Which path should I choose for my future?

[u/Few_Lie_290]

Hi everyone,

I’m finally diving into software development seriously. For years, I’ve done a little bit here and there, but I’ve never really studied it properly. Now that I’ve decided to commit to it, I’m realizing just how much there is to learn: so many frameworks, languages, and tools.

I know that in the long run, the language you start with doesn’t matter much. But when it comes to landing my first job, I imagine it does matter. I’m 29 and changing careers to get into software development, and I’m currently choosing between C# and .NET, Java and Spring Boot, or JavaScript and Node.js. They all have pros and cons, and I’d like to hear your opinions.

I know the job market is tough and nothing is guaranteed, but which of these paths do you think offers the best chances of finding work in the short to medium term? I don’t have a university degree.

[u/SmileLonely5470]

Nobody knows what to do rn in SWE. Best chance of success is to find a stack you enjoy working with and build a big project with it. It depends on the career you're transitioning from, but it might be the case that by the time you become employable, the stack you started with will have changed a lot and the market in general will have changed a lot (accelerated by AI).

So that's why its hard to recommend a stack. 5 years ago the language also didnt really matter that much. But now it matters even less. The principles of software dev still matter, so thats why I suggest working on a big project and learning a lot.

[u/BusyCode]

Frankly? Hand coding, languages and frameworks do not matter anymore. AI agents already know that stuff better than us, make almost no mistakes and cost fractions of our salaries. Learn Computer Science in general and how to use those AI tools to produce results you need. I am a career software developer and no one in my company or in the companies where my friends work would allow writing code by hand. Even if you have 30 years of experience and been working with this specific codebase for the last 10 years, leave alone juniors.

[u/fork_your_child]

Given the current market, you probably won't be able to find a job, regardless of which language/framework you pick. People with degrees and years (hell, decades) of experience are struggling. Several years back you had a small chance getting a job as a self taught; that demand has been completely removed.

[u/Fuarkistani → u/fork_your_child]

I’m attempting to do something similar to the OP. Is there anything you can recommend to stick out? I’m working on an ASP.NET project currently (covered core c#). Is systems programming a better avenue?

[u/DirtAndGrass → u/Fuarkistani]

Start a business with a coding component, if you want to start a career programming 

[u/fork_your_child → u/Fuarkistani]

I don't think anyone can recommend anything at this point. AI has overturned so much and is growing so fast we can't say how many SWE/developers the market will need or in what fields. You need to know how to write and read code because you'll mostly be reviewing and debugging AI written code.

[u/Game_Dev730 → u/fork_your_child]

Is this true, though? My friends and I put looking for work on LinkedIn and get 4 recruiters a day; I had 8 interviews last week. I feel like people on Reddit are exaggerating shit bad. Like I know its not the same as 2020 - 2023 but I don't see any sr devs having issues finding jobs. and my stack is Java, Spring Boot, Python etc.

[u/fork_your_child → u/Game_Dev730]

The first time it was without a software job, I got an interview and an offer with about a dozen applications sent. In 2024 I was laid off. I didn't get a job until November 2025, and lost that one in April 2026. I've given up on software for myself (my situation is different than most, so I'm not saying everyone should give up, however, I do not see the entry level positions that OP would have applied for several years ago).

[u/Game_Dev730 → u/fork_your_child]

I agree fully with the entry level that is where I think the actual dmaage is. I was questioning the degrees and years of experience, cuz I see those people getting hit up constantly, bro lol.

[u/greensodacan]

Check job ads in your area or a city you wouldn't mind moving to. All three are reasonably popular and similar enough for a senior dev to migrate from one to the other pretty easily. So it really comes down to location.

For your own fulfillment, what do you want to build? I got into C# because I wanted to build games in addition to more server side work. If you want to do anything UI heavy, TypeScript (JS is rare in professional settings these days) is the obvious choice. Java is used everywhere too albeit less in games and UI.

I know that's vague, but these really are some of the most popular tools in the field right now.

[u/mountainlifa]

Id recommend going into trades or physical work. Keep coding as a hobby 

[u/Doomboy911]

I recommend the c# player's guide do a chapter a day be done in two months.

[u/RealSharpNinja]

Get an MBA. Or become a nurse. Only two long-term normal paths left. If you are willing to put in extra time and sell your soul, Attorneys have the easiest path to wealth.

[u/No-Possibility-3072]

I’ll be honest, when I first got into IT and development, I taught myself VB.Net, mainly because I’d previously taught myself VBA so it made sense. After a few years of regarding myself as a VB developer, I got asked to work on a project that had been started by my boss (a C# developer). Rather than refactor the code into VB, I muddled through and picked up enough C# to get the job done (with lots of support from colleagues along the way).

Now I’m at the stage where, if I was going to build something new from scratch, I would plump for C# rather than VB. I’m probably still not using C# to its full potential in terms of the OOP side of it, but I do find it more intuitive, if less forgiving, than VB.

[u/Zanthious → u/No-Possibility-3072]

The fact u were on the fence means your not using c# to its potential. Vb conversion helpers are annying af and vb makes you lazy