What languages and frameworks should a freelance developer learn?

Question

I already know all about Linux. I would like to start developing part-time, and be able to fall back on it full time if need be. I am a techie looking make money quickly with the least hassle, doing something vaguely related to my hobbies.

I've been thinking about Python because it's beautiful, useful, and I will come closer to learning the full LAMP stack... but it seems like LAMP is more of a full time job. Another idea would be to learn Ruby, which would help me make money in the near future... but would be less useful with my knowledge of *nix systems.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

In a world dominated by Java and .NET, I would find it an easier route for you to learn one of these two platforms in order to turn it into near-term revenue. However, you could make marginal money doing Drupal/Wordpress/Joomla-type work under PHP w/LAMP. I'm not glued into the Ruby world nor have I ever seen anything but a couple of one-offs rely on it for serious work ... but RoR seems to have a following. I'm not overly impressed with everything I've seen from that though and the next time I hear someone doing serious work with it in business will be the first. If I was a Ruby expert who wrote the book and was a central figure in the community I would be more worried about finding a job than a typical .NET/Java resource.

Answer 2

You can make money with any of the major languages, including Python and PHP, so learn the one you like best. That will keep you interested and motivated longer.

With smaller languages like Python the contact network is more important to get jobs, so join a Python Users Group and go to local PyCons (if you choose Python). It's worth it, and loads of fun! For Java you can probably learn it and find jobs via Monster.com, which is easier but less fun. :)

Answer 3

Any commonly used language you like, in the area you live/work. It would be pointless (from a job perspective) to learn ruby if theres no ruby based companys in your area.

The thing with a Java/.Net job is that while there may be more of them. there is also alot more people applying for them. It should be possible to find a few smaller places working with python or ruby

Answer 4

LAMP is definitely something you can do part time, and I think does well as a way to pull in some cash quickly and easily. I've got some friends that do quite well with some quick little ad-supported PHP sites that run some silly little facebook applications.

Answer 5

It entirely depends on the type of freelance work you want to do:

1. If you enjoy getting into the nitty gritty and know C, then there's a whole world of possibilities when it comes to embedded systems programming. Personally I find I can get regular work (large projects once every two months) creating tools for CNC machines that can be programmable using just a keypad.
2. In London I've personally seen an increase in the number of interactive art installations that large advertising/design houses are trying to create. Most of these places are looking for Processing (Arduino) developers to create simple "robots" to respond to a set of basic inputs. Think of thigns along the lines of generative art.
3. If it's purely web that you'd like to do, there is far more PHP/MySQL — EE, CI, Zend, Symfony — work going for quick jobs that you can do whilst working full-time. However, if you're planning on going into this full-time I'd recommend going down the Django or Rails route as there tends to be less WTFs per minute. In addition to this you can probably go in as a SysAdmin and clean-up/optimise someone elses system.

If you're going down the Django or Rails route, I recommend you try and get a good understand of the core languages — Python and Ruby, respectively — before you attempt to learn the frameworks. Good resources to check out would be:

• Ruby: http://mislav.uniqpath.com/poignant-guide/
• Python: http://diveintopython.org/ and if you're a quick learner http://diveintopython3.org/

Good luck freelancing!

Answer 6

1. If you need money quick to pay the rent, hack some lines of PHP together and go for your local web-agency.
2. If you want a real entreprisey carrier with nice costumes (or sort of), it seems you cannot go wrong with j2ee/.net
3. If you want to have real success with girls, go Haskell (reddit will help you)
4. If you want to have fun, go Ruby/Python (Not the frameworks, their codebase change quite a lot, and they will only help you with the intern-level stuff, learn to hack with the LANGAGES first). Plus the community is fun. Both will be alright to find jobs if you live in a big city.

And if you don't like clichés, try them one after the other until the community/langage/workflow feels homish.