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When I was choosing between Python and Ruby a couple of years ago, I chose Python. To me it seems to be more universal - Ruby is (IMO) mostly used for web deve

by egor83 14y ago

When I was choosing between Python and Ruby a couple of years ago, I chose Python. To me it seems to be more universal - Ruby is (IMO) mostly used for web development, and Python is also rather widely used in other areas - in sciences (via NumPy/SciPy), sysadmin work and for various scripting purposes (in gaming, for instance). By now I also got some experience with Django, and was also picking up Javascript recently. Can't comment on the amount of work available in Python compared to Ruby, just don't know the Ruby market, but for Python/Django there's quite enough freelance work via elance/odesk. Not sure if you'd get to $2-3k per month right away, but that's sure doable once you get some experience. On the other hand, you have the advantage of being able to look for clients locally, and I only worked remotely - living in Russia now. Seems local rates in Australia (and other first world countries) are higher than in online market. Seconding the importance of Javascript. I picked it up months after I started with Python, but starting with it earlier would've been a good idea for sure. Again, most freelance work involves at least some frontend part, and if you're familiar with HTML/CSS/JS, even without Python, there's always something to do. Also there are quite some offers for Google Apps work, scripting GMail/GDocs/GCal - that's Javascript again. Disagree on PHP requirement - didn't touch it yet, don't want to, have enough work (and some more people to talk to when I have time). Feel free to drop me an email - egor.ryabkov at gmail - if you'd like to chat. Best of luck!

vicks711 14y ago
Thanks Egor! This is where I stand now. 1. Working knowledge of CSS and HTML 2. Aptitude for programming. This is what I am going to do 1. Learn JavaScript and then jQuery. I am aiming at becoming comfortable with JS and jQuery in 3 months. 2. After 2 months I will start creating and selling simple templates (like e-mail templates and HTML website templates) on Themeforest.com. In 3 months I will start developing templates based on Twitter BootStrap 3. I will continue to polish my front end web dev skills from month # 4 to month # 6. 4. If my templates start generating a revenue of $600+ from month # 6 onwards I will be a very happy man. 600 bucks will take care of my family's monthly expenses. 5. If this financial goal is met I will learn Python. At this stage I will also start spending more time programming 7-8 hours a day and will gradually come out of my freelance writing (pays a measly $3-$10 and hour) and Internet marketing gigs. Thanks for sharing your contact.
- egor83 14y ago
  Wait, when you spoke of $2-3k/month, did you mean active or passive income? Because I was speaking of active one - as in, you directly exchange your time for money. Can't comment on your plan wrt template selling, but it seems you might start earning money faster if you get right to freelancing; though it's up to you, of course. Speaking of timeline - in my opinion, it might be more optimal to target real-life tasks and not some deadlines: that is, instead of saying "I'll spend 3 months learning JS and then will start creating templates" you might just do the tutorial, maybe make a couple small projects to get comfortable a bit. Then pick some task - like a template, or just browse freelance sites, pick a job you like and use it as a target - start doing it and then see whether your skills are up to it or not. If not, learn more until you get there. And speaking of money - from what I saw on elance, $10/hr is about minimum for Python/JS, that'll get you people who can barely speak English. Around $15 is not impossible for a person with a bit of experience, and from then on... well, that's a whole different story here, about marketing, client network, connections, self-promotion etc etc. Though, again, for the first couple of jobs there your main goal should be not getting high rates, but actually winning these jobs and creating some reputation. So to sum it up - why exclude yourself from development freelancing for 6+ months? And relying on templates sales looks a bit risky to me, direct freelance will get you income faster. Though passive income sure is great, so in the end it's for you to decide. Oh, and seconding jQuery. It's great.

by egor83 14y ago

vicks711 14y ago

Thanks Egor! This is where I stand now. 1. Working knowledge of CSS and HTML 2. Aptitude for programming. This is what I am going to do 1. Learn JavaScript and then jQuery. I am aiming at becoming comfortable with JS and jQuery in 3 months. 2. After 2 months I will start creating and selling simple templates (like e-mail templates and HTML website templates) on Themeforest.com. In 3 months I will start developing templates based on Twitter BootStrap 3. I will continue to polish my front end web dev skills from month # 4 to month # 6. 4. If my templates start generating a revenue of $600+ from month # 6 onwards I will be a very happy man. 600 bucks will take care of my family's monthly expenses. 5. If this financial goal is met I will learn Python. At this stage I will also start spending more time programming 7-8 hours a day and will gradually come out of my freelance writing (pays a measly $3-$10 and hour) and Internet marketing gigs. Thanks for sharing your contact.

egor83 14y ago
Wait, when you spoke of $2-3k/month, did you mean active or passive income? Because I was speaking of active one - as in, you directly exchange your time for money. Can't comment on your plan wrt template selling, but it seems you might start earning money faster if you get right to freelancing; though it's up to you, of course. Speaking of timeline - in my opinion, it might be more optimal to target real-life tasks and not some deadlines: that is, instead of saying "I'll spend 3 months learning JS and then will start creating templates" you might just do the tutorial, maybe make a couple small projects to get comfortable a bit. Then pick some task - like a template, or just browse freelance sites, pick a job you like and use it as a target - start doing it and then see whether your skills are up to it or not. If not, learn more until you get there. And speaking of money - from what I saw on elance, $10/hr is about minimum for Python/JS, that'll get you people who can barely speak English. Around $15 is not impossible for a person with a bit of experience, and from then on... well, that's a whole different story here, about marketing, client network, connections, self-promotion etc etc. Though, again, for the first couple of jobs there your main goal should be not getting high rates, but actually winning these jobs and creating some reputation. So to sum it up - why exclude yourself from development freelancing for 6+ months? And relying on templates sales looks a bit risky to me, direct freelance will get you income faster. Though passive income sure is great, so in the end it's for you to decide. Oh, and seconding jQuery. It's great.