

Ask HN: Know html and php, which language to learn next and why? - mangoleaf

Greetings all!<p>Thanks for all the tips and insights over the years.<p>I have been agonizing over a decision recently. My son knows html and php fairly well, and he asked me which language he should learn next.<p>His stated goals are to learn a language so that he can make mobile apps (games). Objective-C, Java, C++, or...?<p>So which would be best for an 11 year old? Which one is close to the logic structures of php? Which would be best for his long-term development given that his goals will change as he ages?<p>Much appreciated in advance!
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citizenkeys
CSS and Javascript. Before writing apps, try writing simple web-based
applications. For that, you need exactly 3 languages: html, css, and
javascript. HTML for structure. CSS for presentation. JavasScript for
behavior.

Beyond that, if he knows php then he should know how to do queries with MySQL.
PHP and MySQL go together like peanut butter and jelly.

After that, I would move onto Java for Android development or Objective-C for
iPhone development.

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maxbrown
Just out of curiosity, what web apps are you thinking of that only require
html, css, and javascript? Given, I believe there are some simple frameworks
in javascript, but does anyone actually use just these three? Anything I can
think of uses at least a database.

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citizenkeys
PHP and MySQL are back-end technologies. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are front-
end technologies. All sorts of useful apps can be written that don't require a
data source.

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irrationaljared
I'm a ruby developer (mainly web apps), but definitely getting more interested
in mobile apps (so java and objective-c) as well as the benefits of node.js

I think for a kid I would almost definitely start exploring mobile apps.
There's a lot more room for creativity there, with the touch screen interface,
location aware apps, spatially aware apps (with the gyroscope), etc.

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petervandijck
Ruby or Python. Why: because they're popular, well suited to web work, and
will expand your skillset in a useful way (with new concepts etc.)

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adam-_-
Or Perl if we're going down this route.

