Web skills wish list for 2007

So 2006 is drawing to a close and I’m thinking about what I’d like to learn in 2007. At this point in my career, I have a good foundation in the skills that I use every day: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, and PHP. I also do pretty well from the Linux command line, I sort of know my way around Photoshop, and I dabble a bit in SEO. Not too shabby, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

Given that, I plan to spend most of 2007 improving the skills I already have. Excellent books and articles come around all the time, so there will never be a shortage of new tricks to teach old dogs like me. I’d like to get up-to-date on the latest CSS tricks, learn more about object-oriented PHP, and even deepen my understanding of SQL. I’ll probably see what all the hoopla over MVC frameworks is about too.

However, my main focus will be on JavaScript and Ajax. My JavaScript skills have come a long way since I dismissed it as mostly useless about three years ago, but I’m still just scratching the surface of what is possible. The rise of object-oriented JavaScript, Ajax techniques, and a raft of free code libraries (Prototype, Dojo, jQuery, mooTools, etc.) have dramatically altered the JavaScript landscape. Developers ignore all of these changes at their own peril.

Anybody else planning to learn something next year?

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December 30, 2006 | Filed Under Web development 

Comments

3 Responses to “Web skills wish list for 2007”

  1. Dad on January 3rd, 2007 9:47 pm

    Grandma and I are going to take an online class to learn how to buy and sell on eBay. I also need to polish my HTML skills which have become rusty from disuse. They always seem to come in handy, especially inserting links.

  2. Dustin Woodard on January 4th, 2007 2:44 pm

    I think you are making a wise decision to focus on your main skills.

    I also dabble in other things as well and constantly fight the urge to teach myself everything. I try to specialize in a few areas, but dabble enough in others to be able to have a basic understanding. Maitaining the right balance between specialization and holistic understanding seems to be the trick.

    It’s overwhelming how quickly the landscape changes on the Web… but it is fascinating enough to keep us hooked!

  3. Christopher on January 4th, 2007 5:21 pm

    Lets see:
    Learn to paint.
    Learn to play piano.
    Learn OOphp. ie: read the books work bought for me.
    Get better at PS.
    Put my blog back up once the ‘predator’ is gone.
    Get married.
    Get a house.
    Be happy.
    Start a family.

    Now, how many of those will actually happen is a different conversation. heh.

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