Consensus Opinions on PHP and the Job Market..

[chadone]

Hey Larry,

Just curious what you thought. I noticed ALOT of communities in webdev consider PHP as something to be avoided in favor of tech like node, express, etc. I'm skeptical of consensus opinions in general and wanted to see what a professional would say..

My problem is that these opinions are made by screen names with no frame of reference as to whether it's a professional or another amateur just repeating opinions their camp counselor told them. 

Some say PHP is too difficult compared to node and JS on the server. However, I've found the opposite. It seems PHP is much easier to get a working app than node/js. They also say that PHP encourages bad code. But i've seen that same exact argument against JS! 

As far as getting a job or freelance work, is PHP a waste of time as "they" say? As a beginner, I have a hard time distinguishing between good opinions based on fact and opinions based on opinions.

 

Thanks,

Chad

 

[Larry]

Well, different technologies go through trends although that tends to be more impactful to new businesses and work b/c, say, an existing PHP company/site is going to need a PHP person. We're definitely in a time wherein there's a lot of talk about server-side JavaScript. That may stay or go, though. And it's totally fine. 

I think all arguments about X language encouraging bad code are pretty silly. You can be a good or bad programmer in any language! 

Your best bet would be to look at some actual job markets, whether it's for full time jobs or freelance work, and see what they're actually looking for. I suspect you'll find no clear winner or loser. For what it's worth, generally speaking companies with existing IT departments will likely have opinions on what tech they want to hire for, but on the other hand, I work for a company that's primarily a Ruby shop and they hire more than just Ruby developers. If you're a good developer in any one language, there's potential for you to be a good developer in another. Developers understand theories and practices; languages are largely a matter of specific syntax. 

Finally, in my previous experience, many of the people hiring a developer for a project don't know or care what tech you use so long as you can do the job at the right price.