Devs and coders, some advice if you please:
So I've decided to go back to school and pick up some certs at http://www.ucsc-extension.edu. I figure it will help me as far as getting work, plus take my skills to the next level. I want to only do one certification because they're setup such that if I were going to do two of them I might as well just get my Ph.D. My bachelor's is in philosophy with an emphasis on formal/mathematical logic, which combined with my own experience has served me well as a coder, but I really want to take it up to the next level and either be able to get a position in a good company where I can make cool stuff or start my own company and make cool stuff. My primary experience is in web development in the LAMP stack with the standard web languages: HTML/XHML, CSS, PHP, and javascript, and I would rate my HTML/XHTML and CSS as very good, while I would only rate my PHP and JS as fair. I would like to get everything up to excellent but I also can't be in school forever nor can I pile up the classes too hard because I need to work at the same time (I'm ambitious but realistic).
So my two top choices for certs are the general programming cert: http://www.ucsc-extension.edu/programs/computer-programming/courses
and the cert that focuses on internet stuff: http://www.ucsc-extension.edu/programs/internet-programming/courses
So what would like to ask is:
1. Which cert should I get? I'm open to doing maybe two or three electives (in fact I intend to, because regardless of which I get, I want skills beyond either of them), but which one in specific?
2. I know some C, and I intend on doing both the C classes regardless, but should I do C++, C# .Net, or VB (I already know some VB)?
3. I am pretty good at PHP, but one can always get better and my first impulse was to plan on doing their comprehensive PHP class. The thing is, I have been hearing good things about both Ruby and Python, and they have classes on both. I have heard especially that Ruby is really good for fast development and that in general it is a lot of fun. So should I get better at PHP or take in some Ruby?
My goals are to be reasonably well-grounded for whatever I might have to face and to be prepared for work. While I know that's impossible, it's possible to get closer than I am, and I want to be a true asset to whoever I end up working with/for. That means skills that last rather than flashes in the pan, and I worry that Ruby might be one of those, while PHP is tried and true.
Thanks in advance.
