Interesting. My angle of approach is opposite what the OP describes. I say this as someone who studied math as an undergrad, and has a pretty solid grasp of alg

Interesting. My angle of approach is opposite what the OP describes. I say this as someone who studied math as an undergrad, and has a pretty solid grasp of algorithms and the mathematical principles, but who's had a weak point in the front end for a long time, that I'm now working to remedy, because presentation is just as important as algorithmic excellence and efficiency. Currently, I'm studying Play (the Scala web framework) and, at the same time, having to ramp up on JavaScript, CSS, HTML... and getting an appreciation for how much there is to learn (MVC, database configuration, integrating a web app with a typical build system). It's not mathematically hard, but it's difficult in the way that biology is: there's a lot to learn, and between the concepts are equally important and intricate relationships. For my part, I think that people who can present complex ideas well will always be employable. I think anyone who doesn't learn basic front-end programming concepts is doing himself a serious injustice. The challenge of 2016 won't be solving hard mathematical problems. Yes, there will be high demand for people with those kinds of talents, and that kind of work will be (as it always has been) important. However, I think the biggest challenge is going to be educational in nature. It won't be enough to build great software; you'll have to teach people (who are too busy to learn and compare the intricacies of 35 technical assets just to do their jobs) how to use what you've built.