Information Technology Staffing

No, I am not selling milk! I am talking about learning new technologies. For many application development team members, figuring out which technology to learn is even more daunting than actually learning one. Your starting point depends on technology you are currently using.

Foundational Technologies
The 2 key skills to learn, whether you are a new or seasoned application development team member are database modeling and XML. Nearly all of today’s technologies either use databases or database principles. These skills open doors to SOA, Internet application development, data warehousing, and of course database administration. Languages like JAVA, .NET, and PHP rely on databases to get their job done. XML has become the defacto transport file. XML files can transformed  into HTML pages and documents, and are used like databases.If you don’t have these skills, start here first.

Recommendations for Procedural application development team members
Languages like COBOL, CICS, and RPG have been around for quite a while, and for the most part the people using these technologies have been in IT for over 10 years. You have accumulated a great amount of business knowledge, but the new technologies use new techniques for application development. As a former CICS developer, I understand the difficulty learning Object Oriented Programming. It took me a solid year to make the switch to Java (this was 1997-98). There are great books, IDEs, and tutorials at your disposal. There has never been a better time to learn new languages than now. The only stranger concept to procedural developers is Internet application development. Languages like PHP are a good place start because not only do you get exposed to new technologies; you can use them on a familiar platform like the iSeries.

If you just don’t know what to learn, try going to Tiobe. They monitor the internet "buzz" on 50 different languages.

My advice on learning any technology is to write an application that will help your personal life. For example my wife likes wine, but couldn’t remember which wines she liked or disliked. I wrote a wine rating and storage application for her. She uses the application to select wine, and over the years I have used the application to learn desktop technologies, JSF, and embedded databases. By writing something personal, you have a greater connection to its success, and less pressure than a formal application development assignment. You also have a tangible asset to show to prospective clients and employers.