How to decide on the direction of programming or PL?

Question

IT education

few 33 years old. Like the majority, I wanted to change my life and move into a hype (maybe not completely cheerful) topic.
Mathematical education. Work not in the specialty. English A2/B1
Experience in windows and macos only. On hand and PC, macbook pro and iphone

There are two areas that are interesting - Backend (php) and IOS development (swift), but in each of them I see their pros and cons, for about 1-2 months I tried this and that
PHP pluses :
1. A lot of work, freelancing, vacancies, salaries on average at the level of many other languages.
2. A lot of educational material
3. According to many - a low entry threshold.
PHP cons:
1. Dollar and arrow syntax infuriates ... I just can’t put up with it
2. No matter how they say about the low entry threshold, I think that you need to come to the backend with knowledge
of the principles of operation of servers and the network, including practical work in Linux (no work experience)
3. Outdated language, but
Swift is the best in its application pluses :
1. Subjectively pleasant syntax.
2. Narrow direction
3. Apple ecosystem
4. Learning from scratch, in fact, no special knowledge is required, as in the case of the backend (subjectively)
Swift cons:
1. Many times fewer vacancies, it’s not so easy to get a job as a junior
2. Little quality material for self-study .

I ask you to give advice
. Are all theses about the pros and cons correctly placed?
Is it worth it to work with that PL whose syntax suits you a little?
Is it worth going to any courses / books in these areas?
help me decide) thank you all.

Answer 1

The main thesis is missing that knowing PL will not make you a programmer .
As you rightly noted, understanding the principles of the servers and the network will also help a lot, including in the case of Swift, but this will also not be enough to be called a programmer (even with knowledge of PL).
Like it or not, you need either a good background, or time to develop it. Learning PL is a drop in the bucket compared to how much it takes to gain experience. At the device, first and foremost, they look at experience and achievements. Therefore stock up on time and patience . You will need to study not only PL, but also the basics and related areas, and practice a lot.
And if you have experience, transferring from one PL to another is a matter of 1-2 weeks maximum (well, except perhaps for C ++ or some assembler).

Answer 2

First you need not to chase fashion and understand where you are drawn.
And why do you think that learning Swift will save you from using PHP? Now half of the functionality of mobile applications is performed on servers, and Swift is not very popular there) In the last project for Android, for example, I wrote the server part in PHP.
The main advice - doubt less, do more. Start making a real project in Swift and understand what is missing and where you need to move.

Answer 3

Take JS:
1. No arrows
2. No dollars
3. You can write both backend and frontend. And even for mobile applications, you can write, well.
4. There are many vacancies, for any level
5. The entry threshold is below the plinth (well, it will be difficult to learn how to write normally on it. However, this also applies to any other language)

Is it worth it to work with that PL whose syntax suits you a little?

It's definitely not worth it to start.

Is it worth going to any courses / books in these areas?

Solve examples, use documentation and articles for this (well, or videos, if the material comes up more in this form) on a specific task.
Once you get the base, you can start reading books.

Answer 4

For starters, I would like something simpler. Start with HTML + CSS + JS. Make a couple of business card sites to sharpen your skills. Then you can dig towards CMS Wordpress. PHP and databases are already there. As soon as you understand that you can move on, you can study 1c + Bitrix for corporate clients. But you can switch to C # programming where you can make websites, programs for WIndows, iOS, Android, games on the Unity engine. I would recommend c# as a knowledge base. On this PL, you can make a project of any complexity and on any platform. And if you study ASP.NET Core, then in general you will be torn off to any company with hands. Now the fashion has gone to microservices that can just be done on ASP Core + Docker

Answer 5

choose swift from these two

Answer 6

I would start with js, look at the front, look at the back for some time not so in-depth, and then go to swift if I so desire.

Answer 7

In my opinion it doesn't make sense to start with PHP without having some decent experience with HTTP/CSS/JS. In its pure form, PHP is usually not used.

Answer 8

Don't start with the language. Study the directions, study what the back-end developer does, what tasks he solves, then the front. How web in a browser differs from mobile development. The same backing can be written in many languages, be it Java or PHP or Ruby and so on. Syntax is a matter of habit and most of the monotonous work of the IDE simplifies

Answer 9

My advice is simple:
1) Take a course on computer science (books are the best source of information in my opinion)
2) Try different popular languages ​​​​from different fields, the best way is a pet project
3) Choose what you like, ratings should play for you last role
4) Do not try to be a universal soldier, it is best to choose a direction and develop it. There are a bunch of languages ​​and tools in the same backend
5) Start spamming employers, the sooner you get to a real project, the better)