though.

Anything else might be a shot in the dark. I'm sure there are other
fantastic platforms, but I'd pick one that's both easy to work with in
your current situation and potentially valuable in future jobs.

Good luck!

-- 

David Wagner
dave at worlddomination.net













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