What is a favorable single programming language to learn for freelancing

Do you want to do web stuff?

Do you want to build applications that are not web based?

Do you want to build mobile apps?

It's hard to say "learn this one" as any answer because you will end up learning more than one anyway.

I would like to stick to web stuff since everything seems to be heading towards the web...and mobile of course, but web seems to be a bigger monster therefore I see more value thank Mobile apps - off course i could be way off.

Thanks for your input.

So you are saying that i.e. becoming a master at PHP and PHP only wont cut it at all? I understand that most clients will demand or want more skills from you. However, I've been pitched with, "hey do you know of a PHP developer?"

I dont know if they stickly wanted a few lines of code in PHP or if they wanted a full web app eco system.

But I was hoping that perhaps not becoming a web master but learning a single language...lets say RuBy and learning that perfectly and sticking to that would cut it.

So you are saying that i.e. becoming a master at PHP and PHP only wont cut it at all?

That's probably true. It's not absolutely true because I'm confident that some projects exist that only require PHP. But it's hard to imagine making significant business progress that way.

For example, HTML and CSS were mentioned by Jason. Hard to picture many web projects that won't involve those. PHP is used to generate HTML, and HTML can pass info to PHP for processing. Also, SQL was mentioned; and PHP regularly needs to interact with MySQL and other databases.

PHP can do a lot, but a lot is "glue" that interconnects other components.

i see what you guys mean...

So even learning C or C++ or C# alone would not cut it? There will be a need to venture into other languages as the projects are endorsed

I see what you guys mean.

I was under the impression that focusing on strictly Java or node.js will be a one way street instead of having to accommodate for other languages.

I hear node.js is picking up the pace

It kind of depends on what is meant by "programming (or scripting) language". That's a fairly nebulous subset of "languages" that needs some discussion.

SQL isn't exactly always considered as a "programming language" even though sophisticated business logic can be created with it. A good DBA can reduce what's required for Java (or COBOL or C# or whatever) by good use of stored procs, functions, views, constraints and whatever. Code in a site's "programming language" can be reduced by half or more if the database is properly constructed.

Similarly, HTML isn't exactly a "programming language"; it's a "markup language". But it can sure be hard to do much web development without it. I'm not sure how CSS might best be categorized.

Various languages can be classified in various ways. Some can fit in a couple different categories depending on what functions or features are used and what a site uses them for.

So, focusing on a particular "programming language", e.g., Java or node.js, can be a good choice for an individual. It's just that secondaries are needed at various points.

It's not much different from, say, an office manager for a medical clinic. English might be the focus language. Yet, some "medical" language is also needed, as well as some "accounting" and possibly even "legal" and other languages. In some cases, particular words will even have different meanings depending on which of the various languages is used.

i understand what you guys meant in terms of losing out on making more $ in a project.

I was under the impression that python or php had its niches. But it seems that we need to be full stacked devops people to make the bigger bucks