Ballers on Budgets: Getting Up to Code with the Latest Programming Languages

June is "Rebuild Your Life" month, and for the many in the U.S. that have found themselves unemployed it seems as if 2010 has been "Rebuild Your Life" year. With a degree of uncertainty, many turn to freelancing their services, while others struggle to stretch unemployment wages. Some choose to go back to school and learn new job skills, while others awaken--humbled by the thought of younger generation job seekers being more educated and more qualified than they are--with no idea what step to take first.

However, it is through the use of Gen-Y's number one educational tool that Baby Boomers and other unemployed workers can level the playing field and arm themselves with the knowledge and skills needed to be competitive in today's job market.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that from 2008-2018 the overall employment of computer software engineers and computer programmers will increase much faster than the average of all other occupations. As well, a large number of new jobs is expected to arise due to evolving technologies. This projection of growth can be witnessed by counting the number of new smartphones, eReaders and computer applications advertised daily. However, the daunting decision that job seekers must make is where and how to break in.

"The essential skills that an entry level web programmer must possess include a thorough understanding of HTML and CSS programming necessary to build visually clean web pages that can easily expand with more content and navigational menus without a major redesign effort. The programmer must also possess skills in one of the web programming languages such as PHP," advises Paul Auen, IT manager at Online Commerce Group. While the acronyms that IT professionals use may sound intimidating, the process of learning these programming languages are quite simple and can be learned for free.

W3Schools is just one of the many free online learning resources for aspiring computer programmers and they provide online certification which can legitimize your resume. As well, Microsoft Visual Studio Express is available free to program Windows based web and phone applications. For aspiring programmers looking to cash in on the latest trend of web applications, such as Twitter and Hulu, Ruby on Rails is a must-know language, and to be a part of the iPhone apps revolution an understanding of Objective C and Interface Builder is needed.

Additionally, aspiring web programmers should understand that to produce engaging web content you must incorporate graphics, including diagrams and charts. Free editing and graphing tools such as Gimp and Gliffy will more than suffice a beginning programmer. Of course, learning online without a person on the other end to answer questions can be a frustrating experience, so there are an abundance of online forums, such as CodeRanch, to answer questions.

Rebuilding your life to become a part of the computer engineer and programming industry will certainly take dedication. However, it doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Start with the basics. As you begin to see the world through a programmers eyes, document your ideas for changing the way things work for the better. You just may develop the next Facebook.

Rebuild Your Programming Knowledge Six-Step Checklist (a search for all available free resources is recommended):

1. Learn HTML
2. Learn CSS
3. Learn PHP
4. Learn Java
5. Learn C and C++
6. Learn Ruby on Rails

Ballers On Budgets was founded in 2009 as a project dedicated to educating people on how to live within their financial means while increasing their social status within their community with the aim to provide resources, information, and alternatives to spending a lot of money while engaging in a socially active lifestyle.