As developers, always consider the new and emerging trends in the web and app development when you want to learn new programming languages.
The best investment that anyone can do is an investment in his or her education. It is never too late to learn something new. As a developer, do you know what programming languages to learn so it can make a difference to your career both as an employee or a self-employed freelancer?
I am no guru, but being a programmer for almost 15 years now can share some insights on what will be the future of programming amid AI and cryptocurrency trending.
As I see, the clear trend is to move towards the web and, more specifically, towards mobile. It is pretty clear and well discovered.
1. PHP
Web development is an evergreen technology, and freelance developers can always consider being a web developer. Next to the web is mobile apps.
When it comes to web development, there are no alternatives to PHP, and so any web developer must consider PHP as the choice of web language.
PHP is a vast choice of language. Choose a specialization like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, XenForo, or rapid application development framework like CakePHP, Laravel, Yii, etc.
PHP as a choice of Web language can be a good starting point to start learning a programming language.
In India, as far as I know, it is still not part of the curriculum in most of the technology courses and so either you can opt for an online learning course from Udemy or can choose to take up local coaching.
Here are my choices of best PHP books but if you prefer online, here are links to some of the best Udemy course on
And do check out how to make money online with PHP programming.
There are developers who don’t like PHP but there are developers who really like PHP for its simplicity. I am one of those who like PHP and recommends it to anyone who is willing to be a web developer as the first choice of programming language. It helps you understand the nitty-gritty of programming for the web and one can always adapt the new and upcoming frameworks once the nitty-gritty stuff is well discovered by the programmer.
2. JavaScript and jQuery
Apart from PHP, JavaScript is another evergreen web technology. There aren’t many sites that can run without JavaScript or jQuery these days, and Angular.JS, NODE.JS are on the rise for the last five years.
As far as I know, JavaScript is still not part of the curriculum in most of the technology courses, and only the basics of HTML and CSS are covered. So, either you can opt for an online learning course from Udemy or can choose to take up local coaching.
Here are my choices of best JavaScript books but if you prefer online, here are links to some of the best Udemy courses on
Web developers especially freelance web developer should move with the tide. Good knowledge of JavaScript and jQuery has become a must for any web developer now.
3. Node.js
Node.js is built on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine and is gaining popularity each passing day.
JavaScript code was to be executed in the browser but with the introduction of Node.js installer, one can execute JavaScript code on the server as well.
Though Nodejs can work without any external web server, Nginx server is used as a proxy server for the web.
Recommended NodeJS Udemy Courses
4. Angular.js
Node.js is built on Google’s V8 JavaScript engine but Angular.JS is an open-source web application development framework Google built with JavaScript by Google.
Angularjs is still a client-side language but one can use Google’s firebase to make it work on the server-side as well.
The trend of JavaScript running on the server is on.
Recommended AngularJS Udemy Courses
5. Java for Mobile / Swift for IOS
Moving away from the web, and we have an ever-growing market for mobile where Android and iOS are the most dominant players.
Worldwide more than 98% of devices are on Android and iOS combined. So if you are to consider mobile development, Android should be your first choice, followed by iOS.
For Android, the programming language is Java, and if you like to start, Java can be a good starting point.
Java is included in few curriculums, but again it is elementary. Here are some of the best Android Books / Best iOS and Swift programming books, but if you prefer to be taking the courses on Java, here are some excellent Java and Android courses from Udemy.
Though C/C++ can be used for app development in iOS, Swift is the preferred choice of language for it.
Android has a large market share worldwide but iOS is still a major player in the key markets like the US.
As a freelancer, iOS app developers can clock much better hourly rates than an Android app developer.
6. Python
Python is one of the better programming languages to learn for sure in 2020.
PHP gained its popularity because of the success of Facebook and Python for Google. Google selected python for powering some of their projects which made the trend for using Python. It now powers sites like YouTube, Reddit, Pinterest, Instagram (which is now owned by Facebook), etc.
Python does offer frameworks much similar to PHP frameworks but the options are limited. Django and Flask are two of the most popular Python frameworks.
Though some of the big sites are powered by Python, still as a freelancer, it lacks the popularity of being used at a mass scale because of very few out of the box option available for a full-fledged CMS.
Recommended Python Udemy Courses
7. Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a powerful web programming being used by some of the big brands and websites like Apple, Twitter, Github, Airbnb, Groupon, Shopify, etc.
The programming language is Ruby. Whereas the web framework built on Ruby is called Ruby on Rails.
Comparing rails to PHP or Python is like comparing apples to oranges. PHP or Python are programming languages and CakePHP or Laravel are frameworks built in PHP. Ruby on Rails is a web framework for Ruby. The popularity of Ruby on rails is much higher than any PHP framework.
Unlike PHP, in ruby, you don’t have new frameworks and CMSes hitting the market often which makes it very stable and worth putting the effort to learn as a freelancer.
Recommended Rails Udemy Courses
8. Database Administrator
Finally, if you wish to learn a programming language that is evergreen then it has to be the SQL. A database is a basic need for any website. Though one can have various programming languages and CMSes or frameworks to build the front end, there aren’t many backend database options available.
MySQL is the most popular database for websites. So for an online DBA freelancer, the choice is obvious but Oracle and SQL Servers are also good choices for being a DBA.
Final Thoughts
If I was a fresher or even one or two years of experience, I would have moved either to PHP or JavaScript or Java for sure.
I like to keep learning new programming languages all the time. I had purchased an iOS 9 Udemy course recently. It is an excellent course, and the iOS course I recommended above is from the same instructor but on iOS 10.
As a freelancer, you can never stop learning. I still keep learning, and that is how I remain occupied between projects.
If I was doing a job, I would have switched to the technology mentioned above as soon as I could to make sure I take control of my career, and when I want to consider freelancing, I have the right kind of experience and expertise.
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