Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: It's 2014 -- Which New Technologies Should I Learn?
An anonymous reader writes "I've been a software engineer for about 15 years, most of which I spent working on embedded systems (small custom systems running Linux), developing in C. However, web and mobile technologies seem to be taking over the world, and while I acknowledge that C isn't going away anytime soon, many job offers (at least those that seem interesting and in small companies) are asking for knowledge on these new technologies (web/mobile). Plus, I'm interested in them anyway. Unfortunately, there are so many of those new technologies that it's difficult to figure out what would be the best use of my time. Which ones would you recommend? What would be the smallest set of 'new technologies' one should know to be employable in web/mobile these days?"
Get intimate with the http protocol first and foremost! I can't tell you how many times I've worked with "web developers" who have no clue what the different HTTP verbs do, or why they're there in the first place.
Secondly, if you want to code backend I''d stick to backend. Find a serverside technology that suits you(ASP.Net, Java or PHP) and start learning. Don't waste to much time learning frontend web technologies, as that's a completely different workflow to what I think you want to do. Most serious web development companies have dedicated frontend developers for a reason :).
Good luck!
Javascript/jquery front ends, php/python/ruby/sql backends.
Objective-C for iOS.
Those will keep you employed for the next 10 years.
Answer:
Corporate Finance, Intellectual Property Law, Data Mining
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
Learn Javascript. It's everywhere:
* client-side in browsers as little helper fragments attached to buttons, etc
* used for building rich client applications within browsers
* can be used server-side with things like Node.js
* is embedded as a scripting language into various tools
And it's actually not a bad language. The underlying concepts are simple and elegant, although some features for large-scale programming are lacking (no module system, etc).
It's also fun to learn, because you can achieve interesting/amusing results within a browser with just a few lines of javascript.
With some solid javascript knowledge for both client and server-side style code, a lot of job opportunities will open. Learning something like Python is an alternative, but even then employers who look for Python programmers for web-based apps will usually also want javascript skills...
You got 15 years experiene writing C code, good luck finding a "whiz kid" who can do it better than someone who's been doing it for that long.
You said it yourself, C isn't going away anytime soon. Stick to it as your bread and butter.
If you want to learn to program for Android/iOS, that's great, but do it as a hobby. Employers nowadays want 10 years experience on a tech that's only been available for 5 years (yes, it's that crazy), so by the time you get up to speed, the market will have already moved on to the next shiny thing.
You started with "It's 2014..." What will you do in 2025? Like I said, when it comes to your bread and butter, stick to what you know best.
So we wont have to put up with this horrible slashdot beta crap.
In web programming specifically? I'd say, make sure you know the fundamentals first and foremost.
As a previous poster said, knowing the HTTP protocol well (RFC2616 - be familiar with RFCs in general) will be important (more than you'd think - a misused verb led to Google's standard webcrawlers hosing a site because said site didn't implement forms/links properly), I'd recommend also getting intimate with some of the other building blocks such as SMTP, POP, FTP, SSL, ... you get the picture. They'll come in handy when trying to piece together/troubleshoot a larger solution.
On top of that, know the roles and differences between different server apps (app servers like JBoss/WebSphere; web servers like Apache, nginx), know at least 2 popular database engines (I personally favour MariaDB and SQLite but that's up to you; you might want to look at PostgreSQL or CouchDB for something radically different), after learning HTML and XML/DOM fundamentals, know about cookies and AJAX specifically (which are part of your HTTP knowledge, but revisit later) and a take a web security course, or at the very least read far and wide on the matter. Someone suggested focusing only on back-end - fine if that's what you want to do, but at least be aware of how things behave in theory on the front end. Again, fundamentals.
After (all) that (a fortnight's worth of reading, not counting any experimentation?), the choice of languages to work with these building blocks is entirely up to you. Most commonly mentioned are PHP and Ruby in different setups (honourable mention to JSP), Perl and Python for CGI and general scripting, Ruby on Rails as language+framework...
When staring out and for longevity, choose fairly popular languages that run in open source runtimes (they're durable, they're documented, there are plenty of communities), and stay nimble with frameworks - a previous ask.slashdot showed how some of them can easily get canned despite a strong user base, and frameworks are just a flavour of the year... more likely than not, someone else (project lead, customer, policy...) is going to tell you what framework to use, so just make sure you've mastered your chosen language set.
For iOS devel you're not going to escape Objective C. Android I understand is purely Java. But most things you're likely to want to do that are web facing, you might as well do in a web page.
And, in general, stay nimble. But you knew that, right?
-- "Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability." --Dijkstra
If you are already a programmer, or even if you're not, then there are three technologies that you should attempt to learn (or at least recognize and be able to say "yeah, OK, this makes a sorta sense"). These are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. HTML is the basis for web pages. It is what they are built upon. I suggest starting with HTML 4.01 (strict) and XHTML 1.1 (there are major differences that may not look like being major), and then moving onto HTML 5 (yet to be fully finalized). The older HTML should teach you some good habits, as should the XHTML (and while you're looking at XHTML, learn what XML is, and why XHTML exists). Then you need some style to make your pages look pretty. That means CSS. CSS is broad, and you can just learn the basics and pick up the more complicated stuff as you go along. (That basically means start with CSS 2, and learn "CSS 3" modules as and when you need them.) CSS is capable of doing a lot of stuff that previously required JavaScript.
JavaScript is not an essential. But you should know the basics. And most importantly, you should know two things, when not to use JavaScript, and what progressive enhancement is. (Progressive enhancement might also be called graceful degradation. It's basically the same thing, in the way that Open Source Source and Free Software are basically the same thing. There are philosophical differences, but they still do mostly the same thing.)
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And that's the web. Finished. You can go home now.
Oh, still with me? Yes, there is still more to learn. Learn PHP. "But I heard it's awful" you cry. And it may well be. But it's also probably the most popular backend web language. It's what major and widespread software is written in. WordPress, MediaWiki, Drupal, and others are all written in PHP. But, like with JavaScript, unless you want a job, you don't need to learn more than the basics. There are great docs that can help you with almost anything.
Similarly, learn SQL if you don't already. If you're learning PHP from scratch, use the PDO functions, then you can easily switch databases (and not be stuck on MySQL). .htaccess file, and especially redirects.
Also, learn how to wrangle an Apache
Next, I hear Ruby is getting a lot of press. Maybe learn some of that, and Ruby on Rails.
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Finally, and this is more important than Ruby on Rails, make sure you don't get hung up on pages looking the same in every browser. But do learn the fuck out of how to test in different browsers, and on different devices. And test the fuck out of your pages in different browsers. If you're page isn't readable in Lynx, maybe you need to do some reconsidering.
HELP MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY AN ILLIBERAL ART STUDENT SET TO DESTROY THE INTERWEBZ!
Antigravity, nuclear fusion, holodeck.
Unless you are simply passionate about web technologies and just really want to work with it, stop trying to chase the latest and greatest here. You will find it remarkably hard to compete for the Javascript/web/whatever jobs as the 20 year old wizz-kids will have more experience than you in web-stuff but will probably need much less money.
Instead focus on improving what you already do, and expand into new areas of the embedded sphere. All that fancy web tech will in the end use and require embedded devices. We will get many more embedded devices, rather than fewer of them. Furthermore, try to expand your embedded domain knowledge. Perhaps there are some really exciting new embedded devices (drones, wireless home management devices, etc) you'd enjoy working on as a hobbyist? Expand into other embedded languages as necessary to work on the range of devices you like (i.e. Objective-C if you want to write iOS apps). You will only really learn properly if you have something concrete you want to do anyway.
The point is; unless you hate what you're doing, you should work on ways to make all those 15 years of embedded experience count. Chasing some Javascript web-stuff will not achieve that.
If you can lie and bullshit people into thinking you know what you're doing while at the same time you can keep talking and talking 'til they believe you based on how they don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about but can't afford to look like they don't because they think their job depends on understanding you 'cause, well, you're expensive... ...congrats, you're a consultant.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Check if there's a Free Software project you're interested in, or you have a project of your own that would benefit.
Learning is one thing, practical experience is what matters. So unless you actually use those skills, they are close to worthless. And learning and using something is a lot easier if it is linked to something that matters to you.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
As for C also learn a object oriented one and a functional one
OO syntax in any Turing complete language is just syntactic sugar. If you're a half competent C programmer you will be using OO techniques in any flavour of C. Take another look at K&R, now realise that virtually every code example is also a very good OO design example.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
The question that TFA asked "Which technology should I learn" is in itself, a wrong question.
The author should have asked him/herself "What do I want to do 10 / 20 / 30 years from now?" and then proceed from there.
There will always be technologies - many old technologies will still be around and some new technologies will be discovered / created - and once the author knows what kind of situation he/she wants to be in the future, he/she can start picking which route to go
Many people have chosen the wrong tech and end up in the wrong career, but at the end of the day, it's up to that person to "right the wrongs" and to make the best situation out of the mudane, for its his/her life and he/she should be the master of his/her own life
Take me, for example. Some 40 years ago I ended up in the States and did not know what to do. At that time there wasn't much for me to chose - genetic wasn't available, laser tech wasn't mature, and many fields were closed to me, a person who is not a born American.
So I ended up in computing. I dabbled in both hardware and software ever since.
Would I choose computing if I got the chance to start over ? Perhaps not. But, as I have said, back in the early 70's there wasn't a lot of tech fields opened to a nerdy kid from China.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Ok, most of the advice on here seems way off the mark, though some was good. Who am I to say something like that? A self-taught dev making six-figures and having worked 20 years.
First, always be learning a new technology. Ignore the folks that said stop trying to learn new things.
As for what to learn, there are two ways to go.
One way is to track trends. You try to track all the trends and you're head will spin. The major trends though, as I see them, are: HTML/Javascript apps (including mobile apps), functional languages (on JVM learn Clojure, off JVM learn Haskell or Erlang), distributed and parallel computing (which are not the same, here again Erlang is good to learn, Go is another alternative, and Rust will be as well once they stop changing the syntax).
Another way is to track the kinds of problems you want to solve. If you don't have a kind of problem you are passionate about, find one! That is a key way to differentiate yourself, market yourself, and enjoy what you do. Here though you'll need to do the research. Some popular problem areas right now are healthcare, sharing to address resource scarcity or cost (think Uber), and disaster management. A great way to get involved in these areas and learn while doing is to volunteer. You also will make a lot of great connections, learn a lot, and feel great about yourself in the process.
To finish: always be learning something new, do something that you are passionate about, and give your time to others because you will be paid back many fold.