So you’re a wordpress ‘dabbler’, maybe you use HTML or CSS to install plugins or themes? Maybe you do a little work for people and make a little bit of cash? …Maybe you realize you can make a lot more money if you knew more.
If this sounds like you then you’ve probably come across two options: learn PHP or learn JAVAscript/Node? And as a freelancer, you’ve probably got some other things on the go, time is money and you don’t have the time to learn them both. Well we gotcha…
“If you want to become a complete WordPress developer, which means a lot more contracts …then of course you gotta learn PHP because WordPress is built with PHP…you’re going to have to learn some JAVAscript if you’re going to be working with WordPress, but it’s not nearly as important.” Don’t get us wrong JAVAscript and Node are useful and have their applications, but learn PHP. Another reason being that “PHP is going to open up a huge number of opportunities in that regard.” So, sweet bonus…
Check out the VLOG for some more detailed responses to this question and if you’re really interested, we offer a kick-ass course where you can become a complete web developer fast. You would be given the tools to learn and to use most programming languages (PHP included) with speed and efficacy <link at the bottom>. -Enjoy
So PHP has jumped from version 5.6 to 7…which means they skipped (version) 6. Interesting? Maybe, but wanna know what’s really cool? It’s almost 50% faster and now PHP has jumped up to version 7.3. Why should you even care? Well for starters STUDIO WEB, our kick-ass course that helps you learn to code fast and efficiently, yet is somehow packed with learning and exercises solving problems you will encounter in the real world (Whoa! that was a lot of shameless promo, apologies!), that runs on PHP and when we moved up from 7 to 7.3 we saw a 15% increase in speed and big reduction in memory requirements (aka footprint). Which means you can learn at an even faster rate while having your load times cut practically in half (okay, that’s the promo stop line, right here. Sorry.).
It should come as no surprise really, “the PHP community are working hard to optimize and to bring PHP to a higher level.” Possibly because for a few years PHP was getting really bad press, due to most people thinking PHP was still using version 3 (not their best version). However, “PHP is a very very capable language. Facebook was created with PHP as an example…Most dynamic sites are driven by PHP, they’re putting a lot of effort into optimizing the core language…so you see this huge speed increase at run time…PHP takes much less RAM and memory…it’s much quicker”.
So there it is. The VLOG is pretty much just us loving PHP and talking it up but you get to see my dapper mug…and blink and you’ll miss it…maybe the most subtle and pacified dig at RUBY yet? -Enjoy!
Is it even worth becoming a “web professional” now and what does that even mean?
It can be strange how we categorize our positions and professions. For example, what one person would call a web developer, another would call a web designer. Then there are web programmers and specialties like “front end”, “full stack”, “back end” and “mid-thigh carver” ( I made that last one up, and yes, the last place I came from was the butcher’s…). So then what is a web professional?
And there are other questions, like is web development going to be obsolete with products like WEBFLOW and the like (products that will take away the need to code)?
With these titles and questions swirling around it can be very easy to throw up your hands and say what am I doing?! Is this even worth my time?!
The answer is: yes, yes it is and as far as ‘what is a web professional?’, well, that is a little more complicated…
First off, shameless plug: We offer kick-ass, detailed, and laboriously designed courses that will help to answer this question. So a web professional is kind of all these things combined in different ratios: designer, developer, front end, full stack, braised tenderloin ( I think I’m getting hungry…), etc, etc. Some devs may specialize in specific things (ex: back end or client side whatever), but it’s all in there. Hodge-podge is not necessarily the right word, but it’s the first word that comes to mind…
And how do you, as a web professional, ensure you know all these things or have a passable knowledge/experience with them? You learn. Either from having “been around the block” or by taking our course <another shameless plug, I know!>… But seriously, web development or whatever you want to call yourself is not going anywhere, in fact if the rate at which things are becoming more and more technological keeps growing, we’re going to need more and more devs at all kinds of different strengths and experiences.
Check out the vlog for a way more detailed and in depth explanation of this subject and quick side dig at RUBY… -Enjoy!
Alright, shameless self-promotion time!! We offer a kick-ass course in FREELANCING. It’s super informative and affordable.
Now before we go any further, let’s talk about the difference between freelancer and contractors: Contractor: Typically brought into an organization and you have a particular task that’s assigned to you/ have to show up at specific time. It’s usually pretty structured/you are an employee without any benefits. Freelance: Also have no benefits but maximum flexibility in terms of your work hours. Essentially you chose when and how you’re going to work.
Now the nature of freelance and why it’s so alluring is that generally speaking you don’t have to be anywhere at any one specific time. You have the freedom to plan your day according to what the demands are: for example you can go meet a client and you can decide what tools you are going to use for the job they have, and generally speaking it’s up to you when you do it and how you do it… So let’s say you work 30 hours a week (guess) at a full-time brick and mortar job, you can easily budget out another 10-15 hours in that week for your freelance job (whatever that may be).
The hard part, of course, will be managing your time when you’re starting out and really being disciplined enough to do that freelancing job after a tough day at work, but maybe someone’s been through that experience already and is just dying to share it with you!
Check out the rest of this vid for some more insight into the subject plus a tight little drum intro in the beginning, AND a winter wonderland walk that culminates in a peek into my past dating life…
Alright we’re going to lightly touch on this and if there’s enough of a public outcry, we’ll gladly do a deep dive but for now let’s skim over client side Vs. server side rendering. YAY!!
Now, full disclosure: It’s better to watch the video than to spend time reading what’s being written. The video is quick articulate and makes good and knowledgeable arguments for sides better than writing this out. But if you still feel like reading on, here’s the (very) skinny…
CLIENT SIDE RENDERING: So when you’re looking at the app/website, the views you render/send out (to the web browser) for the client to see. Generally you want to keep the views pretty simple when it comes to the processing power behind it.
The downside? Not everyone has the same hardware on their computers and may encounter trouble viewing the page (ex: web browsers not up to date, lag, slow load times, etc.)
SERVER SIDE: Does not rely on your viewers having the most up to date web-browser or fastest computer but it does require a lot of server side processing power…
So what’s a dev to do?
Check out our video for answers and opinions. Enjoy!
Coder burnout is more common than you think and everyone loses motivation once in a while…
First let’s talk about burnout.
Sadly, it happens. Does this sound familiar? You’re focusing so hard on either the work or the theory that goes into the work. You live it; you breathe it! You are the fountain of knowledge from which all inspiration for the project flows forth and then…mayday, mayday!! Crash and burn<out>. All of a sudden you need to take 3 months to a year off because you either have nothing left to give or the very thought of the work gives you the shakes… Good news is you’re not alone, we’ve been there and here’s a tip:
Unplug: For serious. Go outside, go to the gym (check out our previous vids about working out and staying fit…). A change of scenery will always help, even a good meal ( like, one you cook, if you can.) can help calm, nourish and refocus your energy. The work will always be there when you get back. And with your brain re-energized and calm, it can refocus you can reap the benefits. Honestly, even taking a walk to go grab a coffee has been shown to hit the brakes on stress and refocus that narrow vision…
Now, about motivation…
It’s totally normal. We are all human beings and every now and then we lose interest and lack motivation. Something else enters our field of vision and we deem it important and tend to push everything else to the side. Sometimes we even leave the tech space and take a hiatus only to comeback (years) later. What can we do about that?
Take it Slow: You can’t expect to come back in your first day “and be firing on all cylinders”. Especially if you’ve been out of the game for awhile, there might be some new things to learn and that’s okay. The good news is for the most part, things haven’t changed (for example you still have front end/back end), perhaps the way you used to think about the tech space will have to change but some or most of the process remain…
Check out or video for a more in-depth talk about this subject and be good to yourself. Take time and relax when you can; it’s a good habit to get into and you’re gonna need it eventually… Enjoy!
Which programming languages will be the most popular in 2-3 years from now? Should you even care?
Since the dawn of time, man has looked up to the sky and wondered what the future will bring…
Where will we live?
Will Pokemon revolt and catch US for their own twisted means?
…And what will the programming languages of the future be?
Well we’re not gonna sit here and cook something up, my crystal ball is gathering dust in the closet and I’m only going to bring it out when it attains “vintage” status, so I can sell it for a killing on craigslist…
But, by market share PHP is the biggest. It’s got to the point [where] “…none of these languages are going to go away any time soon, simply because they’ve reached that tipping point where they’re woven into the nerd language.”
It’s really the same thing with all the BIG languages. They’re part of the background and still very much a part of the forefront. They are relatively easy to use, convent and almost universally understood by virtually all of the developer community (even though opinions on them will differ wildly…)
Thinking about it from a practical standpoint, with the corporations you work(ed) for, let alone huge multi-nationals regarding the languages they use in their products: “…they’ve all gotten so good now that there’s no real major reason to want to change from one technology platform to another… for some company to want to move off PHP to PYTHON there has to be something really compelling about PYTHON or something really bad about PHP.”
Check out our video, where we explain our “theory” and drop some hints about what we think the future will ultimately bring…plus catch the (backhanded) nod to RUBY (we should be keeping track of these…). Enjoy!
In the name of the JAVA; The RUN(time), And the HTML / PYTHON …DRUPAL.
THIS just in, from the Department of Urban Humanity or “DUH”: Programming Languages Are Not Religions! You’re all grown up professionals and we’re sure you have better things to do with your time than this, right?
Now if this doesn’t apply to you, please click on the video and enjoy the show…
But if you feel like “yeah but”-ing us about this, know that this isn’t a good look for you: both personally and professionally. Personally you come across as an arrogant jerk that has a “my way or the highway” approach (and not in a fun, sassy way), and professionally, well, you look like an amateur or a stunted, mid-level programmer that has no imagination or flexibility.
I know that seems harsh but it’s just such a waste of time when there’s amazing and inspired work to be done. Truly creative stuff that transcends the boundaries of algorithms and languages; and here we are chirping each other out cuz we don’t like the other person’s choice of programming language? C’mon!!
If you still feel the need to argue over this, might we suggest taking all that good energy and hitting the gym?Or maybe going to an actual church, breathing in some incense and chilling out in the back pew to some hymns? I mean, it should go without saying that even religions themselves shouldn’t be argued over like they’re religions, but here we are…
I don’r really know how to end this except by saying, be cool to each other guys. Life’s too short and you got better things to do with your time.
Unless you’re using RUBY, ya backwoods savages!! …just kidding!! …ish…
Widely used by some big name organizations like Nasa and Harvard, is a job working with DRUPAL outdated in 2019?
DRUPAL is (arguably) the 2nd most popular CMS in the world…second only to WordPress (again, arguably…). There a many high paying DRUPAL jobs out there. To work with DRUPAL, you need to know HTML5, CSS3, some JavaScript and PHP … and of course, you need to know DRUPAL.
We’ve been asked if DRUPAL is a dinosaur, an aging language that won’t matter in the years to come and if anyone who works in it will be working towards obsolescence (whoa…heavy, huh?).
Well the short answer is “…no…”
The long answer is (thankfully) a little more detailed and availablehere in what I’d like to be the first to describe as a “Sausage” explanation. In that it is both meaty (detailed) and has a hint of spiciness (fun nerd ranting) mixed in…yeah, ya know what never mind, I’m regretting this metaphor already…apologies…
Suffice it to say that it’s better to experience this explanation in it’s entirety, with the relevant senses than to write it out. Plus, there a bonus RUBY dig (mwahaha…). Long story short if this is a first job for you, we all have to start somewhere and work looks good on a resume no matter what (not to mention experience) and you’d be surprised how many languages are still being used today…
Enjoy!
Is Python really that much better than C#, Java or JavaScript, when it comes to jobs and what you can create as a python developer?
I think you really need to watch the vlog to put this into proper context…
We received an email that pointed out an interesting idiosyncrasy when it comes to learning programming languages. Long story short, it was pointed out that while python was a great language to learn, there are not many jobs (outside of AI) that actually use python today, thus making it harder to enter the job market. With so many other languages being used for other purposes, for example, games: C++/C# for games, and for native app development there’s swift/java/kotlin, to name a few, it doesn’t seem to be worthwhile to learn python if you want to get right into work…
Okay, now before we go any further, I strongly urge you to watch the video for context, I don’t want to start a nerd war; there are far better uses of our time…
That being said, for the most part, “there’s a lot of truth to that. Python is the go-to language in AI/machine learning and it’s the second [or] tertiary language…in many other areas.” The email goes on to conclude that “learning webstack is the best way to getting employed quickly.” I can’t argue with that, but where does that leave us with python?
“Python is a great language, it’s a language that glues everything together. If you’re working in large organizations, you might find the need for python. …A lot of schools teach with python now…because it is an easier language to teach people how to program with. …It’s accessible…Productivity of the language, in terms of how long it takes you to write things is a huge factor today, when you’re looking at programming languages…” But if you’re out to get employed right away then maybe webstack is the best thing for you. However, if you find yourself struggling and maybe you’ve had problems with other languages, python could be a great way to connect the missing pieces and streamline it all. The job opportunities will be less, not zero but less, unless you have a relevant university degree. Full transparency, yes, I do offer Python course but they teach foundations, modules, programming, etc. “…it’s just a vehicle to teach certain programming concepts and mechanisms.” I feel like the best way explain this is to watch the vlog, it really puts the things I’m saying here into perspective. Plus, at the end of the vlog, I look outside only to find February hasn’t left yet…jeez, get a clue, man! Enjoy!
