Sorry, I had to ... 
When most of us first started making web pages, very few of us knew what we were getting into. Aside from the rare individual that had some experienced web junkie telling him/her that they were making a decision that would affect the rest of their life, the rest of us dove into coding without much thought about what the life of a web developer entails. We just wanted to code! This section is a very general description of what can happen if you become a web developer.
Web development is a fun career. As a web developer you have the potential of seeing every nook and cranny of the entire internet (and some web developers do exactly that). Your career will broaden your experience and make you a better developer. Jobs are abundant, so they say, but because of the stringent requirements for application (ASP, CFM, JAVA, J2EE, PERL, PHP, Photoshop, SAP, COM, DOM, PeopleSoft, and Illustrator), you will be in unique places that the 'normal' 9-5 job doesn't go to. You may end up coding the Fire Service web site in Alaska, you may code a site for a tuna boat near Guam, you might work for the border patrol development team, or play snood ALL DAY LONG. Where you get a job is as diverse as your imagination.
For a single person, this is a great career. For the married ones, web development jobs can be a little harder on your relationship. I knew a web developer in Silicon Valley who spoke about a condition that affects web developers: CRABSS - Cranky Restless Addicted Bum Separation Syndrome (He was on his 5th Internet marriage). Most of the older web developers I know are divorced or have interesting marriages but all of them love to stay up till 4am coding and drinking Mountain Dew, and they are all very good at their jobs. I'm not saying that being a web developer will doom your marriage but it can make it difficult at times. You make your choices in life and you live with those choices...
You can have web development jobs that keep you closer to home and these jobs tend to be healthier for a relationship. State jobs seem to be the web development jobs that keeps a coder closer to home, and working normal hours. I think that is why we all tend to gravitate towards these types of jobs as we near the end of our development careers. Being a teacher is another job that lets you sleep in your own bed every night. You will however need to forget half of what you already know in order to be a web development instructor.
I kept a log of all the times I didn't sleep while being a web developer, and it was over 54 different occasions in a 4 month period. I learned to work with the lights on and keep plenty of Mountain Dew on hand. I thought coding Perl was bad, but after that cobol legacy integration with visual foxpro and C++, I realized that was nothing! The web development openings move around the world and we as web developers get pissed off that all the foreigners are offering $3/hr services on Elance.com.
I've known web developers who have followed development jobs all over the world for their entire lives and they are happy they did. I also know a web developer who hasn't left his parents house since 1996. He is also happy because he has had his GI JOE collectibles and porn around everyday and he's learned how to avoid his social deformities very well. I guess it really doesn't matter what you decide as long as it makes you happy. Just realize that being a web developer has some unique strings attached to it.
When most of us first started making web pages, very few of us knew what we were getting into. Aside from the rare individual that had some experienced web junkie telling him/her that they were making a decision that would affect the rest of their life, the rest of us dove into coding without much thought about what the life of a web developer entails. We just wanted to code! This section is a very general description of what can happen if you become a web developer.
Web development is a fun career. As a web developer you have the potential of seeing every nook and cranny of the entire internet (and some web developers do exactly that). Your career will broaden your experience and make you a better developer. Jobs are abundant, so they say, but because of the stringent requirements for application (ASP, CFM, JAVA, J2EE, PERL, PHP, Photoshop, SAP, COM, DOM, PeopleSoft, and Illustrator), you will be in unique places that the 'normal' 9-5 job doesn't go to. You may end up coding the Fire Service web site in Alaska, you may code a site for a tuna boat near Guam, you might work for the border patrol development team, or play snood ALL DAY LONG. Where you get a job is as diverse as your imagination.
For a single person, this is a great career. For the married ones, web development jobs can be a little harder on your relationship. I knew a web developer in Silicon Valley who spoke about a condition that affects web developers: CRABSS - Cranky Restless Addicted Bum Separation Syndrome (He was on his 5th Internet marriage). Most of the older web developers I know are divorced or have interesting marriages but all of them love to stay up till 4am coding and drinking Mountain Dew, and they are all very good at their jobs. I'm not saying that being a web developer will doom your marriage but it can make it difficult at times. You make your choices in life and you live with those choices...
You can have web development jobs that keep you closer to home and these jobs tend to be healthier for a relationship. State jobs seem to be the web development jobs that keeps a coder closer to home, and working normal hours. I think that is why we all tend to gravitate towards these types of jobs as we near the end of our development careers. Being a teacher is another job that lets you sleep in your own bed every night. You will however need to forget half of what you already know in order to be a web development instructor.
I kept a log of all the times I didn't sleep while being a web developer, and it was over 54 different occasions in a 4 month period. I learned to work with the lights on and keep plenty of Mountain Dew on hand. I thought coding Perl was bad, but after that cobol legacy integration with visual foxpro and C++, I realized that was nothing! The web development openings move around the world and we as web developers get pissed off that all the foreigners are offering $3/hr services on Elance.com.
I've known web developers who have followed development jobs all over the world for their entire lives and they are happy they did. I also know a web developer who hasn't left his parents house since 1996. He is also happy because he has had his GI JOE collectibles and porn around everyday and he's learned how to avoid his social deformities very well. I guess it really doesn't matter what you decide as long as it makes you happy. Just realize that being a web developer has some unique strings attached to it.
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