Front And Back And Languages

Heard a real intriguing conversation the other day. Several developers and operations folks were talking amongst themselves, and one mentioned that it was a lot easier to find a backend web developer vs a front end web developer. They were talking about the virtues of Angular JS and other front end MVC Javascript frameworks. Finding a master on the frontend in terms of Javascript is more of a rarity and a backend person is more a dime a dozen one said. Perhaps that is so in SF. Not sure really, but there was more than some good food for thought there.

Until now, and still somewhat, I have veered and gravitated more towards the backend stuff. You know, Ruby, Active Record, Hibernate, database stuff. Intrigued by it in the sense that I felt one could brute force stuff through on the front end with css, but on the backend one needed to be more of a sharpshooter marksman to get things done.

I thought about the conversation I just heard and my previous thoughts. Concession, my front end skills aren’t bad, and I always try to make my front end look “pretty” enough (i.e. not drab and ugly). But thinking about it, that whole marksman mentality and satisfaction of solving programmatic and logic problems and more than enough to be found in the front end javascript world. More than enough. For all of javascripts good stuff, theres a joke that Crockfords book was much skinnier than the comprehensive guide–implying the language has some good parts but a lot of not so good parts to waft through. Its an average language, but a universal language, and that is its advantage, plus its whole momentum and all.

So what are my thoughts? Well for one thing. Get better on the front end. Get better, and start utilizing Bootstrap/Zurb and jQuery more often. Get and know one of the MVC of Backbone/Angular/Ember. Apparently thats where the jobs are. Thats where the skills are truly valued if one specializes and digs deep in it.

Gotta know thine javascript and get good and value the front end development. There’s gold in them yonder hills.

JL

P.s. Just before writing this entry, I thought it was a cool thought. But most of these entries, I’ve written in Vim. Pretty darn neat, eh? I’ve picked up some readings on Vim and the Bash Shell. I think it would be of universal benefit if I polish up my Bash-fu and then polish up my Vim-fu. But yah, super satisfying improving the Vim skills.

P.s.s. Today, while reading an article on Lanica (a Javascript based gaming company started by Carlos Icaza, of previous Ansca/Corona Lua gaming fame), and I read some interesting stuff. I’m not sure how mature the platform is yet. But they’ve got some plugins that allow other frameworks to be embedded in Lanica, including OpenFL / Haxe. What the heck? Haxe, yah the same framework that does Haxe/Neko to Javascript, flash, php, c++, c# and java. I read up some more on the OpenFL site, apparently the language is some type of strongly typed ECMAScript that compiles to different targets. From their site “OpenFL enables a fast workflow where developers can build projects in the Haxe programming language, an ECMAScript with simularities to ActionScript, Java, C++ and JavaScript, and deploy to native C++ for the ideal performance on most platforms, while maintaining the flexibility of also being able to leverage Flash Player and JavaScript at targets.” Wow…super cool. May just want to learn this nifty language, but on the boo/nay factor on the github popularity list (yah I know popularity ain’t everything, but momemtum for a language sure means a lot), it ranks as 49-50, whereas javascript is 1 or 2. I think I just may stick around and learn the javascript stuff, the mvc’s I listed above or perhaps tidekit / tidesdk for the whole cross platform thing (with web/mobile/desktop), and at my leisure learn the specialized languages the ones dedicated to what they were created for (i.e. a non haxe language that does not compile to other languages), such as Lua or Lisp? Why, just for the kicks.

P.s.s.s. That middle postscript was one of my longest paragraphs. Anyhow, just the thoughts of a learning junior/mid level developer. I be liking them languages, however there is the need and the business necessity of focusing on one or two languages and being super adept and fluent at it. Javascript, you may have your warts, and the book on the good parts may be slim, but the front end jobs and the skills required to tackle them are beckoning. Front end specialists a rarity, backend folks a dime a dozen. Food for thought.