If web development is so profitable, why isn't everyone doing it?

Quora ^ | 02/01/2023 | Wes Winn, B.S. in Computer Science, University of Washington

[cgbg]

Great explanation of the process—now add some Indian and Pakistani accents and communication between all parties becomes totally impossible!

[SamAdams76]

In the early 1990s, I was creating my own websites. Just basic HTML that I was able to code from scratch with Microsoft Notepad, or use something like MS Front Page. Of course the websites were primitive compared to today and almost always had the disclaimer "This site is under construction."

Much of the very early web was like that. You could examine the HTML code and get ideas for your own sites.

Then it got complicated very quickly.

[dfwgator]

“What would you say, you do here?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4OvQIGDg4I

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

I think the connection with math is that math formulas are linear in nature. Software development is linear in nature too. Unless you are doing algorithms there isn’t that much math involved, especially in business programming. The great thing about programming is these great debuggers you have available and can go through everything one step at a time and not just a right or wrong answer. Debuggers are just about the coolest thing on earth.

Understanding Hex and Binary math is always a big plus but it’s just addition and subtraction.

[chrisser]

There are a lot of moving parts to development, and different people have different strengths and weaknesses in relation to those parts.

Lots of great coders don’t understand the business process they’re trying to automate/replicate and others can’t design a UI to save their lives.

OTOH, there are some great designers who can’t write the code to build it into reality.

Despite all that, lately I’ve been seeing jobs for “system administrators”, where when you read the requirements, actually want a pretty sophisticated combination of developer and database designer. Weird how most of IT is hyper-specializing, but then wanting employees who have expertise in multiple disciplines. Of course, they’re not paying for that sort of expertise...

[FreshPrince]

I wear most hats in a iseries shop.

converting code written in a language that was the thing in the early 80s. This code written in this language when it was long obsolete in the 90s.

System runs this code in in SYS36 environment. Need to get the system out of that environment hence the conversion.

One could argue the code I am writing it in now is “obsolete” but not really. At least now it is supportable,debug-able,can support modern techniques/tech and will allow us to get out of Sys36 environment. Next step would be to rewrite the what we converted into something better.

[Intar]

Anyone that can think logically can learn to code in a year or less. To learn how to build a system like a website with sql backend and utilize a virtualization stack to dynamically scale at load takes years of full time work to develop. Coder != Developer != Architect. No shortcuts.

[chrisser]

One of the products I support runs on an i-series. I don’t see much of the OS and I’ve never put hands on the server itself - spend most of my time in the app and in SQL hitting what I assume are DB2 tables.

I suspect it will be my last job in front of a green screen - but I’ve said that before and here I am again.

[FreshPrince]

Yeah I tried to get away from the iseries earlier in my career... I thought 15 years ago the iseries would be gone.
So I spent 5-7 years on other things. But when I tried to
get out, they pulled me back in!!

So I gave up and learned to love the bomb. I will be fine the rest of my careere RPG’en, but my shop is dabbling in other front end tech like Php/Laravel..so it keeps it interesting...

[minnesota_bound]

Creating a web page should be easy but it is cumbersome to do so. You now need to know html and css and grid and flexbox and other programming to import data on the fly and design for desktop screens and cell phones.

I can only create a basic page. The next step is content that will attract people that can make you money. Look at Youtube or Tik Tok creators. Just coming up with content is hard. They do not create the website, just upload to one.

There are programs that help but still just a simple layout that will fit a large monitor and a cell phone screen is irritating. When you view the page source of some sites they are looking like gibberish due to using Bootstrap. Stay away from that and go simple.

Basic layout using Grid - right click and choose to View page source.
https://davidswebsite.com/webhelp/2col_4row_generic.html

How to center images and text
https://davidswebsite.com/webhelp/center_image_text.html

One of the best programs is HtmlPad 2022 Editor https://www.htmlpad.net
A one time payment of $39.95 unlike the less capable Dreamweaver that costs $21 a month every month! HtmlPad has preview and you you can click on a toolbar button to also view in a web browser to verify.

Here is a nice GRID layout site. Copy and paste the result into HTMLPad and modify from there.

CSS Grid Layout generator
https://vue-grid-generator.netlify.app/

W3 Schools
https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp