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General Discussion

Juan Ferreras
Juan Ferreras
28,028 Points
Posted by Juan Ferreras
Juan Ferreras
28,028 Points

What back-end language should I learn for web development?

Hey,

I'm a front-end developer and a designer (partially thanks to Treehouse haha). I'm looking forward to finishing the track as a Full Stack Javascript developer, which will introduce me to some back side development through NodeJS.

However, I want to take that one step further. I would like to hear some recommendations on which back end language should I learn, to develop web applications and dynamic websites (sites that uses CMS).

I know PHP is everywhere, there's lot of frameworks for apps, there are lots of CMS that are powered by CMS. I believe Ruby is way cleaner and easier to use, I've heard wonderful things about Ruby on Rails, but I have no idea if setting a Ruby server is as easy as it is with PHP, if there are CMS choices out there that employ Ruby, if Ruby has any limitations that could make it not ideal for simple CRUD web apps etc.

I'm looking forward to hearing what PHP devs and Ruby devs have to say on the matter.

Thank you.

2 Answers

LaVaughn Haynes
LaVaughn Haynes
12,397 Points
LaVaughn Haynes
LaVaughn Haynes
12,397 Points

I have some PHP experience. None with Ruby. In my area I see more jobs for Ruby and .NET jobs. I would suggest looking at Will Stern's "Watch this if you want to become a web developer -2015". He goes over all of the current the must-know stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB0WvcxTbCA

He starts on the back-end stuff at about 12:45. I think the whole thing was good though.

Bo Yuan
Bo Yuan
20,928 Points
Bo Yuan
Bo Yuan
20,928 Points

There are some choices out there:

  • C# / ASP.NET
  • PHP / Laravel / CakePHP ......
  • Python / Django / Flask ......
  • Ruby / Ruby on Rails
  • Javascript / Node.js (relatively NEW)

I have some experience on the first three. First one may have a long learning curve and many stuff about ASP.NET. Second one should be a good start, since lots of small companies like to use PHP and also you can find many good courses on Treehouse talking about PHP. Third one is also recommended since Python is really my love due to the beauty syntax :) and also you can learn Django and Flask from Treehouse.

Just explore more, find a language, and get start!

Gook luck, and have fun!