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General Discussion

Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points
Posted by Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points

Trying to decide what to focus on.. Help!

I am having a difficult time deciding what to study. I have a decent amount of experience with basic HTML and CSS, but I'm not sure that the front-end dev path is the one I want to go down. How do you decide what to study? I don't feel super passionate about any specific field, but instead I just feel passionate about writing code.

So, if you could start your learning and career over now, what would you focus on? Web development? Android? iPhone? Something else?

3 Answers

Aditya Niloi
Aditya Niloi
4,787 Points
Aditya Niloi
Aditya Niloi
4,787 Points

Maybe if you answered some questions about why you are so passionate, it can help you choose a language/framework:

  1. If you mastered all the languages and tools in the world, what would you create with it?
  2. Is there a particular brand or company you want to work for? What language do they primarily use?
  3. If you answered both of the above questions, what language(s) or tools would be best for getting those done?
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,786 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,786 Points

You might do some current research, but the last time I looked, mobile application developers were near the top of both "highest demand" and "top salary" categories. If nothing in particular fires your passion besides generic "writing code", I would suggest letting those categories be your guide.

Android, or iOS — flip a coin.

Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points
Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points

Thank you, Steven! That is a good point. The decision between Android and iPhone is an easy one for me - I can't stand iOS as a user ;) Leaning toward Android dev, I think...

Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points
Raquel Smith
Raquel Smith
10,683 Points

I think those questions are the ones I'm having difficulty answering, unfortunately! I think I have too much of a broad view - in the end, every business needs a web app, and most likely will need both an android app and an iOS app. So if all three are necessary, how do you choose which to study?

I think I like the idea of developing mobile apps, but at the same time, from a business perspective, I think a web app is a better business investment first. I don't have any particular companies in mind that I would want to work for (though there are definitely some that I would jump at the opportunity to), but I still realize that most of these companies will be hiring for any of those three broad positions. I think, once I decide on a general field, I can decide on the specific languages to learn. I'm just really struggling with which field to dive in to..

Do you think mobile apps or web development is a stronger investment career-wise, especially since I have a good 30+ years of career ahead of me?