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General Discussion

Posted by Hermes Ela Asangono
Hermes Ela Asangono
844 Points

Not sure which program to study

Hello, I am trying to build an app like Expedia or Pandora (just for fun), and I am thinking about studying the front end developer program. But I am not sure if that is the best option. I wanted to build something like that, what program should I study? Thank you.

3 Answers

Benjamin Larson
Benjamin Larson
34,055 Points
Benjamin Larson
Benjamin Larson
34,055 Points

Mature, professional web apps like Expedia or Pandora are going to comprise nearly every "type" of technology taught on Treehouse and several that aren't. Building large scale applications with desktop like features are typically going to involve a team of people as it's near impossible for any one person to know every technology required from idea to development to deployment. But the basics are the same - every website is going to be built on top of HTML, CSS and JavaScript it is probably a good idea to start there with the Front End Web Development Track.

Hermes Ela Asangono
Hermes Ela Asangono
844 Points

Thank you so much, but I am not sure if tree house has a Back End Development program. I looked for it, and I didn't find it. I am trying to understand Expediaล› search algorithms

Rebekah Smith
Rebekah Smith
7,263 Points
Rebekah Smith
Rebekah Smith
7,263 Points

Agreeing with Benjamin, lots of people and technologies required for building large complicated apps. Which part appeals to you the most? If you like the visual design aspect, study Front End Development/UX/Design. If you want to understand all these technologies that go into a product end-to-end, then study Full Stack Development (starting with Front End maybe). If you're like me and the juicy part is the logic behind Expedia's search algorithms and Pandora's song algorithm, then you want to study Back End Development and eventually get in to Big Data and machine learning, so starting with Python might be the most fun.

Hermes Ela Asangono
Hermes Ela Asangono
844 Points

Thank you so much, but I am not sure if tree house has a Back End Development program. I looked for it, and I didn't find it. I am trying to understand Expediaล› search algorithms.

Benjamin Larson
Benjamin Larson
34,055 Points
Benjamin Larson
Benjamin Larson
34,055 Points

Hermes Ela Asangono - They don't have anything specifically called Back End Development, but this is because there are many languages that can accomplish this: C#, Ruby, Python, Java, NodeJS, PHP (and more). So all of these are going to teach back end development.

However, in terms of understanding complex search algorithms, it's probably going to be beyond the scope of any course currently taught here. Treehouse teaches you the practical side of how to use technologies, but complex algorithms is closer to the theory side of things that you would get in a Computer Science program in University. So you would want to look for books or resources on topics like Discrete Mathematics, Algorithms or Theory of Computation.

There's a lot to learn out there, but don't let it all stop you from pursuing things. Learning any of the programming languages I mentioned earlier will teach you some things about algorithms and how to start thinking through complex problems. Depending on the size of your projects, knowing all the theory may never be necessary--you can build a lot of amazing things with what you learn on Treehouse and you'll start to figure out what other specialties you want to invest in learning (like algorithms).

Rebekah Smith
Rebekah Smith
7,263 Points
Rebekah Smith
Rebekah Smith
7,263 Points

I think you're on the right track now with Front End Web Development. Here's a much shorter track if you want to get into back end stuff sooner: https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks/digital-literacy

Then look into Python when you're ready for back end stuff; this is a great back end language for what you're interested in: https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks/learn-python

Then read one of these awesome books on python with machine learning: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920030515.do, http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920032298.do

In the meantime, you may be interested in some of the 101s from Cognitive Class (formerly Big Data University, from IBM). Like they have a statistics 101

For fun and inspiration, watch the show The Secrets of Modern Living: Algorithms. It's on Netflix

Andres Ramirez
Andres Ramirez
18,094 Points
Andres Ramirez
Andres Ramirez
18,094 Points

Agreeing with Benjamin and Rebekah, building such complex websites/applications require a LOT of work. The best way to start is by learning the fundamentals. You can start with the Web Design or Front-End Web Development track. Then, move on to Fullstack Javascript, maybe PHP. There are so many options, but starting with a general course covering several coding languages will give you a good sense of direction.

Best of luck!