What tech to switch to?

WiseWitness

Hi

I'm currently a PHP developer and I'm looking to switch to a more modern technology.

My plan is to become a full-stack Javascript developer by learning MERN. I'm based in Dublin, (currently employed) so I think there would be some good opportunities in this area.

Is this a good idea or should I pivot elsewhere to Python, or Go???

Anima

Don't bother learning MongoDB or Express.js. That MERN stack is deprecated according to a google search there. I'd probably learn JS and associated libraries and tooling. Probably React or VueJS or Angular. Learn a database/SQL as well.

Also stop saying pivot.

colm_c

Very few companies in Dublin outside startups are using MongoDB.

I would look in to elastic search, python and Java. They seem to be popular, although without commercial experience in those you would need to be up front with cv/recruiters.

Make sure you have the basics of software engineering down, unit testing, encapsulation, patterns etc.

I'd also look at some modern software engineering concepts such as dev ops, CI/CD, agile etc.

bpmurray

WiseWitness wrote: »

Hi

I'm currently a PHP developer and I'm looking to switch to a more modern technology.

My plan is to become a full-stack Javascript developer by learning MERN. I'm based in Dublin, (currently employed) so I think there would be some good opportunities in this area.

Is this a good idea or should I pivot elsewhere to Python, or Go???

NoSQL has it's place but it's not in 99% of office environments. You probably are already familiar with one or more RDBMS so they're what you want to use.

If you want to use JS, focus on one particular stack, e.g. React, Redux and GraphQL, Even if that's not what they want, the experience will work in your favour. Go is a waste of time, at least for now. And while Python has its fans, there aren't many in the business world.

And, FFS, speak normal English - why on earth would anyone other than an unemployable douchebag use "pivot"?

Talisman

If your motivation is to transition out of the PHP realm then Python would be a good choice. There is a lot of poor PHP code out there in Google land which has encouraged some bad habits amongst young developers.

Python has a way of doing things that encourages best practises rather than hacking things together - it's also very easy to learn the Pythonic way. Like PHP it's not tied to a particular coding paradigm: Object-Oriented, Imperative, Procedural and Functional style coding are all possible. For these two reasons Python is a good jumping off point for picking up other languages.

If you want to focus on web development then learning JavaScript is the obvious choice. Familiarise yourself with the MDN Web Docs - it's the go to reference for up to date JavaScript and browser Web APIs. Learn how to use JavaScript first before jumping into using frameworks. As a web developer you should also be familiar with the OWASP Top Ten Project and know how to use it - OWASP Top 10 Vulnerabilities List — You’re Probably Using It Wrong.

It goes without saying that you should know SQL to be somewhat competent at efficiently querying databases. There's no need to look at MongoDB - it's just a JSON store - if you become a competent JavaScript developer then MongoDB will not be a problem for you.

Other strings to your bow would be familiarising yourself with common algorithms and patterns, practising test driven development and exploring the tooling for debugging on your chosen platform.