Web Developers Will Rule The World
I’m a strong believer that companies truly hit their stride once they know exactly who their target user is, and how that user fits into the higher purpose of the company.
Recently, we’ve found and embraced ours: Ionic empowers web developers to build compelling mobile apps without having to change careers. That’s it. That’s why we exist.
But when we started Ionic, I wasn’t really sure who we were going after. Initially, I hoped we’d draw native developers away from Obj-c and Java to the web stack. I really wanted to shake up the industry!
Imagine my shock when I was almost punched in the face the first time I talked about Ionic with a native developer! Clearly, I had to adjust my strategy.
Of course, we do see some native developers switching over to Ionic, but we quickly realized that the bigger opportunity was to give the legions of web developers the ability to use their web development skills for a totally new platform. To let them do more with the skills they’ve already honed.
So, we’ve gone all-in focusing 100% on web developers and enabling them to sit at the table with the best app developers in the world.
A Changing Industry
The reality is that it’s really hard for most companies to staff and build native mobile apps. This explains why most large companies outsource mobile development. It also explains why so many companies complain about the cost and time required to build apps, despite their generally smaller scope.
This, despite the fact that many large companies have tons of web developers on staff! After we launched Ionic and started to get feedback, I realized our true calling was to empower those developers to build for the mobile platform today, without needing retraining, without having to make costly and risky career changes.
I think this is really resonating with the Ionic community. It explains why so many Ionic developers tell us they never built a mobile app before Ionic. That we’ve enabled them to add another major area of expertise to their resume. That they now feel like the can participate in the “App Economy” and jump right into the future.
That’s huge, and runs contrary to the idea that the mobile developer base isn’t growing. Ionic is literally creating new mobile developers. I am so proud to be able to say that.
A Great Choice
To that extent, I think being a web developer is an incredibly smart career choice. As companies continue to fail to hire native developers and validate the cost, and exhaust themselves supporting multiple large codebases in different languages, they will continue to look to the web platform for a way out.
With the rapid expansion of Javascript into nearly every area of application, web developers can find interesting work as web designers, backend engineers, desktop software developers, hardware hackers, drone pilots, submarine captains, and mobile developers.
Javascript and HTML5/CSS are only going to continue to dominate in every industry, enabling companies and teams to focus on building great software, rather than suffering through hiring unique language and platform developers.
If software is eating the world, Javascript and the web stack are absorbing all the nutrients (…I had to).
Into the Future
We strongly believe the web stack is going to remain the most broadly applicable technology for decades. And, because of this, Web Developers will end up being the most versatile developers in the market, enjoying long-term job stability, growth, and diversity of work.
That means we think one of the smartest decisions aspiring developers can make is to learn HTML5, Javascript, and CSS, and an MV* framework like Angular, Ember, or React. These technologies run practically anywhere, and are enabling the creation of amazing apps on nearly every platform. Ionic wants to be the best option for those web developers to build mobile apps, but our true calling is making sure the web development stack can compete with proprietary ones.
So, Web Developer, the future is yours! You aren’t falling behind or becoming obsolete. You are quickly becoming the most relevant developer in the age of device proliferation. You can build for anything and everything.
So go out and build, and be confident that as a web developer, you’ve made the best career choice a developer can make.