I used to spend most of most days hacking (mostly Perl) code. It had its ups and downs, although in retrospect, the downs weren’t really about coding. I haven’t done daily coding now for about 3 years, and I’m missing it, terribly. So … I’m going back to it, slowly but surely.
I also have to admit that my gut tells me that in the coming economic landscape, going back to using my coding skills will likely increase my chance of keeping myself in iPhones, BeagleBoards, and microbrews, as well as the more necessary, but boring things like keeping a roof over my head. Strategic planning is already something that’s somewhat of a hard sell for organizations. Methinks its only going to get harder as grants and donations start to dry up.
In my last post, I was talking about platform choice, and although to some extent, I can appreciate the argument that Python is a better language than PHP (just like in 1999, Perl was a better language than PHP was at the time.) However, PHP is the basis for Drupal, which is inarguably the most popular open source CMS system, and WordPress, inarguably the most popular Blogging platform. It’s also the basis for Joomla, a CMS I appreciate. There are also some very cool PHP development frameworks, like Cake and Symfony, that I’m excited to explore. It’s also the basis for CiviCRM, a project I’d love to be able to contribute code to. I’m psyched to learn jQuery (OK, that’s not PHP, but I figured I’d stick it in there.) And I don’t have to learn a new language (I’ve done a fair bit of PHP some time ago, and it’s not so unlike Perl.) So PHP it is, starting with Drupal.
So my first steps are to find some projects to help out with, volunteer for, etc. and take it from there. Maybe start doing some work with CiviCRM. It’s such a different landscape than it was even 3 years ago. But it’s a landscape that presents itself with all kinds of amazing possibilities for creating totally amazing applications that we couldn’t even dream about a few years ago.
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If you want to wade into the world of php frameworks, I really like CodeIgniter. It’s not as “opinionated” as some of the others and doesn’t do as much “magic” which, if you generally know what you’re doing but want a framework to just help keep you organized and provide some basic libs, CodeIgniter is a winner.
Drupal is weird as hell with its callbacks and craziness but once you get your head around how it all works, it has its charms.
And jQuery is the way to go, all the way, if you haven’t picked up a modern javascript library.
CiviCRM gives me the willies.
Agreed, Ruby and Python are much better languages from an aesthetic standpoint compared to php or perl, but it doesn’t matter.
If you’re worried about finding work, learn how to kick ass with Drupal and turn on our phone. You will find work.
I work for the Downtown Emergency Service Center, a social service agency in Seattle and we just (as in Tuesday) released our Open Source, PHP-based, client service software called CHASERS that we’ve been developing in house for the past five years. Probably not the kind of project you’re looking for, but thought you might be interested in checking it out, regardless. :-) You can find more information at http://chasers.desc.org if you’re so inclined!
If you’re really looking to find some opportunities to volunteer your services (which I think is great, our company’s nonprofit foundation has a web portal that matches volunteer opportunities between individuals and nonprofit organizations. Maybe you could find an organization that could really use your services. :)
http://WWW.HELPNETUSA.ORG
We use the opensource CMS “WebGUI” by plainblack.com and like it a lot. Why don’t people use it?
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