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What programming languages should I learn for Web development?

Is it a good idea to start learning web development, considering I come from economics background?

  • Time and time again lately, I realize that web development and programming in general are really the disciplines of the future. I cannot think of any project I worked on that didn't need a professional developer. So I started considering learning HTML + CSS (basic knowledge of the languages), then gradually SQL, PHP and jQuery (absolutely no clue at all). I have graphic design skills, I am really into IT, so I don't think the learning curve would be as viciously steep as it could be. My question is however, is it worth the time investment? I mean I am willing to dedicate 2-3-4-5 (or more?) years to learn developing, but in the end would it be worth it? If you were to start right now, how would you go about it? What language do you think has the most future potential? How long would it take to learn HTML+CSS and PHP+SQL, at such a level that I would be able to design and code a Wordpress theme for example? (I am using this as a skill threshold, don't make fun of me xD) Thank you very much in advance! I am so psyched about this! EDIT 1: My plan is to dedicate 3 to 5 hours a day to reading, learning and practicing programming. My first goal is to code a simple Web-Site mock-up in HTML and CSS.

  • Answer:

    If you feel you want to go for something then go for it. You will never know "how it would have been if...." if you don't try. You are coming from economics background...if I tell you my background you will laugh :): it's mining (coal mining) and I worked for almost 6 years underground. One day I decided I had enough, took the severance pay and started learning computers and web development. I started just like you: basic HTML and CSS, some Photoshop, some Javascript, some Perl (at that time). It took my 2 years to understand enough the computers (I was starting from zero experience in even handling a computer or an operating system). It took me about another year to have enough web development skills to be able to start building something worthwhile. Do I regret those years? Not at all! Even if I have suffered somehow. I have now about 11 years of experience and I am making a living from it (and not only that: I provide consultations to people who want it). In my opinion, it's well worth the investment you want to make. After you become experienced you can build web services thousands or millions of people can use it. You will feel like a film director who just made a movie and released in the theaters. You will feel that professional satisfaction. The advantage of you is that you can reiterate your work, continuously improving it. A director can't do anything after the movie is released (so he has to make it good from the first time). You can also make a good living or, who knows, become rich if your application is popular. The entrance cost is also much lower than it was when I started and you have much more documentations nowadays (the community is also much stronger). That will make you evolve faster, become better faster, so you may not need 3-4 years to become good enough. But if after several months or 1 year you decide this is not for you (it can happen - programming is not easy) then you can always return to your background: economics. I couldn't return to my background, I didn't have an alternative...I had to push forward. For more detailed info about my web development journey please read this thread:

Mircea Goia at Quora Visit the source

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Each language has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Really the best way to go about programming regardless of the background you are coming from is to do some research that is relative to the type of application you want to accomplish. For economics, it would seem to me that scripting languages would be of more use just because most robust applications have built in scripting languages. As you're probably already aware, scripting languages like vba used with MS Excel are very useful for economic applications. Once you understand the basics of any programming language (i.e. syntax, keywords, operators, etc.), it isn't a far reach to learn another language. The most difficult part of any language is learning the semantics and the vast amounts of libraries and functions available to you. As far as worthwhile... I personally don't know of any situation in any business where programming couldn't be useful. So, yeah it may take a little while, but in the end you have a useful skill that can be used in areas even beyond IT or economics. As far as language of the future, C++ doesn't look like it's going anywhere and Python seems to keep popping up more and more. Just look at this site. :)

Charles Freedman

1) No one can tell you if it worth or not. It depends on what you want to do. Do you want to skip your 9-to-5 job to another 9-to-5 job? Which one it would be? Or you want to freelance? Or you want to make your own business  make prototypes of web applications etc? These are completely different paths  with completely different risks, and - let us be frank - no one can realistically bet on you, if you will be a successful freelancer. 2) Your time-frame seems totally arbitrary. I do not know your programming skills, but it is takes you years and 3-5 hours to learn how to code a WP theme, you should not choose this even as a hobby. 3) If all you want to save on the developer, then I think you are on the wrong track. If you want more efficient communication to developers, understand what you need, able to prepare prototypes, wireframes etc, then I think it worth to learn and shouldn't take that much time.

Gergely Juhasz

For some people who come from other backgrounds such as accounting and economic they have their own  advantages.

Xinxin Zhou

First, see if you’re any good at programming. Read http://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/math/Data_Structure_And_Algorithms/Algorithms%20and%20Data%20Structures%20-%20Niklaus%20Wirth.pdf. If you find yourself totally lost, then don’t. (Not everyone’s brain is wired for programming, and you can’t change the way your brain’s wired.)(HTML and CSS give you a static site - a picture. SQL is a database type, and it’s not something you learn in 6 months. PHP runs on the server, jQuery runs in the browser [along with Javascript].)Is it worth the time investment? At 3–5 hours a day it’s going to take you a year or two to get to the “I can write a site without any help” stage. Not a good site, just one that runs. A good site? I don’t know. After 43 years of programming and coding, I still have doubts whether my sites are good.BTW, web development is not “the wave of the future. Programming? Maybe, but it’s going to be mostly on quantum computers, not like the linear snails we use today. Learning Javascript (you have to, if you want to run jQuery), or even SQL, will seem like a stone axe to the bombardier on a B1. Something primitive that no one knows much about any more.

Al Klein

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