If you just want to learn a new language I would recommend to decide what you’ll be doing and start by answering these questions
ReadI’ve been a web developer for over 8 years, and got hooked on web development the very first time I wrote HTML. The process of creating something people can use out of nothing is very powerful. Before I began my career in web development, I was doing construction and then later help-desk work. To me, programming is similar to construction. You have a problem, and you need to figure out the solution, using your skills and the tools available.
ReadThere are so many open source projects out there that it’s hard to sort through them all. Some of them are successful, some of them not so much. If we take all popular projects (meaning over 2-3 thousands of stars on github) - they all have easy-to-follow detailed documentation. It doesn’t mean documentation makes these projects more successful; it means it removes the friction for developers to try and use the project.
ReadA few years ago, when I was working at a startup (Ruby on Rails app) as a front end developer, from time to time I had to go in and make back end changes. It was terrifying because I didn’t know what I was doing. I decided to learn Rails and bought books and took online courses. However, it wasn’t as easy as I thought, because I only had front end background and some WordPress experience.
ReadResponsive web design is a "fancy" term for fluid grid layout that adapts to any screen size. Basically, it's layout that is makes everything easily readable and viewable on mobile and tablet devices.
ReadWhile working with other freelancers on a couple of projects we were having a hard time exchanging the code and collaborating efficiently. Making changes on live or staging server via FTP is fast and great, but there is one big problem with that - we overwrite each others changes.
ReadIt is a great framework for building mobile websites or apps and if combine it with responsive design - it becomes even better. Nowadays everyone knows that the best way to build a website is responsive way, a “_write once_, run everywhere” style.
ReadCurrently I work on 27 iMac (i5, <del>12Gb</del> 24Gb RAM, 256 vertex 4 SSD, OSX Lion). Only very recently (about 1.5 years) switched from Windows PC to Mac - now I can say for sure, it was the right choice. Having iMac (and also macbook pro) I never ran into issues with a virus, blue screen or freezing on start up or any other similar problems, of course the computer becomes slower and slower as you use it, but after I switched to SSD this problem disappeared.
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