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PHP was an outstanding technology in its days. Its success and popularity came from:Its ease of learning and usecheap and straightforward hosting mostly shared LAMPAbundance of open-source scripts, apps and librariesAt the same time, these same things now led to its dusk. The contributions to the core from beginner programmers metamorphosed API inconsistently while the lack of OOP/classes and module management systems inhibited open-source community growth. Absence of a leading framework (Ruby on Rails comes to mind as an example of a single dominance) or a paradigm that also helped to produce a lot of bad code that relied heavily on mixing PHP and HTML code without any MVC-ishness. On the other hand, there are a lot of good products and infrastructure for PHP that are here to stay.Node.js is relatively young with only three years since its first commit, but it’s already the fastest growing platform by the pace of contributions (the absolute number will surpass other languages in a few years). The fact that JavaScript language is the most popular language in the world and has the biggest run-time internment of course attributed to that. Many tools are ported to Node.js with small or no modification from the browser environment.Where PHP wins: Mixing code with content?You're typing along, pouring thoughts into text for your website, and you want to add a branch to the process, a little if-then statement to make it look pretty, say, depending on some parameter in the URL. Or maybe you want to mix in text or data from a database. With PHP, you open up the magic PHP tags and start writing code within seconds. No need for templates -- everything is a template! No need for extra files or elaborate architectures, just programmable logistical power at your fingertips.Where Node wins: Separating concerns?Mixing code with content is a crutch that can end up crippling you. Sure, it's fun to mix code in with HTML the first two or three times you do it. But soon your code base becomes a tangled mess of logic. Real programmers add structure and separate the cosmetic layer from the logical layer. It's cleaner for new programmers to understand and easier to maintain. The frameworks running on Node.js are built by programmers who know that life is better when the model, view, and controller are separate.Where PHP wins: Deep code base?The Web is filled with PHP code. The most popular platforms for building websites (WordPress, Drupal, Joomla) are written in PHP. Not only are the platforms open source, but so are most of their plug-ins. There's PHP code everywhere, and it's waiting for you to download it, modify it, and use it for your needs.Where Node wins: Newer code means more modern features?Sure, there are thousands of great open source PHP files, but some are 8-year-old WordPress plug-ins hoping and praying that someone will download them. Who wants to spend hours, days, or weeks monkeying with code that hasn’t been updated in years? Node.js plug-ins are not only newer; they were built with full knowledge of the latest architectural approaches. They were built by programmers who understand that modern Web apps should push most of the intelligence to the client.Where PHP wins: Simplicity (sort of)?There's not much to PHP: a few variables and basic functions for juggling strings and numbers. It's a thin layer that doesn't do much except move the data from port 80 to the database and back. That's what it's supposed to do. A modern database is a magical tool, and it makes sense to leave the heavy lifting to it. PHP is the right amount of complexity for a job that's not supposed to be complex.Where Node wins: Complexity of closures and more?JavaScript may have many little idiosyncrasies that drive some mad, but for the most part it is a modern language that sports a modern syntax and a few useful features like closures. You can reconfigure and extend it easily, making powerful libraries like jQuery possible. You can pass functions around like objects. Why limit yourself?Where PHP wins: No client app needed?All of the talk about using the same language in the browser and on the server is nice, but what if you don't need to use any language on the browser? What if you ship the data in HTML form? The browser pops it up, and there are no headaches or glitches caused by misfiring JavaScript threads that try to create a page on the browser from two dozen Web service calls. Pure HTML works more often than anything else, and PHP is optimized to create that. Why bother with JavaScript on the browser? Build up everything on the server and avoid overloading that little browser on the little phone.Where Node wins: Service calls are thinner than HTML-fat PHP calls?While AJAX-crazy HTML5 Web apps can have too many moving parts, they are cool -- and very efficient. Once the JavaScript code is in the browser cache, the only thing that moves along the wires is the new data. There's not a ton of HTML markup, and there are no repeated trips to download the entire page. Only the data has changed. If you're willing to put in the time to create a slick browser-side Web app, there's a big payoff. Node.js is optimized to deliver the data and only the data through Web services. If your app is complex and data-rich, it's a good foundation for efficient delivery.Where PHP wins: SQL?PHP was built to co-exist with MySQL and its many variants, like MariaDB. If MySQL isn't exactly right, there are other great SQL databases from Oracle and Microsoft. Your code can switch with a few changes to your queries. The vast SQL world doesn’t end at its borders. Some of the most stable, well-developed code will interface with an SQL database, meaning all that power can also be easily integrated into a PHP project. It may not be one perfect, happy family, but it's a big one.Where Node.js wins: JSON?If you must have access to SQL, Node.js has libraries to do that. But Node.js also speaks JSON, the lingua franca for interacting with many of the latest NoSQL databases. That’s not to say you can’t get JSON libraries for your PHP stack, but there's something fluid about the simplicity of working with JSON when using JavaScript. It's one syntax from browser to Web server to database. The colons and the curly brackets work the same way everywhere. That alone will save you from hours of frustration.Where PHP wins: Speed of coding?For most developers, writing PHP for Web apps feels faster: no compilers, no deployment, no JAR files or preprocessors -- just your favorite editor and some PHP files in a directory. Your mileage will vary, but when it comes to banging a project together quickly, PHP is a good tool to use.Where Node.js wins: Raw speed?Writing JavaScript code is a bit harder when you're counting curly brackets and parentheses, but when it's done, your Node.js code can fly. The callback mechanism is brilliant because it saves you from juggling the threads. The core is well-built and designed to do all that for you. Isn't that what everyone wants?

Yes, but in my experience it was rare.Generally speaking you’re given work assignments that make being there so unbearable you move on yourself or you are put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) which is really just a 6 month documentation gathering exercise for the firm so that they can fire you with cause and not pay unemployment or suffer other legal repercussions.While these are the realities, they will often be sold or discussed differently in open conversation. For instance assigning people to the worst jobs and being just on the side of legal of a hostile work environment, will never be openly mentioned. Also PIPs will be sold as ways to improve the skillset of the employee.At my old firm for every 3 people who went on a PIP only 1 made it through and stayed with the firm. 1 quit and 1 was fired. A success rate of 1/3 with no effort to improve the PIP process, in fact management felt the PIPs worked, tells you they are only to get rid of people. The funniest part was, the 1/3 who passed are clearly people willing to be treated absolutely horribly by the firm and if they passed should probably have never been on a PIP but were simply having a personality clash with some manager or senior who pushed them into a PIP.When it comes to public accounting very few can handle the workload. Frankly it’s unreasonable and the sacrifice didn’t make sense to me for the payoff. However, the work itself is actually kind of easy. There are accounting and audit standards, your firm probably has templates, and you literally just do them. It only gets hard with numerous clients and unique or complex situations, but the average work is very easy once you learn it.I used to make 2 jokes/statements;you’re overpaid for your first 6 months and grossly underpaid for the rest of your career, after 6 months most people can work independently at which point you get slammed with work.Once you have 1.5 years of experience any firm will hire you as long as you show up. You’d literally have to be a drug addict or openly violent to not retain the job.I’ve only seen 2 people who either couldn’t or wouldn’t do the work.I don’t know why, but one person at my old firm just couldn’t get the work. Our best teachers couldn’t train him. The most basic things he would take a ton of time on and still get it wrong. We had sections of low risk called 1 and done. Basically you tied the dollar amounts out to the financial statements and you’re done. It’s 20 minutes of work. This guy after working for nearly a year took almost a whole day on a 1 and done and still did it wrong. He didn’t last.Another guy at a another firm I think could do the work but just didn’t want to. He got away for almost a whole year of not doing any work, because his seniors weren’t reviewing work until way too late. He literally was submitting empty spreadsheets and signing off as completed. Collected a paycheck for a whole year doing that. He also didn’t last.

The delightful state of contentment from having a task accomplished, a goal reached, or a skill acquired is one of the most pleasing feelings you can have. There is something about it when you overcome all the obstacles and push through adversity and actually do something yourself.Every strategist, optimization manager, or effectiveness coach will tell you to find satisfaction in delegating tasks and playing on the outcome and result level. But are we still so into the firsthand experience? Wikipedia defines contentment the following way:Contentment is a mental or emotional state of satisfaction maybe drawn from being at ease in one’s situation, body, and mind.The satisfaction from making something work and doing it with your own hands gives you a sense of security and an emotional payoff. The juice is worth the squeeze if the experience you get from it takes you to another level of understanding. So applying this philosophy to our industry which is web and mobile design & development, this is how you can try to design and build your own website.Jump-Start Website With Zero BudgetIn most cases, a website is the extension of your business, either as an operational base, promotional service, or an online presence tool, it is natural that it has to help you make revenue, not be another item in your long list of expenses.But before that, think of why you really need a website, can a Facebook page fulfill that need? How important is it for you to be present on the mobile app market? If you still feel like a website is a way to go and you are determined to design the heck out of it, here’s how you go full Jedi and create your own website yourself.How To Design A WebsiteThe first you need to come to terms with when you start creating a website from scratch is you are your own client. This is good in the sense of a 24/7 inner communication and a common mindset but there is also a danger of neglecting the formalities. If you build the discipline of addressing tasks in an unbiased and honest way, you can avoid the problem of procrastination. The formalities include:Specify your needs and goals. The inner understanding of your business might seem enough to prioritize tasks, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the right way. Sometimes you have to follow what is right in terms of business which might be opposite to what you expect.Find inspiration, research website design ideas, and formalize them. You can’t rely on your inner vision only. At some point, you will require someone’s assessment, whether it’s a developer or an investor, and you will have to be able to convey the message of your design.Study your competition. Unless your business is absolutely unique and ground-breaking, there is commonly a path of those who came before you and those who walk next to you. Study their websites, see what’s good and what they lack. Figure out the ways to beat them.Learn about web design. Let’s be real. If you care about aesthetics and don’t want your website to look like dog sh*t, you will have to read about web design. There is just no way around it. This is not an art, it’s a discipline. Respect it.Make WireframesInformation is the most important part of your website. Whether it is presented via texts or visuals, information architecture (IA) requires an elaborate consideration. One of the best ways to organize the IA is to create a wireframe which is basically the blueprint of your website. This is the carcass of your website.Don’t give in to temptation to include design elements to your wireframes. The plain look of a wireframe is the necessity for your impartial judgment of how the website will work, not feel.Start off with a whiteboard and a marker. Think of the basic features your website will have and put them down. Now arrange them into functional groups according to their functionality. There are some digital tools made specifically for wireframing if you don’t feel like drawing.Image credit: DribbbleThe more functional features you lay out in wireframes, the easier it will be to align and structure them in future. Don’t bother about the connections and succession. Your main concern here is make sure you actualize the logic behind the pages. However,Your website doesn’t have to be complicated to look professional.Over the time, some websites grew bigger representing more powerful and robust functionality, and some websites became more simple representing a business in a nutshell. As our attention span keeps shrinking, most businesses head towards the fast and simple structure of websites. So look for the possibilities to merge the functionality and extract the essence of features, rather than let them build up.Specify Navigation PatternsThe wireframing stage will leave you in a pile of b&w sketches of screens alien to one another. The idea behind the navigation stage is you connect your features in a specific way that is natural and intuitive for users. Some business websites are looking to present themselves as spaciously as possible and by doing so, they risk watering down their credibility.The main principle for today’s navigational trend is giving users exactly what they want, not everything you got.There are several major navigation principles commonly used in web design, including the following ones:Basic NavigationThis pattern is best for small business website design. Sections are placed in line at the top of the page with subsections hidden in drop-down menus.Image credit: DribbbleHidden NavigationThis pattern is the influence of the mobile platform. The estate on a 5-inch screen is extremely valuable, so hiding menu elements behind a hamburger icon became an acceptable option. Over time, the experience became so fluent, it made its way to the desktop platform.Image credit: DribbbleStacked NavigationComplex menus require more than one type of navigation. By stacking the elements and integrating multi-directional navigation, you can encode different logic and make actions more prominent.Image credit: DribbbleIndex NavigationWhether you are designing an e-commerce platform or an information distribution website, your content is likely to be categorized some way or another. Indexing these types of groups into navigation patterns is a good way to direct users and call to their intuition.Image credit: DribbbleUnconventional NavigationDesigning is like writing music. The same set of keys (tools) can create amazingly different pieces of work. If you don’t feel like sticking to one specific navigation pattern or have creativity bursting out of you, you can develop your own ways of arranging elements. This might be a free pass to stand out, as well as the danger of being misunderstood.Image credit: DribbbleStyle GuidesNow, off to the design part. Style guides or tiles are the kits consisting of different design deliverables for specific goals. Basically, a style tile is a set of typefaces, UI elements, and a website design color scheme all resonating in a special way.Consistency is the key feature of web design which means all the elements have to work together to convey a brand message.Style guides and UI kits are extremely helpful for designers of any level as they are the result of a great body of work in user research and the process of fitting and matching elements to transmit a certain mood or message.On top of that, the predefined sets of design elements will save you a ton of time on discovering all of this by yourself.Image credit: DribbbleThe PrototypeNow, when your website has a certain AI built, navigation patterns chosen, and style selected, you can move on and assemble your prototype. The prototype is the closest your website design will look to a real deployed website. It’s a visual and a performance model of the website before you hand it off to a developer.Unlike wireframing, prototyping can’t be done with a conventional tool. Prototypr.io has a great and self-explanatory tool comparison chart that can help you find what is best for you in terms of functionality and affordability.Prototyping is the stage where you apply your navigation and business logic to the wireframes, use the tile to introduce content, and substitute the placeholders with the actual unique website design content.After that, it’s time for the first product evaluation. You will return to your first original task and verify that the prototype of a website you designed meets the goals and satisfies the needs of the product, stated initially.The beauty of prototyping is how easy it is to change things up, tweak, and change the product before the first line of code is written.The result has to speak out loud about your design accomplishment. Late stages of prototyping can be naturally channeled to the early development stages.Website Design SoftwareIf all the above seems like too much, I can’t blame you. Any of these stages is a fractal of a process in itself and you can easily get lost within the intricacies of the unimplemented features. Racing to rescue is a bunch of tools and solutions available in different price and functionality ranges (some even provide free website design options).Starting at $2.99 per month and up to thousands of dollars for specific enterprise offers, you can find an alternative and basically design your website in a browser window by dragging and dropping elements on a grid. If you are content with the design options given by website building software, here’s what you have to consider:History. Some tools laid the basis for the free-code, drag & drop website-building software. For a company, being that long in the business means going through multiple transitions and chances are, the product they offer is more refined and reliable.Clarity. The templates must be beautiful and engaging but more importantly, they have to be capable of transmitting the statement of your brand in a clear and precise way. They have to highlight what you do and not how they make it look.Usability. The one reason you stuck with a website building tool is you don’t have time/desire to make a fully custom website. If the tool requires a whole bunch of skills to even start, it does not fulfill the main requirement. The solution has to be easy and fun to use, it has to be predictable, and anticipate your actions.Individuality. For the lack of a better word, this is the least a solution can have in it to compensate for the common access. Whether it’s the abundance of options to choose from or original elements and layouts, the templates have to feel like custom pages.Again, your choice of options depends on the goals you put in front of you. Your website has to be in tune with your current business situation and perform according to its needs.However, if your growth expectations exceed your willingness to completely redo your website, it’s better to establish the expandability and room for enhancement right away. This is where you might want to consider investing in a custom website design and development.A Better Way To Put Out A WebsiteThey say, when you practice something for ten thousand hours you become the master of it. I’d say, after ten thousand hours it’s harder to be content with what gets put out. The more you read and learn about design, the harder it gets to actually design it. At some point, you know and you’ve seen so much, there is nothing new and exciting left.This is the awareness plateau.There seems to be no way you can overcome it with your skills and there can be no return as your proverbial bar is so high now, no website building software can stand to it. WYD? Obviously, you go to your Dumbledore or Gandalf, or Yoda (enough with the guru analogies? Okay, one more — Mr. Miyagi) and they tell you to take the high road and approach it from a totally new perspective.That perspective is product ownership and outsourcing. You can spend months getting your hands dirty and exploring the ins and outs of web design, but you’ll never beat the competition if they are allying with those who are far better well-versed than you.To enter a big game, you have to be confident in your assets and have total control over them. The flexibility, scalability, and freedom of choice you have when operating with your own custom-designed website are of no comparison with the DIY products or stock open solutions.Image credit: DribbbleGood news is you can hire your cavalry. They will go to battle for your business because their success is your success. We are one of such teams. With over a decade of hard-fought battles, bumps and bruises, and victories, we know the industry, we know how to approach challenges and tackle goals.If you want to run your business efficiently, moving chess pieces across the board, and ultimately, become an expert in managing startups, take the lead and let us do the rest!