What Next?

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Web Developer Series.
From the previous article on Starting from point Zero, you might have been looking at going further rather than just being a front-end developer. At this point, I have quite some tips on what next to do.
OPTION 1: Choose a Front-End Framework: Examples are Bootstrap, foundation etc.
OPTION 2: JavaScript/PHP Frameworks such as Angular, React, Vue, Laravel, CodeIgniter etc.
OPTION 3: Server-side language: such as PHP, Ruby etc
OPTION 4: Databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL etc.
For me, I would suggest you go for Option 1. Select a front-end framework. Frameworks like bootstrap, foundation, Skeleton, MUI etc, saves you a lot of time for creating user interfaces. You might not be really good with designs, graphics and the likes, frameworks gives you that extra ability so all you have to do is add a little classes. One major advantage of this is the Mobile responsiveness. This is the ability of your web pages to fit in perfectly to any screen size without having to write tons of code to get this done. This is highly optional. You might not want to make use of frameworks. Its all left to user preference.
Next up I would suggest you go for after the front-end framework, is Option 3: the server-side scripting. There are several server-side scripting such as PHP, Node.js, Ruby on Rails (great framework but has leveled off a little), python etc. Among them all, I would suggest you go for PHP. You might be thinking why not Node js since I already have an idea on JavaScript. But it is left to you to decide which is best for me. I preferred PHP because I think its better I learn something new since I already know JavaScript. Node js is actually a very powerful framework too.
Ok so you are doing really great at this point. So what next??
Option 4: Databases should be you next shot. Note: You have to master the server side before working with databases. There are several databases to work with and some are MySQL, PostgreSQL, NoSQL databases etc. I would recommend you start with MySQL reason being that they have a larger community and it is far much easier to learn. NoSQL databases works similar to JSON. An example of NoSQL database is MongoDB which is a document database. Another example of a NoSQL database is the CouchDB. Databses work with the scripting language so I would suggest you pick one combination and focus on. Its either PHP with MySQL or Node.js with MongoDB. It would not be advisable going outside this combination.
Finally, you should consider other javascripts framworks. This just helps you write lesser lines of javascript codes. There are tons of frameworks to choose from such as Angular.js, React.js, Vue.js, jQuery, backbone.js etc. For me, I would advice you start with Vue.js. I think that should be the simplest. They are all very powerful frameworks but they all have their strengths and weaknesses. You could check them up online to read more about them.
There are other side technologies you should learn as a web developer.

• GIT Version Control & Github.
• SSH & Basic Command line
• CSS PreCompilers — Sass/Less
• APIs/REST Services.
• HTTPS/SSL WOW… You made it this far.. At this point my dear, you are now a Web Developer. Things you can do at this point include:
• Create simple to advanced web spplications
• Build Backend APIs
• Work with Servers
• Admin Databases
• Get a great Job
• Keep freelancing etc. At this point, you can also consider the following:
• Focus on your career
• Go back and learn another stack
• Keep up to date with new technologies
• Learn a high level language such as JAVA, C# etc.
• start evangelising about building for the Web. I hope this helped you in one way or the other. Stay tuned for more articles.