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Business

Manuel Lopez
Manuel Lopez
3,265 Points

which language I should learn to build a platform like ebay

I just became an student at Treehouse and I am new to coding my idea is to build a platform like ebay to connect and industry but I dont have any clue where to start. to me it look like maybe HTML and CSS is first But maybe is faster if I start direct in a language like Java that could make my path to my gold faster
I will really appreciate help on this. thank you!

3 Answers

Caleb Kleveter
MOD
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 Points

To create the front-end of the site, or the part that people see on their computer, you will need to learn a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. But for something like E-Bay, you will also need a language to create the backend of the site, so you can have users, store product data, etc.

There are several options for creating backends that are available:

  • Java with Spring
  • C# with .NET
  • PHP (by itself or with Laravel)
  • Python with Django or Flask
  • Go
  • JavaScript with NodeJS
  • Ruby with Ruby on Rails

All these languages and frameworks have the features you need to create a backend, so it really comes down to preference. NodeJS might be nice because you are already learning JavaScript for the front-end. Ruby and Python and have syntax that is very easy to understand. Go is known for its blazing fast performance.

I personally use Swift with the Vapor framework, but that might not be a good choice if you are learning through Treehouse because they only have a crash course on it, that doesn't give you the foundation for building website backends.

Manuel Lopez
Manuel Lopez
3,265 Points

thank you Caleb! I think you just gave me a very clear explanation about which options could better work for me I really appreciate it!

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,063 Points

Your goal would be a very challenging task even for a team of very experienced developers, not something I would think of as a good starting project for a single individual learning to program! :open_mouth:

You might want to consider that you will eventually collaborate with others, and your own involvement might just be with a part of the total project. With that in mind, I'd suggest starting with learning the technology that you think you'd most enjoy working with (server or front end, design or development, etc).

If you have no preference (yet), perhaps the Front End Web Development track would be a good start. It will give you a good introduction to the 3 most important technologies for the client side (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript).

Manuel Lopez
Manuel Lopez
3,265 Points

I think your answer is very good, I'm a 49 years old man with no very good English communication skills but I think good enough to study in English, I have been involve in and industry for a lot of years and have this Idea that could be and amazing business, I have try to put together this website that I have in my mind but it looks will cost the money I don't have right now so I thought about the possibility of making it myself , this Idea is a very strong one that I have been formulating in my mind for more than five years and it is no just about making the website it is also about introducing the platform to the industry so I am looking for a way to do it, I was certain it was a difficult task but I wasn't sure how difficult, so I mention it was like ebay but instead of selling to the public will be business selling and interacting each other thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question and I want to ask you do you think is something doable in the way I am trying to do it?

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,063 Points

I don't know enough about the details to attempt specific advice, but I think that as you are learning the skills to do it, you'll get a better idea of how much help (if any) you'll need to get the entire project built.

I don't agree that this project is so difficult that its even hard for a whole team of experienced developers. I think that it is possible for you to built a stripped down, bare-bones version of eBay that you could then add more features to over time. But in order to build this, it will be a lot of work. If you don't know them all ready, learn the basics of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and then learn how to use a front-end framework like Bootstrap or Material Design because this will speed up your front-end design and development. Then, I would personally recommend learning PHP to build the server-side of your application, but C# with ASP.NET or JavaScript with Node.js and Express would probably also work for you.

Like I said, I think this is doable, but its going to be a massive amount of work. You will have to learn a lot and then spend possibly hundreds of hours designing and building out your site's core functionalities. If you feel passionate about coding, then this will be an extremely rewarding experience for you. But if you only want to build the site to earn money and you don't actually get excited about doing software development, it is going to be torture.

Good luck.

Manuel Lopez
Manuel Lopez
3,265 Points

Thank you Michael Cook I love the way you answer my question first with your optimism letting me know it is something that can be done you motivate me to pursue my Idea and that is something I really appreciate but also you advice me how hard will be and I appreciate that too I Knew it is something very difficult that will test how strong my perseverance is but I was really needing to know from the people already in the field if this Idea is something that can be done also I appreciate the path you described for me to learn this profession. thank you so much for taking the time to help me!