Everyday, a young new programmer begin his journey into development world. Many of them confused with such huge choice of skill set they need to learn and as always the first step its the hardest.

We try to compile some of the must have skills for today’s web developer and perhaps this list could be a guidance for anyone who tries to make a living out of web development.

1. Programming Basic

Of course we dont need to tell you how important programming basic for those who wants to dwell into web development. But you could be someone who started as designer and need to expands your future income by keeping the complete project to yourself rather than split them to a programmer.

Python is considered one of the simplest language to learn for a complete beginner, syntax is easier to understand and the codes are slimmer than say Java or C++. But if you have the stomach and time to learn then Java or PHP is a wise choice.

Few good Resources to start:

W3Schools, WebMonkey, Java, PHP.

2. HTML & CSS

Both are not considered programming language and you should be able to grab the essence in a week or two. CSS is quite comprehensive subject, you might need some time to really be able to utilize its total power.

3. SQL

When building web application you are almost certain will interact with data management, for that you need to understand how data manipulation process using SQL language.

4. Framework

We would like to think framework is like lego blocks that if you put together the pieces you can have yourself a castle, tower or a car. Developing an application without a framework is like building castle from sands; fragile and you have to start by the grain.

Many  web application elements have framework that can speed up your development process where you skipped most of the standard application process, PHP as one of the most popular server side scripting language had good list of framework and also Ruby, Javascript and even CSS.

Few good Resources to start:

CodeIgniter, CakePHP, RubyOnRail, Mootools, JQuery, Blueprint CSS.

5. CMS

Content Management System has mad many non-Tech people very happy, they can easily install and manage their websites within minutes. Don’t worry CMS will take over your job as web developer, all you have to do is learn the skill to make the improvements on CMS as people want more and more feature everyday.

Understanding the core systems, extending the features, templates customization are the things a web developer need to build and configure with CMS.

Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, MagentoCommerce.

6. Rich Internet Application

You dont have to wait long before the barrier between desktop and online application breaks. Developers are building online applications to give user experience just more exciting than ever.

Several platform available for you to start dive into RIA development, the popular among the lads are Flash+Actionscript, AdobeAIR, JavaFX, OpenLaszlo, Silverlight and of course Ajax.

7. Mobile Platform

Apple iPhone has thought the industry how big the mobile users actually is. and this year Google also promised improvement on its sought after product Google Android. With all these producer battling their dominance you can take early shot for your future by learning the software development kit for mobile platform. Currently iPhone use Objective-C as the language while Android use Java.

8. Social Network Application

Do you know how many people use Facebook? More than 150 Millions!. It means if you can build an application for facebook, it has the potential to be used by over 100 millions people! That’s how encouraging social network business is.

As web developer you can take advantage by learning the API (which some social website share as open source) and start building application upon it.

9. E-Commerce

Each year Amazon makes more money than any other websites on the net, and as marketplace site grows their business, independent website owner also integrate payment gateway to give their visitors access for direct transaction.

The right skills to build business website is going to be very important for web developer  as demand might sky rocketed.

10. Soft Skills

You might be very genius in programming, but remember Bill Gates (okay this is a bad example), Steve Jobs or even Mark Zuckerberg will not be stinking rich right now if they didnt have the soft skills.

Communication, Marketing, Decision Making and Project Management is some of the soft skill a web developer should have to not just survive but success.

Communication is crucial to understand your customers, Marketing strategy to sell your products, Manage your team or time managed yourself and taking risk to improve your business. These skills when applied wisely will help  in reaching your goals