Ask HN: Is it okay to accept work in a language you haven't done before

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6150177

by shire • 13 years ago

9 8 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What do you when your clients ask you do work you haven't done before, for example I can program in Javascript but not familiar with WordPress or PHP and MySQL, I have clients willing to pay to do WordPress sites and theme customization. I can do this with some time of learning but never done it to be honest. as a programmer I should be comfortable adapting to different languages though.

Is it my job as a freelancer to accept this and learn as I go with my career freelancing or happily decline? or what about if you get a job offer which the technology is something you haven't worked with what do you do in those situations? please inform me HackerNews.

lchski• 13 years ago

You actually allude to the answer in your question.

When you say that "as a programmer I should be comfortable adapting to different languages" you expose the key concept that will help you to make the decision.

You should do what you're comfortable with.

In theory, you're in this field because it's what you love to do. You enjoy it, and we're usually comfortable with doing things that we enjoy.

It follows, then, that you should progress when and only when you feel comfortable with making that progression. If you don't feel comfortable and confident in telling your clients that you'll do WordPress work for them, you should not tell them that.

Do what you're comfortable with. It's guaranteed to be better for both parties in the end, because you don't end up working on something you don't want to or aren't able to do, and your client doesn't end up with something that is built by someone not confident with the technology they used.

However, doing what you're comfortable with comes with one important caveat. You should never be too comfortable with what you're doing... that's a sign of stagnation, something which is sure to be deadly to your career.

In your role as a freelancer, it's not your job to accept a position which you're uncomfortable with. However, it is your job as a freelancer to keep learning, to stave off that stagnation.

Keep improving your skillset. Always be learning. Be comfortable, but don't stagnate.

alternize• 13 years ago

IMO, a large part of being a successful programmer is to know how / with what patterns to approach the problem at hand (in your case: the goal set by the client). the actual language most the time is just the means and quickly learned. that said, when it comes to actual code quality, experience is important too: each language or framework has its irks and special feature.

i have taken on freelancing work in languages and/or frameworks unfamiliar to me, but spent 1-2 weeks beforehand learning the basic stuff on my own time. if you feel unsure whether to take on the job or not it's probably best to be honest to the customer - let them know that it is your first project with language x or framework y, but that you'll be willing to invest in it and provide them with a good solution.

and last but not least there's the saying "learning by doing" :)

sker• 13 years ago

If you decline, you would be making the same mistake some companies do by only hiring developers with previous experience in a very specific set of technologies.

Every developer who works with WordPress/PHP/MySQL, or any other technology, at some point didn't have experience with them. Everyone has to start somewhere or there would be no developers at all.

Whether you disclose your lack of experience to the client depends on the nature of the job. If they only need a basic installation with some plugins and theme customization, take it. Give a reasonable time frame for delivery and deliver it.

If on the other hand, they need you to scale their multi-million page views network of blogs, or develop a mission-critical super-complex plugin in a short time frame, then you might want to tell them you haven't done this before, but are willing to work with them to help them achieve their goals.

dangrossman• 13 years ago

Download WordPress and build something with it, on your own time. You'll spend your morning figuring out how to download everything and set up a development environment, and your afternoon seeing how plugins and themes work. 24 hours invested in yourself and now you will know what the client is asking for when they ask about WordPress work. Your freelancing career will "happily decline" if you don't make self-education one of your priorities between jobs. All professionals have to work to keep their skills current -- teachers have to take classes regularly, plumbers have to learn about new materials and building codes, lawyers have to keep on top of new laws and decisions relevant to their specialty -- software developers are no different.

viennacoder• 13 years ago

Sure, as long as you can deliver a quality product within the timeframe expected of the client. That's the way you learn.

It would also help to build up a network of devs with a variety of expertise, so that you can ask for help/tips/review as you take on new stuff.

I think it also depends on how big a step the new project is for you. Wordpress sites, fine. Build me a new operating system? Probably not :)

shire• 13 years ago

All very helpful comments, thanks a lot everyone appreciate it.

devb0x• 13 years ago

Take the gig, get the specs, make it happen.

Else you will not grow brother.

kdforf• 13 years ago

Wordpress is really straightforward and easy to use but it depends on the project that you are taking. If you had any problem with WordPress development you could always use Stackoverflow or feel free to email me at kpourdeilami [at] gmail [dot] com :)

Ask HN: Is it okay to accept work in a language you haven't done before

Related Stories