Boston Market | August 2010

Are you stuck in the middle?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, being a middle-skilled worker seeking middle-skilled wages may not be an attractive place to hang your shingle.

Longer-term trends are at play. For one, the U.S. education system hasn't been producing enough people with the highly specialized skills that many companies, particularly in manufacturing, require to keep driving productivity gains. "There are a lot of people who are unemployed, but those aren't necessarily the people employers are looking for," says David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For details access "Some Firms Struggle to Hire Despite High Unemployment"

While the article focuses on technology skills in manufacturing, a similar case might be argued for "middle-skilled" Web technology workers.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for August and appears in the right-hand column. "Middle-skilled" Web technologies might be defined as those Web skills that fall short of the Top 20 list.

It's not that these skills are not in demand, it's simply that other skills are mentioned more frequently in job descriptions, and thus appear to be in greater demand by employers.

The current threshold to make the Top 20 hovers around 100 job postings that mention a particular skill. Here are a few technologies that fall just short of this Top-20 threshold:

• 22. Flash | 96 job postings
• 26. jQuery | 71 job postings
• 27. SEO | 69 job postings
• 29. Illustrator | 56 job postings

High Skill + High Demand

Whatever collection of Web technology skills you currently possess it is in your best interest to develop a high degree of competence and confidence in your skill-set. If you feel you are "stuck in the middle" then perhaps an upgrade is in order.

The top seven technologies are mentioned at least 200 times in job descriptions. Perhaps an upgrade to a skill that is in greater demand might be in order:

• 1. SQL | 735 job postings
• 2. Oracle | 615 job postings
• 3. Java | 450 job postings
• 4. XML | 286 job postings
• 5. SQL Server | 285 job postings
• 6. JavaScript | 263 job postings
• 7. C# | 235 job postings

Needless-to-say, programming skills and database expertise never seem to go out of style. Demonstrating a "high-skill" level in a high-demand technology might be the road not taken to avoid becoming "stuck in the middle."

For additional information, check out a previous blog article:

• Web Technology Skills | Mid-Year Review 2010

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Interactive Media Awards | Q2 2010‏

The Interactive Media Awards honors outstanding achievement in website design and development. The awards are annual and are judged on a quarterly basis according to a rolling list of industry categories. The award winners for the second quarter have recently been announced.

Web designers and developers can view these sites to benchmark quality standards and stimulate creativity.

Best in Class

Here are the winning websites for the second quarter listed by category:

» Arts/Culture | Wellcome Collection

» Arts/Culture | BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn

» Association | National Association of Manufacturers

» Beauty/Cosmetics | The Hair Book Online

» Biotechnology | Tufts CTSI

» Community | Yunomi

» E-Commerce | UK Office Direct

» Financial Information | MintLife Personal Finance Blog

» Financial Information | BHG Corporate

» Government | Norfolk Constabulary

» Government | Brooklyn Bridge Park

» Health/Nutrition | MSN Health & Fitness

» Music | LEVEL Studios Holiday 09

» Public Relations | My St. Dominic's Madison

» Real Estate | Istanbul Saraylari

» School | KIPP Schools

» School | Pooh's Nursery School

» Training/Vocational | Microsoft SMSG Welcome Experience

» Training/Vocational | BMO Bank of Montreal, P&C Orientation

Outstanding Achievement

Additional websites were giving honorable mentions. These sites can be viewed by searching the "Outstanding Achievement" Award Level at the IMA website.

Call for Entries

The IMA judges are leaders in web design, advertising, public relations, publishing, news and other industries. Enter your best work now and receive feedback against the following criteria:

• design
• content
• feature functionality
• usability
• standards compliance & cross-browser compatibility

The deadline for entries for the next round of judging is September 30.

Check out previous IMA winners here:

• Interactive Media Awards | Q1 2010‏

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Startup Watch | July 2010

Is working for a startup company the right move for you? If you are simply "looking for a job," then maybe not.

However, if you are more of a generalist who enjoys wearing multiple hats and is driven to get things done with minimal bureaucracy, then consider your options. A blog entry at ReadWriteWeb helps shine a light on questions to consider.

According to StartUpHire.com there are currently more than 900 job openings at startup companies in the Boston metro area.

According to Ron Conway, famed Silicon Valley angel investor, startups have a high failure rate. He estimates the rate to be about 40 percent at companies he invests in. However, he considers 40 companies for every one that he makes a commitment to, so actual failure percentages are likely higher. For additional insights check out a TechCrunch interview.

Mass High Tech highlights startup companies each week in a series called "Five You Should Follow."

Startup Watch for July

Here are 20 startup companies to keep your eye on:

[NOTE: Hover over company name to view a tooltip summary of that company's value proposition.]

» Abine, Inc. | Cambridge

» Ayantek, LLC | Bedford

» Bloson | Cambridge

» BlueLeaf | Cambridge

» Create-A-Mattress, LLC | Needham

» Futureful | Boston

» HuddleHub | Cambridge

» Kayanta, Inc. | Brighton

» Led 2.0 | Brookline

» Lightwave Power, Inc. | Cambridge

» Localocracy | Cambridge

» MeYou Health | Boston

» Naughty Nutritionist | Boston

» PleaseBringIt | Amherst

» Quick Hit, Inc. | Foxboro

» SkillTesting.com | Cambridge

» Workpost, LLC | Derry, NH

» YouRenew.com | New Haven, CT

» Zeo Inc. | Newton

» Zodah | Cambridge

Five new startups are listed every Tuesday at Mass High Tech -- The Journal of New England Technology. Access Startup News for details. If your company was founded within the last three years, and would like to be considered for the Watch List, contact the Startup Watch editor.

Access previous Startup Watch lists:

• Startup Watch | June 2010
• Startup Watch | May 2010

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Web Technology Skills | Mid-Year Review 2010

Web technology hiring has expanded dramatically over the last six months. Two surveys point the way to continued improvement over the next three months.

CareerBuilder Job Forecast | Q3 2010

A survey of 2,500 hiring managers and human resource professionals reveals the following functional areas that employers are most likely to be adding staff:

• Customer Service
• Sales
• Information Technology

Despite relatively high unemployment, nearly half of human resource managers report a current shortage of skills within their organizations, especially in the following areas:

• Information Technology
• Customer Service
• Communications

The survey reports that employers are also looking for personnel to fill emerging positions that are relatively new to the workforce, areas such as the following:

• social media
• green energy
• cyber security
• global relations
• healthcare reform

Employers on Notice

Human resource managers are concerned that as the economy improves, key personnel are likely to pursue opportunities elsewhere. When asked what their employers could do to retain them as employees, 4,400 workers listed the following priorities in decreasing order:

• increase compensation
• improve employee recognition
• set realistic performance expectations and manageable workloads
• take the time to evaluate employee potential and discuss career paths
• invest in training

Additional detail is provided in a press release available from CareerBuilder. A Flash version of the six-page report is also available for review.

IT Hiring Index and Skills Report | Q3 2010

According to a quarterly survey by Robert Half Technology, information technology (IT) recruitment activity is expected to gain momentum in the third quarter with an anticipated net six percent increase in hiring.

More than one out of three technology executives said they are concerned about losing top IT performers to other job opportunities in the next year. A similar percentage also reported that it is challenging to find skilled IT professionals today.

Additional detail is provided in a press release available from Robert Half Technology.

Boston Market | July 2010

So, what technology skills are employers looking for? The Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated for July and appears in the right-hand column. The ranking is based on a keyword search of popular technologies listed in job descriptions at Boston.com, managed by Monster.com.

It's no surprise that database and programming skills top the list. A comparison of the current postings with a similar list from early January reveals that all of the Top 20 technologies have posted gains over the past six months. Here are the technologies with the highest percentage increase in postings over the first half of 2010:

#1 SQL | up 50%
#2 Oracle | up 73%
#9 Web Services | up 50%
#11 JPS | up 61%
#13 UI | up 51%
#15 ASP.NET | up 54%
#16 PHP | up 69%
#19 MySQL | up 63%

The Road Ahead

Step #1: Companies continue to value information technology workers. Compare your skills with the eight technologies listed above. Pick one and execute a plan to improve that skill over the next 30 days.

Step #2: If you are a Web Designer/Developer, consider adding User Interface (UI) to your skill set. Look through the UI job postings and identify the one skill that would most enhance your resume. (Chances are that skill is already listed in the Top 20.)

Step #3: Consider adding "social media" experience to your skill set. At #14 this keyword is more frequently mentioned than any skill in the Creative Suite, including the following:

• Photoshop | #18
• Flash | #21
• Illustrator | #30
• InDesign | #42
• Dreamweaver | #43
  

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Startup Watch | June 2010

Startup companies create jobs. According to StartUpHire.com there are currently more than 900 job openings at startup companies in the Boston metro area.

Mass High Tech highlights startup companies each week in a series called "Five You Should Follow."

Startup Watch for June

Here are 25 startup companies to keep your eye on:

[NOTE: Hover over company name to view a tooltip summary of that company's value proposition.]

» Carbon Challenge, Inc. | Somerville

» Cervello, Inc. | Wellesley Hills

» Chargify, LLC | Needham

» Couchange.org | Cambridge

» crossWorld Education Company, Inc. | Boston

» Cykod.com | Boston

» EverTrue, LLC | Cambridge

» Fashion Playtes, Inc. | Salem

» Hello Vino, LLC | Tyngsboro

» iPowerApps, LLC | Nashua, NH

» LabLife | Cambridge

» mCaddie, Inc. | Portland, ME

» Performable | Amesbury

» RedPint | Boston

» RelayRides | Cambridge

» Skynja, LLC | Boston

» Socrato, Inc. | North Andover

» StarStreet Sports | Cambridge

» Sustainable Minds, LLC | Cambridge

» TaskRabbit, Inc. | Cambridge

» Tutor’s Office | Cambridge

» Ubiqi Health, Inc. | Somerville

» WherePhone, Inc. | Boston

» Zazu, Inc. | Boston

» Zulama, LLC | Somerville

Five new startups are listed every Tuesday at Mass High Tech -- The Journal of New England Technology. Access Startup News for details. If your company was founded within the last three years, and would like to be considered for the Watch List, contact the Startup Watch editor.

Access Previous Startup Watch Lists:

• Startup Watch | June 2010

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Top Private Companies in Massachusetts | 2010

One hundred private East Coast companies were honored at the Harvard Business School this week by AlwaysOn, the leading business media brand networking the Global Silicon Valley.

The AOE100 represent the top emerging companies from the East Coast that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technologies in the following three areas:

• on-demand computing
• digital media
• greentech

Massachusetts landed 29 companies on the list. Only New York with 31 companies had a stronger East Coast showing. New York is home for this year's overall winner:

Foursquare ... a mobile application that gives you & your friends new ways of exploring your city.

Top Private Companies in Massachusetts

According to AlwaysOn, the top 100 private companies are "taking old notions of doing things and forging solutions that will lead to industry shake-up and huge value-creation opportunities."

If you are looking to join a company that has exceptional growth potential, then check out the 29 Massachusetts-based companies below. The remaining 71 East Coast companies are listed in an AlwaysOn press release.

[NOTE: Hover over company name to view a tooltip summary of that company's value proposition. Click the "in" icon to reveal your LinkedIn connections at that company.]

Consumer Internet

• AuthorsGlobe | Lexington
• Bloson | Cambridge
• CitySquares | Boston
• Goby | Boston
• Viximo | Cambridge
• Where | Boston

Digital Media

• DataXu | Boston

Enabling Tools and Devices

• Invention Machine | Boston
• Pixtronix | Wilmington
• Pubget | Cambridge

Greentech

• Joule Biotechnologies | Cambridge
• Konarka | Lowell
• Oasys Water | Cambridge
• Persistent Power Systems | Boston
• Solasta | Newton
• WiTricity | Watertown

SaaS and Enterprise

• Aprigo | Waltham
• Desktone | Chelmsford
• HubSpot | Cambridge
• Lumigent | Acton
• uTest | Southborough
• WordStream | Boston
• Zmags | Boston
  

Cloud and Infrastructure

• Akorri Networks | Littleton
• CloudSwitch | Burlington
• Leostream | Waltham
• Nasuni | Natick
• Sonian | Needham
• VKernel | Andover

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Job Prospects, Part II | June 2010

Beantown Web offers a two-part series of reports on a projected improvement in hiring prospects for the remainder of 2010:

• Part I | Marketing & Advertising Executive Survey
• Part II | IT HIRE Intelligence Survey

Part II

The 2010 IT HIRE Intelligence Survey reveals that 78 percent of respondents plan to hire IT staff in the next six months.

Hiring managers are most interested in hiring staff with the following experience:

• Applications| 76%
• Infrastructure | 58%
• Project Management | 53%

While not all "applications" positions are Web applications, common skills include programming and databases.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston

A survey of job postings at Boston.com has been updated for June and appears in the right-hand column. Many skills are related to "Web Applications" including the following:

#1 SQL | 728 jobs

#3 Java | 463 jobs

#5 SQL Server | 264 jobs

#7 C# | 206 jobs

#14 PHP | 126 jobs

#17 MySQL | 111 jobs

Additional skills to consider developing include Ruby on Rails (RoR). While not in the Top 20 in terms of how frequently these keywords are mentioned in job descriptions, Dice.com reports a shortage of Ruby on Rails developers. Check out the following job opportunities:

#42 Ruby | 36 jobs

#47 Rails | 21 jobs

Job Search Strategy

The 2010 IT HIRE Intelligence Survey asked the following question: "When you are recruiting for technology oriented talent, which of the following methods do you use?" The top three responses were as follows:

• job boards | 87%
• referrals | 81%
• social media (LinkedIn, etc.) | 59%

So, in addition to identifying jobs on job boards, it pays to develop your network of professional contacts using LinkedIn, because hiring managers are actively utilizing referrals and social media tools to find talent.

The 2010 IT HIRE Intelligence Survey was conducted by Monster.com on behalf of Technisource and featured responses from nearly 250 HR managers or recruiters focused on filling technology positions. A detailed summary is available for FREE download.

» Go to Job Prospects, Part I | June 2010

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Job Prospects, Part I | June 2010

Beantown Web offers a two-part series of reports on a projected improvement in hiring prospects for the remainder of 2010.

• Part I | Marketing & Advertising Executive Survey
• Part II | IT HIRE Intelligence Survey

Part I

Marketing and advertising executives plan to bring on new staff during the third quarter. This net six percent increase is reflected as follows:

• increase staff levels | 18%
• decrease staff levels | 12%

The area of expertise most valuable to these executives is . . .

~ Web design/production

Despite the current unemployment picture, 45 percent of respondents said they find it challenging to find skilled professionals to fill these positions.

The Creative Group Hiring Index for Marketing and Advertising Professionals is based on more than 500 telephone interviews with marketing and advertising executives. Details are available in a press release available at The Creative Group website.

Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston

A survey of job postings at Boston.com has been updated for June and appears in the right-hand column. The skills most closely related to "Web design/production" include the following:

#6 JavaScript | 254 jobs

#11 HTML + CSS | 147 jobs

#16 Flash | 112 jobs

#18 Photoshop | 110 jobs

Web designers who focus on developing these four technology skills -- and proactively market themselves to marketing and advertising executives -- will likely to be presented with career opportunities over the next three months as these executives begin looking for creative talent.

» Go to Job Prospects, Part II | June 2010

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Web Innovators Group | WebInno26

If you are interested in previewing the latest innovations on the Internet and mobile devices, and networking with industry leaders, then check out the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

This 26th installment (WebInno26) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• Chargify | simplifies recurring billing for Web 2.0 and SaaS companies


• Milabra | a pioneer in leveraging proprietary visual recognition technology for commercial purposes


• Doink | a place to enjoy art and animation, and make your own

Side Dishes

• Open Exchange Communications | the world's most advanced financial services meeting network


• Trustmarker | digital badges with certificates used by websites to display certifications, affiliations, distinctions, and positions


• Manpacks | provides a flexible subscription for your underwear, shirts and socks


• JitterJam | helps your business capture relevant conversations on the real-time web and turn them into lasting and trusted customer relationships


• BirchBox | a monthly gift filled with an edited assortment of the hottest samples from the beauty brands you love


• RelayRides | allows people to borrow cars from car owners directly in their neighborhood

Event Details

Monday, June 14, 2010, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of hundreds of pre-registrants to determine if this networking event is right for you.

Registrants are encouraged to join the Boston Web Innovators Group on LinkedIn and connect with more than 1,300 members.

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MITX Technology Awards | 2010

Forty-nine New England companies were honored at the 7th Annual MITX Technology Awards earlier this month. They were recognized for their innovative development of up-and-coming technologies in the digital space. The ceremony was attended by 350 industry professionals.

The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) is the region’s premier professional organization for the Internet business and marketing industry.

MITX Technology Award Finalists

Listed below are the 49 companies honored at this year's ceremony.

[NOTE: Hover over company name to view a tooltip summary of that company's mission. Click the "in" icon to reveal your LinkedIn connections at that company.]

• Awareness, Inc. | Burlington
• Baydin, Inc. | Boston
• Big Room Studios | Portland, ME
• Brainshark | Waltham
• Brightcove | Cambridge
• BuySellAds.com, Inc. | Cambridge
• CashStar, Inc. | Portland, ME
• City of Boston | Boston
• Conduit Labs | Cambridge
• Copanion, Inc. | Andover
• Daily Grommet | Lexington
• DataXu | Boston
• Dexrex Gear | Cambridge
• Direxxis | Needham
• en-Gauge, Inc. | Rockland
• Episend, Inc. | Watertown
• FashionPlaytes | Salem
• FitnessKeeper, Inc. | Boston
• Gemvara, Inc. | Lexington
• Gotuit | Woburn
• ITA Software | Cambridge
• JitterJam | Bedford, NH
• Kanguru Solutions | Millis
• LineSider Technologies | Danvers
• Litl, LLC | Boston
• Localytics | Cambridge
• MediaFriends, Inc. | Woburn
• Modiv Media, Inc. | Quincy
• Mzinga | Waltham
• Nasuni | Natick
• Netezza | Marlborough
• Nexage | Waltham
• Panjiva | Cambridge
• RAMP | Woburn
• RatePoint, Inc. | Needham
• Searchandise Commerce | Beverly
• Spring Partners | Charlestown
  
• Sproxil, Inc. | Somerville
• StylePath, Inc. | Lincoln
• Tangoe, Inc. | Orange, CT
• Tervela | Acton
• TravelBrains | Bedford, NH
• Unica | Waltham
  
• Vertica Systems, Inc. | Billerica
• Viewfinity | Waltham
• VisibleGains | Waltham
• Where, Inc. | Boston
• Wistia | Lexington
• Zipcar, Inc. | Cambridge

A press release reveals the winners and provides additional details.

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Startup Watch | May 2010

Startup companies spring up like dandelions in May in the Boston metro area. Mass High Tech highlights startup companies each week in a series called "Five You Should Follow."

Startup Watch for May

Here are 20 startup companies to keep your eye on:

[NOTE: Hover over company name to view a tooltip summary of that company's mission.]

» Active Shock, LLC | Manchester, NH

» Apperian, Inc. | Boston

» Applico, LLC | Babson Park

» Capturecode | Waltham

» Cloudant | Somerville

» CloudSwitch | Burlington

» Currensee, Inc. | Boston

» Digital Reef, Inc. | Boxborough

» DormNoise | Cranston, RI

» Egg-Energy | Cambridge

» Foundation Medicine, Inc. | Boston

» Hire Reach, Inc. | Wellesley

» Hoozinga, Inc. | Burlington, VT

» Neuron Robotics | Somerville

» Nine Technology | Middleboro

» NovaTract Surgical, LLC | Guilford, CT

» Peekaboo Mobile | Boston

» Pinyadda, Inc. | Boston

» Spotlight Media, Inc. | Boston

» Tixlist.com | Boston

Five new startups are listed every Tuesday at Mass High Tech -- The Journal of New England Technology. Access Startup News for details. If your company was founded within the last three years, and would like to be considered for the Watch List, contact the Startup Watch editor.

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Boston Market | May 2010

Small business owners are ready to spend to grow their businesses in 2010, but may not be quite ready to hire.

According to a recent survey less than 20 percent are considering an increased budget for staffing and HR activities in 2010. However, the same survey reports that they are ready to spend on marketing and this could help graphic designers, Web designers and Web developers who are positioned to assist small business owners in growing their businesses.

The third annual Signs of the Times National Small Business Survey reveals the following:

• 46 percent have plans to grow business by improving their company’s online presence
• 42 percent are considering increasing spending on marketing and advertising initiatives
• 36 percent plan to utilize social media/networking websites to build business

The survey was was sponsored by FedEx Office and involved 500 interviews of small business owners who employ 5 to 100 employees and own firms that generate over $100,000 in annual revenue. The online interviews were conducted in early April. For additional details download a FedEx Office Signs of the Times 2010 Survey Fact Sheet.

Boston Market

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration more than half of all Americans either work for or own a small business. This means that nearly half of everyone else who has a job works for a larger organization. These companies are hiring as evident by the 290,000 jobs created in April, the highest monthly increase in four years. These larger companies are most likely to advertise for workers in major metropolitan newspapers and their online equivalents. In Boston that means the Boston Globe and Boston.com.

The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston, as measured by Boston.com job postings, has been updated and appears in the right-hand column. This analysis provides links to those companies hiring and which technology skills they are looking for.

The job market for technology workers has cooled over the past 30 days after impressive gains during the first quarter. More than half (11 out of 20) of the most in-demand technologies experienced job posting increases from early April. A new entry in the Top 20 is "social media" entering the charts at #15 ahead of such popular technologies as ASP.NET, Flash and MySQL. This reflects the increased interest in companies of all sizes in using social media to engage customers as detailed in a recent blog post Two Social Media Surveys‏.

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Two Social Media Surveys

The jury is still out on the benefits of social media. Two reports released earlier this month provide insights into the social media phenomenon.

2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

A survey of more than 1,900 marketers reveals the top three questions about social media that marketers want answers to:

• How do I measure social media return on investment?
• What are the social media best practices?
• How do I best manage my time with social media?

A video summary of the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report is available for review. The PDF version of the report is available for FREE download.

Social Media Survey

More than 200 marketing professionals were asked about the value of social media initiatives to their organization. A quick snapshot of responses reveals the following:

• "innovative and invaluable to their business" | 54 percent
• "useful and helpful, but could live without it." | 37 percent

A press release of Marketers Indicate Social Media Important, Most Not Profiting, Many Still Learning is available for review. The PDF version of the report is available for FREE download.

Social Media Breakfast

Answers to your social media questions can be obtained from industry experts by attending a Social Media Breakfast. These networking events occur in 40 cities across the United States and Canada.

If you live near Boston the next event will occur on Thursday, May 6. Here are the experts presenting at this event:

» Aaron Strout, Chief Marketing Officer at Powered

» Edward Boches, Chief Creative & Social Media Officer for Mullen

» Kyle Flaherty, Director of Marketing, BreakingPoint Systems

This event, Creating Brand Advocates Across the Social Web, is FREE, but space is limited. Details & registration are available via Eventbrite.

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Server-Side Language of Choice

Programming languages come in all shapes, sizes and levels of complexity. If you are a front-end Web designer your exposure to programming might be limited to using prebuilt JavaScript code, perhaps generated by Dreamweaver or downloaded as part of a jQuery (JavaScript library) plugin.

XHTML, CSS and JavaScript are all referred to as client-side code because the markup can be accessed by simply using View > Source from the Web browser. What if you want to create dynamic Web page content from a database using a server-side scripting language which is hidden from the visitor downloading a page from your website? What are your choices?

Server-Side Language Options

Here are a few of the most commonly used server-side programming options:

• ASP
• ColdFusion
• Java
• Perl
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby

If you were new to programming and had to choose just one server-side language to focus on, which would you select?

CSS-Tricks

A popular design website, CSS-Tricks » a Web Design Community created a poll and asked readers the following question:

"What is your server-side language of choice?"

Readers were asked to choose the language that they actually like the most, even if they were familiar with several languages.

Survey Says . . .

More than 11,000 readers completed the survey since it was posted more than a month ago and the choice is abundantly clear. Here are the results:

• PHP | 75%
• ASP | 8%
• Java | 5%
• Ruby | 4%
• Python | 3%
• ColdFusion | 2%
• Perl | 1%
• Other | 2%

More than 200 readers posted comments. You can review this discussion and post your own comments at New Poll: Server Side Languages.

These results confirm the following Elance Work Index finding:

"PHP is the number 1 most in-demand skill for online work for all of 2009."

Training Options

Here are four FREE tutorial websites that Web designers and developers can access to learn how to add PHP scripting to your skill set:

• Smashing Magazine | PHP: What you Need to Know To Play With The Web
  
• W3Schools | PHP Tutorial
• Webmonkey | PHP Tutorial for Beginners
• KillerPHP.com | PHP Tutorails for Web Designers

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Boston Market | April 2010

Job postings have increased by more than 50% since the beginning of January for the 20 most in-demand Web technologies in Boston. Since early February only two technologies have experienced single-digit declines in postings: Photoshop and MySQL.

The updated list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston appears in the right-hand column. The list is compiled based on how frequently that technology or keyword appeared in job postings at Boston.com which is managed by Monster.com. The search area is a 50-mile radius around Boston.

Database expertise continues to top the list of desired skills with the following technologies holding three of the top five positions:

• SQL | 786 job postings
• Oracle | 600 job postings
• SQL Server | 313 job postings

A few of the biggest movers during the first quarter were the following:

• JSP | up 79%
• SharePoint | up 72%
• PHP | up 70%
• e-commerce | up 61%
• Web services | up 60%

Training Opportunities

JavaScript opportunities abound with 289 job postings mentioning this technology, placing JavaScript in 6th position. The most popular JavaScript library is jQuery with 50 job postings. jQuery is the featured training opportunity this month with two learning seminars occurring on the same evening, Wednesday, April 7:

jQuery | Beginners
http://www.meetup.com/bostonphp/calendar/12154308/
Cambridge | MIT

jQuery | Intermediate to Advanced
http://meetups.jquery.com/events/boston-jquery-meetup-2-10
Boston | Downtown

With job opportunities on the rise now is the time to enhance your technology skills and expand your personal network to improve career prospects.

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