In case you are wondering if learning a new language could be a new investment or it would be a complete waste of your time and energy, let us give you a few motivating numbers.
By Sujain Thomas
Website design is the best form of online advertisement you can choose for your business. It is as important as creating the right print ad in your local newspaper for attracting the attention of the local customer base or placing an ad in the national TV to garner the attention of a nationwide audience. You can always use websites just like your brand and gain the attention of the target audience, whether you are targeting a particular town, city or state.
The challenge with most entrepreneurs is the development process associated with the e-commerce site. Most business owners, who do not deal with website design, development and maintenance on a professional level, find it difficult to keep up with the process. Since they are not trained in coding or programming languages, it is quite an understandable issue. Even with the WYSIWYG website builders and the ready to use CMS engines, it is always better to know a few codes to customize the site and include new functions.
What are the popular ways entrepreneurs develop their sites?
There are three prominent options for website developers for creating a brand-new functioning website.
- Using a CMS engine like WordPress to create the site. Use plug-ins to optimize the seller performances. WooCommerce is the leading ready to use WordPress plug-in for all e-commerce needs in 2018.
- Use an advanced CMS engine like Joomla or Drupal that need programming/coding skills. Add modules through codes for enhanced website performance.
- Use simple languages (take lessons) to develop a complete functioning application. This is a more rewarding process, and it also enables the development of a more customized and personalized website for business owners.
Leading ecommerce web development companies and consultancies always recommend the third step for future entrepreneurs and aspiring website owners.
Why should you invest in learning a new language?
In case you are wondering if learning a new language could be a new investment or it would be a complete waste of your time and energy, let us give you a few motivating numbers.
Make some decent money on the side
Programmers who are well-versed in C make about $108,000 per year from creating websites, maintenance, and servicing of existing websites. It looks like PHP programmers are in demand, but since the language is quite easy to master, there is a lot of prevalent competition, and programmers make about $87,000 per annum. Java, JavaScript and C++ programmers often make something around $95,000, $90,000 and $93,000 respectively.
Be a part of the growth
At the moment, there are over 18.2 million programmers, coders and software developers across the globe. By the end of 2019, the numbers can reach a whopping 27 million. You can become a part of the website development boom, by learning the basics of some of the most popular coding languages and testing the waters with your website design.
Perfect your website design
Development of a business website needs to be near perfect. The process is demanding. It always pays off for the entrepreneur to know a little bit about the backend programming language and the front-end design codes. You can coordinate with your design team and explain your website function necessities to your developer team better when you can understand the technicalities of website development. Therefore, learning a coding language or a scripting language is in no way a waste of time for anyone. Even entrepreneurs can benefit from brushing up a programming language or two.
Which programming language should you focus on at the moment?
Almost all websites of today need PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to run smoothly. In case you are planning on learning a programming language to help with your website development experience, you should focus on the following. These five languages are simple enough for any novice to master in a couple of weeks and yet they are influential enough to power several well-known heavy traffic websites of today.
- PHP contributes to the responsiveness and dynamicity of websites. Even Tumblr, Wikipedia and Facebook use this scripting language to power their backend tech.
- Java allows the coders to create web-based applications and mobile applications. It is still the most popular server-side scripting language. It is a truly dynamic language that allows the applications to run almost anywhere. Zappos and Netflix rely on Java heavily to function.
- C++ is the one leading system programming-oriented language that boosts performance and flexibility. It helps e-commerce sites to fulfill the design requirements along with enhanced speed. Official websites of Sony, JPMorgan Chase, and DIRECTV use C++ to power their sites.
- Python is a popular programming language that enables quick setup and integration of your systems. It is a very efficient language that powers the USA Today, YouTube and Google sites.
- Ruby is a simple open source language that developers use for its high productivity and performance. Its syntax is particularly elegant. Ruby is both easy to learn and write. Even now, GitHub, Ask.fm and Twitter use Ruby.
Over 17.7% of the programmers and developers use C, and about 3% of the programmers use PHP on a regular basis. To develop applications for business purposes, you can rely on Ruby on Rails. This is a Ruby framework that implements the web applications and makes Ruby a flexible yet reliable backend powerhouse for website development. Laravel is to PHP, as Ruby on Rails is to Ruby. It is a popular, open source and standard Ruby Framework. Thus, you do not have to sweat a lot to create a brand-new application with a full set of functionalities.
Learning more about programming and learning new scripting languages will broaden your horizons. Entrepreneurs can always do with a few added skills. To run a modern retail business online, you need to have a thorough understanding of a website’s working and its database maintenance. You can build cool apps for yourself in the future, maintain your website and create new features every day according to the user demands. Always remember to include the latest version of CSS and HTML to learn the most basic website fundamentals.
Sujain Thomas is a freelance writer and blogger.
Programming stock photo by whiteMocca/Shutterstock
