Learning to program Apps (HTML5?)
So I'm about to turn 28 and I'm starting to come to the realization that my career is going off the rails a bit. I'm being steered, despite my clear wishes, in a direction by my company that I don't enjoy and that I personally feel I'm not as strong in and this concerns me as I think I'll have a hard time moving up if I continue down this path and once I'm on it for a couple more years, there's no going back. Basically, management has some succession planning meetings in November and we're being told we'll know more after that and if they do keep me on this path, I will be looking for a change. Since the chances of me finding a new role that is a step up on this job in my current field are slim based on the lack of progression on my resume, I think it's time to explore other career paths.
Since I have to pay the bills and the money here is probably better then I'd find in similar positions elsewhere, I was hoping to start trying to learn a programming language (for mobile or web based apps) on the side while continuing to work at my current company until I can put a few self made projects under my belt. I used to be quite interested in programming, making HTML websites for fun in high school and even today I feel like I'm strong in excel and dax and have an okay grip on SQL without any training so even though those aren't really the same at all, the inclination is there, I just don't know where to begin.
Like I said, I can't just quit my job so I'd love to take some courses online or preferably evening classes on campus some where to get me out of the house and away from distractions. When I look online there are some programs but they all look to be language specific, which makes sense, I just don't know what the best path for a beginner is so I turn to the fine, tech-savy, Zuckerbergs of Beyond for some help.
TL;DR Basically:
- Which language should I be looking into? From my limited research so far, it sounds like HTML5 could be a good fit so that I could make web based apps that run on both mobile platforms? But I can't live off making my own projects if they don't end up going anywhere. Is there demand for people that know HTML5?
- What learning curve should I expect and what balance of self teaching vs. paying for classes should be expected if lets say I'm average at picking it up. Will I need to take a degree worth of classes to make this a reality?
- Finally, any recommendations? tips? knowledge you can pass along?
Thanks guys. Just trying to figure my shit out.
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