Stay Employed - Web Developer Skills in Most Demand (PHP, AJAX, MySQL …)
 |
 |
 |
 |
While these may not be a great revelation to many, included below are the web development skills that will get you employed now and by all evidences of their growth, for the foreseeable future. Knowing and being professional in at least some of the skills below to maximize your prospects for being employed.
In looking at these graphs, keep in mind that oDesk is a growing site so even a flat trend is a potential sign of decreasing demand.
PHP
PHP is by far the most in-demand web development programming language right now. As you can see from the graph, it has enjoyed a steady climb from November 2007 leveling off in July 2008 at a spectacular 1400 jobs posted. The demand for PHP development work has tripled over the period of a mere 9 months.
AJAX
The demand for developers with AJAX in their resume or portfolio is also in high demand as the average web page has evolved well beyond animated icons, the presentation and need for a smooth user experience in the front end is more and more essential. The skill enjoyed very similar growth to PHP above from November 2007 to July 2008 where it leveled off holding at around 450 job postings.
Javascript
As with the 2 skills above, Javascript enjoys high demand and has a similar shape in demand over the past year. As of November 2008, Javascript demand is steady at 400 after a slight decline since July 2008 but overall demand has doubled over the year.
XML
XML is very dominant in web job postings and would seem like a relatively short learning curve to get capable in since it is not a language but a simple framework for describing and manipulating data. XML has very steadily increased over the past year, almost tripling.
MySQL
MySQL dominates the databases as the data storage method of choice. Increasing to nearly triple over the past year and holding steady at over 1000 jobs posted for the past 8 months.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets is now the way to maintain a uniform professional way to monitor the appearance of modern websites. This method is designer friendly too since one design change does not mean editing every page on a single website but instead one or a few style sheets. It too has near tripled over the past year and holds steady at close to 100 jobs posted.
Graphic Design
Graphic Design is a very in demand skill and although not everyone can color coordinate or design their own icons, if you have any artistic ability or if you can train in it to develop some skills, this will round out your resume nicely. Graphic design demand has tripled over the past year and continues to grow to over 1400 postings.
That’s it. These are the skills to have to ensure your resume is not up for long if needed at all. A full view of these skills and 40 more can be seen in our trends page should that interest you.
DemoGeek
December 16th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Any Ruby on Rails trend?
naspinski
December 17th, 2008 at 4:27 am
I find it very hard to believe that Asp.Net and MSSQL are not on the list, were these even looked at? After being almost purely php for years, nearly all of my work since I got out of college has been Asp.Net/MSSQL. Could you provide the link to where these stats were computed?
DR
December 17th, 2008 at 5:26 am
.Net sucks to all eternity…companies who use it are cheap and outdated.
Max Entin
December 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Can you show a comparison of Ruby on Rails VS the Django framework?
Google Translate
December 17th, 2008 at 5:47 am
I would disagree with DR. Instead of just being a Microsoft basher it’s better to take a look at those technologies as well. Being a long time Microsoft technologies user at work and passionate about Microsoft technologies and all the alternatives I would say both has its own merits.
Bob Smith
December 17th, 2008 at 6:06 am
http://www.google.com/trends?q=php%2C+asp&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
Bob
December 17th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Dont listen to the M$ hype. ASP/ASP.net are expensive programmaticly and only companies suckered by salesmen want to use it.
PHP/Apache/MySQL are the now and the future.
Janis West
December 17th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Darnit, I knew I should have learned Ajax while I had a chance!
jess
Bob Too
December 17th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Anyone who hates Microsoft has not used 1/100th of their products.
Vance
December 17th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Am I the only one who’s noticing that nearly all those graphs either have already topped off and appear to be going back down or have just reached their peak? And this shows there is an overwhelming number of web jobs available when it appears the curve is going back down?
Mikey
December 17th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Posts like these always bring out the fanboys don’t they…
I personally love to code with XAMP tech, but MS pays the bills.
Lots of companies use MS and do fine, lots of companies use OSS and do well also. Here on the east coast it’s difficult to find PHP jobs that pay well so it pays to not be too picky if you want to write code…
Either way, ASP.NET and MSSQL should be in the list because they’re viable and relevant to the discussion.
Anton
December 17th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Sorry Ruby developers, you aren’t going to be around in 2 years
Jackson
December 17th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Actually, I would suspect that the trend towards PHP+MySQL+JS, etc. is based in the expense related to MS development. Companies are tightening their belts and not buying into the brand power of Microsoft.
Matthew
December 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Looks like .NET is not in the top list - not surprising though. Ruby and Phyton no where near?
matt
q
December 17th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Yes, let’s all pretend ASP.NET doesn’t exist because we don’t like Microsoft. The problem is, the technology’s used by most of the largest corporations and government entities. Who cares what some guy in his garage looking to hire sweatshop programmers for $10/hr. wants to use?
I like open source tools too, but it doesn’t mean you can ignore the most widely deployed technologies (.NET/Java) just because you don’t like them.
Herb
December 17th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Open Source Developers are tiny cosmic dusts particles in the programming world. .Net provides the best IDE and tools for building robust application. This data is invalid and irrelevant.
Matt D.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:49 am
If a source as big as HERB calls your data invalid and irrelevant you might as well pack it in. I mean it’s not like he can’t even link to a functioning website.
Ardi
December 17th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The Number of Website always increase year to year. So, PHP, AJAX, MySQL will still exist and necessary to build a New Website or Re Design. Keep up our skills. Success !
dave
December 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
OK people if your a developer, then its probably safe to assume your fairly intelligent. so lets not act temporarily retarded by making statements based on emotional bias. Ive been in IT for almost 10 years now on both the infrastructure side and for the past 5 years the development side. And i can say base mostly on personal experience and from talking to other consultants, that PHP, MySQL, ASP.Net, MSSQL, VB.Net, C#, Java are all very wildley used and i dont see any of them disappearing anytime soon. I personally use and like .Net/MS SQL. That said i have a few friends that can do pretty much everything i can do with .Net and AJax with PHP and Java. If your a good programmer learning another language is mostly a matter of learning some new syntax. personally i go into interviews with an attitude of here is what i know, and anything i dont im willing to learn. i havent had trouble finding a job since ive been in IT.
Wayne John
December 17th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’d like to see a graph on .net as well. Personally, I think PHP is highly over-rated and I compare it to classic asp to some degree. There are too many people out there that think their programmers when in reality they aren’t, so that really makes the technology used a moot point.
But they all have their merits, but it should always be the right tools for the right job. php and ruby for porn and hack sites, .net for business.
Let’s see if that doesn’t stir the pot a little.
GJB
December 17th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
.NET is not nearly as expensive as people presume. A small business can get Web Developer Express and SQL Express for nothing and they are incredibly powerful IDEs, not to mention .NET screams when used properly, just look up the plentyoffish story as an example.
Matrix
December 17th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Good to see Open source kit on the growth road..
What abt “php.net” ? Was this even looked at in the list…?
I hope combination of opensource (php) and Microsoft Tech(visual studio)
would be on the growth way soon…..
homercycles
December 18th, 2008 at 3:50 am
The only reason a person would develop something in PHP is because they heard or read that it’s free/open-source, so therefore it must be the programming language to use. Top that off with as crappy a database choice as MySQL and you have morons leading morons resulting in buggy crap.
Seriously, people, PHP is a ghetto. You’d be better of learning VB.Net than PHP it’s that bad. And for a decent database that’s not buggy, doesn’t lose your data, and has real SQL, use PostgreSQL. MySQL is about as dodgy as PHP (no wonder PHP morons choose MySQL and vice versa).
LAMP should be LAPP: Linux Apache PostgreSQL Perl
AndySowards.com :: Web Development Nerdy Daily Links For 12/18/2008 | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster?
December 18th, 2008 at 5:10 am
[...] Outsourcing Tips, Best Practices, and News from oDesk » Stay Employed - Web Developer Skills in Mos… PHP, AJAX, MYSQL are skills most in demand right now according to oDesk (tags: web trend skills webdesign technology trends information it jobs new job) [...]
abdul basit
December 19th, 2008 at 4:32 am
soon there will be a tool where you don’t need programming language skills
it will be all about drag and drop and run application ..
i think it will be change soon people don’t need highly skill programmer just a person who have some how know of computer will be enough
basit
website design
December 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I love it when a job posting will say “Seeking PHP/Ajax/JS/XML/MySQL/CSS/Graphic Designer.” What more do they want, someone who looks like Jessica Alba and makes good coffee too?
AndyNotAndrew.net » Blog Archive » PostPoMo
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
[...] talk about an article that I read earlier in the day about the highest sought after web skills. I also start to talk [...]
WebWorkerDaily » Archive Data from oDesk Tracks Web Worker Opportunities «
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
[...] has also examined its own data on hiring and job availability trends. They’ve produced this post and this one on remote tech jobs where competition is minimized and opportunities are [...]
Michael Lok
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
That trend is probably true in US/Europe. But not so in South East Asia; specifically in Malaysia. 90% of the companies are looking for .Net or Java. Remaining 10% is a mixture of C/C++ and a dash of PHP. And for those companies who are looking for PHP programmers, their pay is at least 40-50% LESS compared to a .Net/Java equivalent.
PHP just gets absolutely NO love here
AndyNotAndrew.net » Blog Archive » It’s Christmas Time
December 23rd, 2008 at 12:04 am
[...] where I left off in the last recording. I re-discuss the most sought after web development skills article and the advice which I was [...]
Timothy
December 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 am
I fit into all of the categories. Go ME! (-_-)
Reb Sem
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:17 am
PHP is in high demand on oDesk because PHP developers are dirt cheap and produce fast hacks.
Outsourcing Tips, Best Practices, and News from oDesk » What’s Hot? Skills with Fastest Growing Demand in 2008
January 8th, 2009 at 9:31 am
[...] placement job data. There are definitely other skills that are in more demand as noted here and here but these skills represent the greatest increase by percentage in [...]
Shirish
January 8th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Don’t see any mention of Web Designers here?
Frank Higgins
January 8th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Shirish, these numbers are by keyword in the job posting title. We will look into web desinger as a term for a future posting. sorry.
eljuan
January 13th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Anyone have two cents on PERL over PHP?
OK, let the trash talk begin!
Zach
January 21st, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Lets back this with facts instead of pissed off programmers upset about outsourcing. PHP and MySEQL are great so is AJAX and .net but heres reality, wordpress and blogging wouldn’t be here with out PHP and MySQL and Google wouldnt be here with out AJAX but listen leave AJAX and .NET to the Googles and leave PHP to start ups who need a low cost solution. If your pissed about outsourcing improve your skills and get a better job or program your own site and match with an SEO guy. But overall I just dont care, outsourcing allows for web start ups!
website-press.com
January 27th, 2009 at 3:44 am
Web Developer Skills in Most Demand…
While these may not be a great revelation to many, included below are the web development skills that will get you employed now and by all evidences of their growth, for the foreseeable future. Knowing and being professional in at least some of the ski…
Chris de Vidal
February 15th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I’ve been pondering a career direction change from systems administration to web development (since I have some PHP experience), so I read your article with interest… that is, until I browsed other providers on oDesk who work with PHP and the pay range is utterly depressing… the VERY BEST PHP CODER is only making $30/hour:
http://www.odesk.com/users/?q=php
The rest in the top ten go as low as $5/hour. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to bust my butt to compete with someone who makes less than I would at McDonalds.
Unfortunately, the story is only slightly better for Java:
http://www.odesk.com/users/?q=java
I’ve got a mortgage and a third baby coming. I cannot compete with that kind of difference in cost of living; it may be possible to live like a king in Pakistan on $10/hour but here, that’s not going to help us.
I guess I’ll invest in a career future that almost always /requires/ hands-on and on-site work, such as sysadmin or networking, because it appears that I can’t compete in programming, at least here in the US.
Old Dog (w/Many new Tricks)
February 24th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Well… this is always an interesting debate when it comes to Pay vs Free tech.
I’ve been programming now for 15 years and have a plethora of languages and environments under my belt. I’ve put more time into learning and mastering my skills them most doctors, lawyers, and other 10-12 years in school degree holders. They get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year because of their efforts (and their moneys put into tuition, books, etc.) I, on the other hand, have to deal with $10 an hour hacks taking jobs that should have rightfully been given to someone that knows what they are doing. Now the nice thing is, eventually, I’m hired to clean up the mess left behind, but the wages have been driven down by ridiculous amounts because anyone with an Internet connection and some time on there hands consider themselves programmers. In a perfect world (not driven by currency), open source is a wonderful concept, but in the real world (that’s where we are now folks) real business with real cash want real programmers using solid (and sometimes expensive) technology. Bash the .NET Framework all you want, but if you don’t keep an open mind and learn it (and other non open source technologies), you are only holding yourself back from obtaining a solid career in programming.
Now that the money thing is out of the way, lets look at efficiency.
I love coding using PHP or J2EE with MySQL. It’s fun and feels hardcore! Putting so much effort into coding does give me a huge sense of accomplishment when I’m finished a project. I also code using ASP.NET and MSSQL. My development time with the aid of MS IDEs is anywhere from 50 to 70 percent faster!!! and the customer gets the exact same product! oh oh… and I get paid more to program ASP.NET apps!
I have no idea why anyone would want to limit themselves by only using “what they like”, instead of learning “where the money is”.
Honestly, If I could do it all over again… I’d be an Electrician : )
PHP Job Search Success with Certification | Freelancing and Outsourcing Tips, Commentary, Analysis, and News from oDesk
March 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
[...] We’ve been talking about PHP for a while now — back in December, we listed PHP as the web developer skill in most demand, and highlighted its meteoric rise: from 800 jobs posted in November 2007 to 1,800 last July. [...]
IT BUZZ
March 13th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Its good to see php jobs are increasing day by day. And i guess the most important factor is the number of website increase. And more importantly now companies have to build online entity as customers are really seeking for it. So thumbs up for php. I myself love php
Staying Employed, positive signs. | RationaLogic
April 30th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
[...] Illustrative graphs and the full story here… [...]
Link Post Sunday 01/03 | Mr Sun Studios
May 21st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
[...] Stay Employed - Web Developer Skills in Most Demand (PHP, AJAX, MySQL …) by oDesk Blog [...]
Brandon
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:58 am
.NET is either on a downward slide or on a flat demand trend, and that is why it is not included here. This post is showing technologies that are INCREASING in demand. Some of you people don’t read…