[Caligula]

(12-20-2011 06:33 PM)RichieP Wrote:  

What do you guys think the future of programming is, particularly for freelancers?

I've been considering learning a programming language or two so I can take on some freelance jobs and boost my online income; but I'm wondering if over the next few years I'd just be competing against guys from India/China who will outwork me and for much cheaper. What value does the western-educated person add, if anything? Will all app development be outsourced in the next 10-20 years, or is there still gonna be a big gap between what an outsourced Indian/Chinese coder and a western programmer can offer?

Also wondering about doing freelance Web Analytics... I would think since that's more closely linked to generating insights for business strategy, it's not something any old coder will from India/China will be able to grasp without solid business experience or education. So perhaps a stronger bet?

Any thoughts guys?

Stay away from Java, since that's what a lot of the cheap outsourcing places specialise in.

The future of most (if not ALL) applications is on the web. So skip old school application programming (except Objective-C if you plan to do iPhone development) and start honing your JavaScript / HTML5 / back-end web development framework of choice skills. That's where the action is going to be in coming years.

If I were to recommend one skillset it would be analytics (in relation to online marketing) and optimising websites.

If you improve a big site's conversion rate (to make a sale) by even a fraction of a percent you're directly contributing to their revenue and they'll be inclined to compensate you accordingly. It's very hard to do right. You need to be able to run A/B and multivariate tests to try out different approaches and test what works in real-time. Being able to code is a huge asset, and it's not the kind of thing you can easily outsource. You really need to go in and understand the business and work with them over time.

A related skillset that could be valuable is SEO, though SEO consultants vary hugely from quacks to people who really understand what's going on under the hood at Google and, given the resources, are able to work miracles.