[coding] Rated Able

I've been thinking about the kind of work I need to do for startups, and it would seem I've allowed myself to become a bit too specialized.  For one thing, the only language I have expert knowledge in any more is Java.  In addition, the only types of software I am accustomed to working on are backend services and android apps.  I would of course prefer to specialize in one thing and be very good at it, but that really only works in a large company.  In start up mode, you need to do a lot.  Perhaps not necessarily everything, but a lot.

Here are the basic skills I need to re-learn:

1. create a JSON-based backend service (quickly)

2. create a dynamic web interface (web 2.0, web app, javascript bullshit, whatever)

3. create an android app



In theory, I should be great at #1 however at these large companies I've almost always worked on existing services using shitty frameworks.  In my entire career I have only create a new service once.  It was fun though.  I need to learn how to spin up a new one quickly, maybe have a skeleton sitting out.  When it comes to the choice of language/framework though, I'm a bit at a loss.  I typically don't have my own hardware (and don't want to pay for the virtual servers) for typical enterprise frameworks, and all of the cheap p.o.s. web hosting that most small website run on only runs crap like php.  At my current provider I can't even do ruby without converting the whole website or something.

For #2, we might as well just assume I have to start from scratch.

I can already do #3, however most of my experience is actually owning a library, and not releasing many apps.  So we'll have to work on that as well.