At the moment my raw CSS is mediocre (can fix that in 2 weeks), I am competent in React and currently on the shortlink project (3/5) in Express/Mongoose. I was thinking of completing the 6th and final section of FCC before going back to CSS to clean everything up.
But as I read this forum it sounds like PHP may be a better track than Javascript.
Especially for me because I am humble about pay expectations. My aspiration is remote salaried or remote freelance work. If not from the beginning then 12 months down the line.
Most important is that I simply get a job, any job, in the field. #2 is that it sets me up for remote.
What do you guys think, finish the JS track or switch to PHP/Wordpress/Woocommerce?
Finish JS for two reasons, one is you already know some js so it’s good to finish it. and secondly because it’s getting more and more popular than PHP on the server-side.
JS is pretty much in demand. JavaScript is assembly-language of web so it’s loss for you to not master it (tho I haven’t been using it more than a year).
In some country, like my country, PHP programmer is still in demand, but they always still need JS programmer too. The big guys/companies starting to use Go, just like the job I have right now.
I’m not entirely sure PHP is a better track other than WordPress/CMS related jobs. I’d do more more research into it beyond just asking a question on the fourm.
I think in term of job availability, PHP developer jobs lags behind the big 3 of Java, JavaScript, and Python.
A lot of freelance (especially lower paying stuff) is WordPress so PHP might make sense, but you’ll still need JavaScript. And they are both languages based on C so learning JS will make PHP easier. And I don’t think you can make it with just PHP. But I do know that nearly any job is going to require some JavaScript.
But just learn. If you’re learning core coding concepts, then the language isn’t as important as you think. A good coder can pick up the basics of a new language pretty quickly - it’s not like human languages. I have a friend that learned to be a decent PHP coder in a week - because he was so solid in other languages. Just learn. Everything you learn will help you in the long run.
I’m doing Python next instead of PHP (for my learning other things day of the week); but that’s just me. I feel like it’s better if you don’t intend to specialize in wordpress.
There really isn’t a reason for you to stay up-to-date with both, since you’re already competent in React.
PHP is definitely useful in freelancing because of Wordpress, but the more tools you have, the more jobs you could do.
As someone who percentage wise works mostly on WordPress websites, and who works remotely as a freelancer ( Upwork ), if this is one possible route you are thinking of following yourself then it is not a choice between JavaScript and PHP, you need both.
If I were to break down my time I would say roughly I spend 60% of my time troubleshooting / enhancing using both PHP and JavaScript / jQuery, often both on the same project. I probably spend 30% on styling using CSS, and the rest on a bit of HTML and server related things like phpmyadmin, SSL certificates, etc…
Don’t limit yourself or your studies, like others have mentioned the more tools on your belt the more work you can apply for.
First, do some in depth research on your local job market. Where I live there are tons of PHP jobs, but there is some regional variation.
Second, the big decision to make is whether you want to do front or a back end. If you are sure back end is your thing, then PHP is probably the best choice for a self-taught coder. It’s a lot easier to learn than the big two (C# and Java) and it’s still more popular than Node, Python and Ruby (overall).
Also, don’t think you have to be limited to Wordpress. If you can learn a modern OOP framework like Laravel and also learn how to integrate MySQL, then you will have some very marketable skills.