Where To Start?
Make A Plan
In the world of software and web development, there is no shortage of new languages, methodologies, frameworks and concepts to learn. It’s an ever growing and evolving beast. It can be difficult as a student or newcomer to the industry to decide where to target their focus in the face of overwhelming options and unknowns. Some obvious ways to narrow things down would be to see what you enjoy or at least what you seem to excel at and double down on the learning towards that. In contrast, maybe its better to focus on what you struggle with and take those challenges head on despite the uphill battle. Another consideration would be to think about what is popular currently or what seems to be an emerging technology, as these may prove to have the highest demand from employers. Ultimately the decision will fall back on you as everyone’s journey into computer science will be different. Making a plan very early on can be really helpful for staying on track as well as setting goals and holding yourself accountable to them. They don’t have to be large or aggressive, even small goals such as daily research or 30 minutes of practice a day can be really helpful for staying on track and work wonders over time. Below I will discuss some key languages and ideologies I’ve learned through my studies, what’s on my shortlist to learn and just what I think are great places to start out. Hopefully this may be the nudge someone needs to get started or even just help someone make a plan to learn something new.
To see a breakdown of where I have allocated my time to each of these and to see some of my projects using these technologies see my Resume and Portfolio pages.
The Web Stack
These languages are the traditional key building blocks for all things web. HTML or HyperText Markup Language is what structures and outlines everything on your pages. You could think of it as the skeleton of your pages and helps to structure all of the content. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets are typically linked and reference particular HTML elements to give styling and customization to how things are displayed. JS or Javascript is what helps make your site interactive and exponential more powerful. Javascript is used to dictate the behavior of your site and give it complex functions. These three are the perfect place to start if you want to get into web development. Particularly starting with HTML and CSS first as they are far simpler then adding Javascript as you become more comfortable with how they all work together.
Python
Python is a powerful high level programming language. Often used to aggregate and perform calculations with data in various formats. In my studies I’ve used Python to create programs and algorithms to retrieve, interpolate and even display data back to the user. This is a great functional language to start with as it has a strict structure and indent format that helps build good coding practices. The options and possibilities and endless with Python making it a powerful language that is often used and in relatively high demand with employers.
React
React is a language that I am currently tinkering around with as its in really high demand and an interesting new twist on how I have traditionally built web apps. React was created by an engineer at Facebook and is more or less a front end Javascript library. Inspired by technologies like PHP which generate pages and content rather than having to create everything from scratch. React breaks things up into smaller files of content and assets that are then imported and reused across your app. It has been a challenging concept to grasp but I can see the power and potential of React. It does however require a solid background in the traditional web stack, particularly Javascript.
SQL
SQL or Structures Query Language is responsible for interacting with and maintaining databases. Databases are everywhere and extremely important to how programs and sites operate. As society continues to grow into a more and more datacentric environment, its very important to learn how to work with this data if you plan to work in a computer science field. SQL I found very logical to learn and great for storing, retrieving and manipulating large databases of information.
Agile
Departing from the languages listed above and an honorable mention, Agile is a methodology commonly used by companies and teams in the software development world. Agile is based on breaking a development task up into smaller pieces called sprints or iterations. It focuses less on upfront planning and documentation and rather focuses on faster software deployment by emphasizing collaboration and roles. This makes it a very dynamic and responsive method for adapting to evolving requirements quickly and effectively. You can read more about Agile here.
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Patrick Jeffers is a Charlotte, NC native and current student working on his second associates degree in Information Technology – Full Stack Programming. As a student of Central Piedmont Community College and Wake Tech, he aims to continue growing his skills for web and application development. As an Automotive Technician for nearly 15 years, he plans to use this new education as he transition careers into the tech industry.