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Rodney Wilson
2,300 PointsWhich is best for me? Website, Mobile Web Apps or Native Apps? And which languages should I initially learn?
Which is best for me? Website, Mobile Web Apps or Native Apps? And which languages should I initially learn?
So im a little more than half way through the web development track but I am wondering if I should have been on another track to start. I have an idea for an app that I want to pursue, but I can see it as not only an app, but as a website or also a mobile web app and even as a browser extension in the many different browsers out there. But I don't have the money to pursue all of these. I need to pick a track and initially become dedicated to that but im not sure which one that is. Due to not being able to initially afford the servers and equipment needed to fully realize my idea, I plan on releasing it in stages. Where all the info will be stored on the users device and the potential profit will come from selling the app for a low price then when I do get the funds for servers I can move on to a free/data collection model.
I definitely want to learn how to make a website/web app so I don't regret taking the web development track, but do you guys think this is where I should start? Is it easier/smarter to learn and make native apps for Android and IOS or to make a mobile web app and attempt to make it work the same on all devices and web browsers?
Do I continue to learn HTML/CSS/Javascript? Or do I go down the Android and/or IOS programming languages track? I want to become a front end programmer but I eventually want to learn some back end stuff to. Is Node.JS a good back end language to learn if I learn Javascript on the front end? Isn't Javascript improving enough to the point where isomorphic javascript (on the front end and back end) will soon make mobile web apps as good as native apps? Or am I just wrong on this.?
I know that was a lot of questions to ask in one post, but I think this expresses my confusion lol. Thanks for the replies in advance.
3 Answers
Joshua Watson
17,373 PointsHello Rodney,
I believe that you should go the route that makes you most happy and the experience enjoyable. I also personally go the route that is the most interesting to me. I think others should do the same. If you have an idea, but don't enjoy the platform you are developing to, then you will have a bad experience. I would say stick with the website track until you finish it. You can always take what you have learned from a language and apply the concepts to another.
It took me a year to figure out that I love scripting languages such as Ruby, python, JS. Once I did I applied it to almost every project at work. I am currently a junior dev at a eDiscovery firm. We handle everything from REST API, to updating and modifying in-house applications and outside apps. There will always be change in the industry and you will more than likely go back and forth between platforms. You will find the one you like and try to stick with as much as you can, but then there will be something else that comes along to put that little spark of curiosity in your mind on whether or not you want to work with it, but I say keep an open mind. You just have to play around a bit to find out which platform and development language tickles your fancy and then pursue it.
Rodney Wilson
2,300 PointsI think finding which platform and development languages most interest me and sticking with them is great advice. But since I am starting out and have nothing to gauge yet in terms of the platforms I like and dislike, I would appreciate some other input. Like other stories of how people chose their preferred platforms and how what they were trying to accomplish drove them to their decisions.
Rodney Wilson
2,300 PointsI guess I scared everyone away with my huge wall of text. :(
Rodney Wilson
2,300 PointsRodney Wilson
2,300 PointsNow I am off to look up what a REST API is lol. But thanks for the advice and quick reply Joshua.