Is there money in web development?

/prog/
I'm currently working on an arts degree and failing hard. None of this shit interests me. I miss at least 25% of my classes. I think I've already dashed my hopes of becoming a teacher (what I want most).

I'm good with PHP, JavaScript and CSS. Can I make a living off that if/when my current plans fall through? My IT education is 100% informal. I have no payed experience.

GTFO

>>2

Thanks for bumping my thread, friend.

That depends on how you define money

>>1
setup your own faggot 2.0 portal

>>1
The first step is to stop taking an arts degree

>>1
Yes, there is definitely money in it.  Just approach small businesses asking if they need a web site.  Little bit of html later and Cha-ching you made 1000 bucks.

Just approach small businesses asking if they need a web site.  50 revisions later to make the logo bigger and typeset the body in purple blink Comic Sans and Cha-ching you made 100 bucks (they'll send it by the end of the month). They will call you twice a week to request edits for free because Wordpress is too hard to use to make updates. Next year they will forget to renew their domain name. They will sue. You will not be able to afford a decent lawyer and the judge will throw you in jail for hijacking their web sight with HOT NAKED STRIPPING COEDS. A muscular black man will ask you why you were sent in jail. He will invite you to his friendly gym parties.

>>8
Go back to bed, Jeff.

>>9
I'm not your Jeff, Matthew

>>10
Who the fuck is Mathew?

*Matthew

>>11
He's the free-thinking rebel that redefines the rules. He says what no-one else will say and does what no-one else will do. Fuelled by raw passion, he seizes an art form by the throat and drags it to its apex. What they invented, he makes it sing. His peers hate him but the public love his style. At once he intimidates and inspires; breaking down the walls that secure some yet block others. Welcome to MDickie.com - home of the games industry's first true 3-dimensional character! Whether he's the "hero" or the "villain" depends entirely on your perspective...

>>12
_*Mathew

>>12
Did you just dereference Matthew

>>15 ナルポ

>>16
lol i googled

>>11
Not Jeff, Kenneth

>>13
MDickie

More on-topic replies, please.

arts degree and failing hard
lol.
if you can't succeed in that then there's no chance of you succeeding in IT (or anything else for that matter).

>>15
Matthew->Jeff

the pleasure of being Mat Dickie

The pleasure of deep-dicking anybody who ever tried to play my games

*grabs dickie*

>>15
segfault

>>25
I think you'll find >>16-san already made that joke, albeit in gook speak

STILL SEEKING FURTHER ON-TOPIC REPLIES.

>>27
Then you've come to the wrong place. Or perhaps I should say, you came to the wrong domain.

Dear moot, thanks for /prog/ - programming. Actually, that's a terrible way to start, /prog/ is not really about programming, in the same sense that geometry is not really about measuring dildos then sticking them up your ass to pleasure yourself.

What were you talking about again OP? Sorry, we have Attention Deficit Disorder.

щ(ﾟДﾟщ)

>>28
couldn't have said it better myself

>>27
All the on-topic replies you required were made in >>8.

>>28
I lol'd.

I'm Jeff, but not that Jeff.

I'm a professional web developer--I don't really touch "design" at all, but focus on databases and application logic.  I make $90K a year, with a degree in English & music, working from home.  If I had a technical degree I'm sure I'd be doing better, ditto if I had been willing to get into management.

I can't imagine I'd be doing that well if I were freelancing--I work for a company that makes healthcare-related software, with huge state-level contracts, hospital deployments, etc.

Feel free to ask real questions and I'll do my best to answer, I'm not in a trolling mood.

I'll just throw in a couple of other observations:

PHP, JavaScript and CSS

That's not enough.  You need to be EXPERT in these three, and I'd highly recommend you learn another web programming language & framework.  ASP.NET is not a bad idea (particularly with C#).  I would think mod_python or mod_perl could help in some circles.

Learn one of the big Javascript frameworks and use it--it'll raise your productivity.

Most of all: learn databases.  MySQL, MSSQL, postgressql, Oracle--pick one and learn it as well as you can.  A lot of your skills will translate from one DB to another, esp. as a designer (maybe not as much for admin types).

If you're failing at arts, but like programming, why don't you switch?  So what if it takes another year or more...if you don't like what you're studying *and* it won't make you money, what's the point?

Please refrain from posting non-programming related material.

Thank you.

>>33

Thanks for that. How did you get your job?

>>33
The process of obtaining job is explained in >>28

>>36
My experience getting a job probably won't help you much, but FWIW: I got a temp job doing data entry.  I thought it was going to be a shit job I would only have a month or two, but the sysadmins on staff were receptive to me helping people in the office with their comp problems.  During this time I was seriously studying programming on my own time.  An opportunity arose where the sysadmins needed a custom web app written, and I took the initiative to write up a prototype, which I showed them the next day.  All of a sudden I was hired on permanently, doing some monkey admin work and some programming work.  A year later when I was looking for a job in a new city, I was able to market myself as a web programmer with experience, and from then on I've been doing it full time (about 10 years now).

Like I said, that approach is not one I'd advise--it was luck, and I just took the initiative to take advantage of the opportunity.

im a web programmer, making 88k a year.  we're using .NET, but im sure you could do fine with PHP and local govt intranets.

>mod_python

hurf

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<-- check em dubz

46 Name: Anonymous 2012-12-08 15:27

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