So you want to be a software developer – here’s what I’d learn

Being a software developer is not easy, tools, programming languages are constantly shifting, so what should you do if you want to be a software developer – here’s what I’d learn or improve my skills in 2015.

1. HTML – the structure of web pages .
2. HTML guide – that meet Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 for visually impaired individuals – (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/) guidelines.
3. CSS – the visual style of web pages
4. Bootstrap – a “responsive design” tool that helps your websites look great on tablets and phones
5. jQuery/Ajax – an easy tool for controlling content in the browser
6. Chrome DevTools – a tool for understanding and debugging websites, right in your browser
7. JavaScript – the one programming language that all web browsers use
8. RESTful API – REST stands for Representational State Transfer. It relies on a stateless, client-server, cacheable communications protocol. RESTful applications use HTTP requests to post data (create and/or update), read data (e.g., make queries), and delete data. Thus, REST uses HTTP for all four CRUD (Create/Read/Update/Delete) operations.
9. Common algorithms – step-by-step recipes for getting things done
10. Agile – a set of software development principles that focus the design and production of a project on the needs of its users
11. Github – a version control system for saving and sharing your projects
12. Either a popular relational database like MySQL or a popular non-relational database like MongoDB
13. Codeigniter -a powerful PHP framework with a very small footprint – Try yggdrasil – pre-packaged with Codeigniter, modular extension, RestfulAPI server extension and a theme based on Bootstrap.
14. Node.js – an event-driven platform for creating web servers
15. Express.js – a powerful web development framework
16. Chai.js or Jasmin.js for testing
17. Angular.js or React.js are nice-to-haves, though you’d be amazed how much you can accomplish just by using jQuery!

There are a many great resources for learning all of these technologies. You could start with JavaScript Tutorial, Code School, Code Academy or Treehouse they all offer a free trial, that will help you know which one you want to go with to get your programming skills.