Marketable skills - Should I learn JQuery and PHP?
<p>I know there are seemingly similar questions on stackoverflow, but this is more specific. I am a Java programmer (academic for six years) but am looking for more marketable skills so I can get a job after my master's is complete.</p>

<p>We all know that the vast majority of startups today are web based, so its PHP, JavaScript, SQL, maybe Python and Ruby, and maybe Java they want on your resume. </p>

<p>I am great with Java for academic purposes, and have a good handle on Oo practices. I have thoroughly read Effective Java and always attempt to code with good Oo practices no matter the project I am working on. </p>

<p>So, to make myself more marketable, I'm trying to learn all this new web programming stuff like JavaScript and PHP. The problem is, this whole Ajax world is so full of languages and technologies and lingo that is really really hard to learn from scratch. Moreover, a lot of stuff seems to written for the non-programmer, which is not what I want. </p>

<p>So, should I learn JQuery and PHP? What about Dojo? What is the best way to learn all this stuff together? Right now, its an extremely daunting task to not only understand the languages (thats probably the easiest part) to understanding the API's like JQuery and understanding the frameworks and general ways of doing things like Ajax. </p>

<p>I really need to get hired for a programming position when I finish my masters. I really, really love programming and just need that first job so I can get some industry experience and it will be that much easier to apply for jobs in the future.</p>

<p>Thanks for any advice!</p>
