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How long would it take to learn a web framework like django or rails?

2 points by nphard ↗ HN
I'm currently a student and I'm not sure what career path to take. I enjoy research and I enjoy building things. I want to pick up a practical skill so that I have extra income and I'm not sure if learning a web framework will be worthwhile for me. I fear it may be too time consuming (first to learn, then to keep up with updates and best practices).

a second question: Do I need a comprehensive understanding of the framework to build secure and overall "good" quality applications?

4 comments

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andymoe
A better question is do you enjoy building websites/webapps? Try to answer this question first. To do that you should pick one of the frameworks, find a few tutorials, and try and build something. If it turnes out you hate the process of teaching yourself that tool you probably want to look for some other way to spend your time because you will be iterating on the process of teaching yourself indefinitely.
nasir
It really depends on how much knowledge you have about programming and if you enjoy programming. Of course django or rails let you develop a web application relatively fast but if you don't know anything about programming, the learning curve could be time consuming because different languages (client side/server side) are required . I would say if your only aim is to have an extra income then don't go for it because you can get that easier doing other stuff.
nphard
The question was posed under the assumption that I already do know the languages and am a competent programmer.

I think I'm somewhat experienced with programming (and I enjoy it).

>I would say if your only aim is to have an extra income then don't go for it because you can get that easier doing other stuff.

What do you suggest?

nasir
>The question was posed under the assumption that I already do know the languages and am a competent programmer.

In that sense I would say you can learn the framework fast and start using it. so go for it. >What do you suggest? Thats not something I can tell. It really depends on you.