I get web development questions constantly. Here are 6 from this past year, with the actual answers I gave (slightly cleaned up).
"Should I learn React or Vue?"
Most common framework question I get. Practical answer:
Learn React. Job market is substantially larger. Ecosystem is more mature. Career flexibility is greater.
Vue is fine technically but the job market and ecosystem favor React substantially. Unless you have specific reasons to prefer Vue (existing Vue codebase, specific employer requirements), React is the higher-leverage learning investment.
Once you know React well, Vue is easy to pick up if needed. The reverse is also true but the React-first path produces more career options.
"Is PHP dead?"
Honest answer: PHP is not dead. PHP is a tool that suffers from PR problems disproportionate to its actual technical situation.
The reality: Substantial portions of the web run on PHP. WordPress alone powers a substantial fraction of all websites. Laravel and other modern PHP frameworks are genuinely productive. PHP itself has improved enormously over recent years.
The career reality: PHP jobs are less trendy than JavaScript/TypeScript jobs but they pay reasonably and the job market is stable. The hiring competition is also less intense than for trendy stacks.
What to do: If you have PHP context or work with PHP codebases, the language continues to be productive and viable. If you are choosing your first backend language, JavaScript/Node or Python provide more flexibility, but PHP remains a legitimate choice.
"What language should beginners learn first?"
Several reasonable answers depending on goals:
For web focus: JavaScript. Required for any web work. Extends to backend (Node), mobile (React Native), desktop (Electron).
For data and AI focus: Python. Industry standard for data science, machine learning, scientific computing.
For systems thinking: Go or Rust. Less practical for typical jobs but produces better understanding of how systems actually work.
For maximum job market: JavaScript or Python depending on web vs data preference.
What to avoid for beginners:
- C++ (substantial complexity without proportionate benefit for beginners)
- Java (still relevant but increasingly enterprise-specific)
- Trendy newer languages without ecosystem maturity
The first language is less important than learning to actually program. Most second-language transitions are easy once first language is solid.
"How do I get a developer job without a CS degree?"
The path that works most reliably:
- Learn one language and one framework well (8-12 months serious study)
- Build 3-4 substantive projects (not tutorials, original work)
- Publish projects with code on GitHub and live deployments
- Contribute to open source projects in your stack
- Build network through local meetups, online communities, conference attendance
- Apply to entry-level positions while continuing to learn
What does NOT typically work: Boot camps that promise jobs (mixed results), generic "learn to code" content without real project building, trying to learn many things shallowly.
What helps: Persistent application despite rejection, specific portfolio projects that demonstrate capability, network connections that provide referrals.
The path is genuinely possible without a degree. It typically takes 18-24 months of serious effort. Many people give up before reaching the position to actually get hired.
"Should I use TypeScript or just JavaScript?"
For new projects of substantial size: TypeScript. The tooling and error prevention benefits substantially exceed the additional learning curve.
For small scripts, prototypes, or learning: JavaScript is fine. The TypeScript overhead may not justify itself.
For existing JavaScript codebases: Migrate gradually if the team has capacity. Sudden migration usually produces problems.
The TypeScript adoption trend has been substantial enough that most professional JavaScript developers should learn TypeScript. The investment pays back through better tooling and reduced bug rates.
"How do I become a senior developer?"
Honest answer: time, deliberate practice, and substantive responsibility.
What seniority typically requires:
- 5+ years of substantive professional development experience
- Substantive project leadership experience
- Architecture-level thinking, not just implementation
- Mentorship of less experienced developers
- Cross-functional collaboration capability
- Track record of shipped work that produced business value
What does NOT produce seniority:
- Pure years without deliberate skill development
- Knowledge of many technologies without depth in any
- Personal projects without professional context
- Reading about software engineering without practicing it
The path to seniority typically requires sustained focus on capability development across years, not just accumulating job experience.
The bonus question
Bonus question I get often: "Is AI going to replace developers?"
Honest answer: probably not in the foreseeable future, but the work will change substantially.
What AI assistance is doing now:
- Substantially reducing time on routine code generation
- Improving documentation quality
- Helping with code review and bug detection
- Reducing barriers to learning new technologies
What AI assistance is NOT doing:
- Replacing the judgment required for system design
- Replacing understanding of business context
- Replacing the integration work between systems
- Replacing the operational knowledge required for production systems
The career implication: developers who use AI effectively will be more productive than developers who do not. The career risk is from other developers using AI well, not from AI replacing developers entirely.
The takeaway
Most web development questions have practical answers. The hardest questions are often the ones beginners assume have complicated answers when the actual answer is straightforward.
Got a web dev question? Most have been answered before. Searching specific technical communities (Stack Overflow, framework-specific Discord servers, language-specific subreddits) typically produces better answers than generic tutorials.
The web development community is genuinely welcoming to people who put in real effort. The path is doable. The work is rewarding. The questions usually have answers if you ask the right people.
