Starting a new career as freelancer. Is PHP a must?

Question

Hi guys,
I am starting a new career as freelancer (currently under notice period of employer).
I am Java programmer. Loves Java and I am very good in Java (Atleast thats what I think)

Now, After looking around.. Domain Host / Peoples (clients/bloggers/website admins)..
Java is alien to them. I searched for top 10 hosts.. and guess what. no one allows Java.
Its like PHP became standard for web development.

So my question is should I start using PHP??
(I think.. it will not take too much time. as i had it in my Master degree curriculum.. and I already use.. JSP/Servlet/Spring MVC/Struts and other frameworks of Java)

Personally, I really want to work on Java, as there are many things which can be done very easily in Java, and I know already.

Or, I Should stick to Java (web) ?
My worries:
Does (usually) client have preference of language?
Is there enough Hour based jobs in freelancer market?

NOTE: Please guys.. Don't start JAVA/PHP is the best.. sort of debate.

Cheers,

Answer 1

As a retired Freelancer, now part corporate cube farm dev and part business owner I'd say you definitely should start looking at PHP.

You don't need to know PHP in-depth but you should be able to bend a few open source CMS such as Wordpress or Joomla! or Drupal to your will. It will help speed you up greatly on many run-of-the-mill projects that need a bit of hacking here and there.

Don't waste time building freelance gig assignments using enterprise tools, they're not meant for each other. They're sometimes suited. But if you can roll a custom wordpress install, a few simple plugin that fills the gap and a custom theme, then you're good to go.

For example, if a client comes asking you for a "web presence", you don't need such things as a persistence ignorance framework, you just need a CMS that has an easy to use backend for the client to edit.

---

Now to answer your other questions, these are my opinions (other freelancers may not agree with me)

1 - Does (usually) client have preference of language?

From my experience they mostly don't have "preferences" but they may have an internal IT guy who only knows Windows or they may have already registered the domain and it is now serving up websites ok and they don't want to switch, for example.

2 - Is there enough Hour based jobs in freelancer market?

Not quiet sure what you mean by "hour based jobs". If you meant freelance gigs to do, atleast where I'm living, there are almost never a quiet period. Provided your reputation is good. At some point in the future you might even be able to pitch client with a new project if you want one. Say, a great client who had hired you once last year is now transforming their company, you might be able to pitch them with an idea of your own and have them working with you again.

Answer 2

Java is widely used in intranet/extranet communication platforms, like airline booking and such.

PHP is used for all sorts of web development, it's not a must, but it's good to know it. You should at least be able to write templates for CMSes or the like.

The new "trend" is tools like Ruby on Rails of Django. I would highly recommend studying them.

I was using Java, then PHP and I moved to Ruby on Rails and now I can work faster and better. Rails is a good framework, it was young and slow, but now it is getting more mature and faster.

Django is the way to go if you prefer Python.

But I'm not a PHP fan and I never was. I know PHP is widely used and can do everything, the new frameworks have another approach which I prefer, but then it becomes personal taste.

Answer 3

Yes, learn PHP. And learn some Ruby and Python and C# and a bunch of other languages as well, superficially at least. You will have much greater success with a broad knowledge and a willingness to adapt new technologies and not get stuck with what you know.

Learning a language is easy, and they don't really matter. So get to know enough languages to not see that as an obstacle.

Answer 4

Most places that take on a free lancer are usually not well endowed with large lumps of cash. Therefore they usually want things pumped out quickly and cheaply.

It's not really a case of which is better (Java or Php) but rather which is cheaper from a developer point of view. A Java developer will be far more expensive than a php developer as php rarely makes it inot the big corporate world, which is where most java dev's come from.

You'd be competing for contracts against php dev's who are going to be a lot cheaper.

Answer 5

I actually went the opposite of you, starting out in freelancing with PHP, then moving to a corporate job doing Java. From my experience, your chances of finding freelance Java work are pretty slim, unless you are freelancing for corporations.

I think PHP is just terribly easy to set up and work with, so it's become kind of the de facto web language. It's worth learning, but like others have said, it's worth learning Ruby or Python as well. I haven't seen many C# or .NET freelance jobs, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Besides, C# is close enough to Java that you should pick that one up the fastest.

To answer your questions:

Does (usually) client have preference of language?

The only time I've run into this is when the client already has an app or site currently in production or you are hired on as a maintenance guy.

Is there enough Hour based jobs in freelancer market?

The freelance market is VERY tough. You really need to sell yourself hard, and people will constantly be undercutting you. Establishing and maintaining quality clients should be on the top of your list of priorities. Without them, you're in for a rough ride. Get out there and do business mixers, get your name out, and make sure your work stands out.

Answer 6

every programing language is great when you love it, so i recommend you to have a look on PHP but have the one you feel more relaxed when you use it. for me all the languages is the same

Answer 7

Clients always have a preference but rarely have any legitimate basis for that preference. Once in a while you can convince a client to assume whatever technology you want, but usually you can't, and it's usually not a good opening line.

There are a lot of PHP jobs out there for freelancers. I think that PHP is the most requested language I see on the sites I frequent. There is some Java work but the nature of the places that use Java doesn't always lend itself to outside individual freelancing -- they either just hire someone new or contract with a big firm like Robert Half.

PHP is definitely worth learning if you're intent on freelancing for a living.

Answer 8

If you like complicated frameworks and such, learn Symfony or Zend. Then you have something to chew on.