[thelist] how did you learn?

Amy amyrynne at comcast.net
Tue Jun 29 13:27:04 CDT 2004


Oye, it's been a long trip!
I started in college, earning my Criminal Justice degree. Suddenly I became
aware of Photoshop and Graphic Design. I spend much of my time in the Mac
Lab using Photoshop messing around. I took a graphic design course and I
knew it was meant to be. Unfortunately a little too late for my degree to
change. However, after graduation I went to a computer training facility and
earned two certifications in Web Design and Computer Graphics, then a
Webmaster certificate. Webmonkey was a huge help and since many other
tutorial websites. Currently I am using the Lynda.com tutorials which are a
huge help. I'm more graphically inclined but I'm looking to further my
skills with databases and such. I'm also a big fan of Computer Arts magazine
and I try to read the latest in software related books.
The end,
Amy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lauri Vain" <lauri_lists at tharapita.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 10:38 AM
Subject: RE: [thelist] how did you learn?


> Hi, Paul,
>
> > OK, I have a question for all those developers out there who
> > didn't spend 3 years at university / college to gain
> > professional web development skills.
> >
> > How did you first begin your learning? Did you pick up a book?
> > Go to online forums? Ask a friend? Take a short course?
>
> Weeee, this thread could make a fun article (nothing more, nothing less)
> :)
>
> Personally, I started with the very basics eight years ago when I was
> still in my teens. It was the kind of age, when I liked to think that
> one can get all the nutrition in the world by eating chips & coke. Now
> that I am a full-grown man, I know, how wrong I was - you really need to
> have chocolate and pancakes as well.
>
> I was involved in competition shooting and each time after my training,
> several times a week, I went to my dad's office, with whom we went home.
> Usually I had to wait for him for about an hour, so I browsed the web.
> The first question that popped into my mind was - how on earth does this
> work?! So I started reading about the internet, the web, HTML and, of
> course, having a lot of fun by using dry ice and plastic bottles.
>
> A few months into my learning process, my Commodore, which had a high
> tech tape reader instead of disc/CD drive, was replaced. It was replaced
> by a PC for Christmas. I also got a magazine accompanied by a CD. It had
> games and a copy of Frontpage on it. I didn't have any cool electric
> cars/trains or other such toys at that time (they were all broken -
> well, I had to find out how they worked, didn't I?!), so I spent quite a
> lot of the time, when I was supposed to study English and art history,
> behind my PC. I played games for a week and then started to create my
> own webpages with Frontpage (Yuk!), Notepad etc.
>
> Then came other tools and techniques (Dreamweaver, Notepad, Flash,
> command line tools, Notepad, Editplus :)).
>
> At one point in my learning process, I read through the source codes of
> ALL the pages on the web. No, really! Really!! Well, that's what it felt
> like anyway. Couldn't get enough of it. I was a maniac. I was a source
> code cruncher. Took all the code on the web to bits and pieces and found
> out, how it worked. Then read a lot of tutorials, standards etc. Then
> read all the source on the web again.
>
> Also, got much of what I needed to know in the beginning from books.
> Books like "PHP Programming - from Professional to Professional", which
> was great.
>
> Developed my personal static webpage for a couple of years (and got
> really-really interested in web scripting). Quite a few years later, a
> friend of mine referred me to a web development company who outsourced a
> lot of their work. They needed more programmers and I was it. They loved
> what I did and knew and that the user and client were my highest
> priorities. At one point they wanted to hire me full time, but since I
> was still finishing high-school, the second best option was to start up
> my own company, through which I could work for them.
>
> So, when I started doing web applications through my company, my
> repetitive customer base got to a decent size. It all started with
> websites only, but it quickly evolved into complex intranets, extranets,
> company management systems etc. Some of my clients came from referrals
> by word of mouth, others are from this and other lists - mostly
> designers and some programmers, for whom I do subcontracting. At two
> points, I actually took a permanent position in two companies who had
> projects that were over half a year long.
>
> When you are still making your first steps, though - you can learn a lot
> from this list. Then, of course, you can give a lot back to the list -
> it's a neverending circle. My recommendation is to read every thread on
> this list - evolt "rulez" :D  I've have been with the gang from the very
> beginning (something like the 200th member) and have loved almost every
> second of it - learning and helping alike (although have been bit too
> busy to do that the last year or two). Like Mattias and other people who
> have contributed to this thread, I too let the artistic people do the
> layouts. I then take the HTML file and create a database system to make
> it all work.
>
> It's very much, like Rob said - "It was a childhood passion that grew
> into an adult profession." I've been with the web from when it started
> to matter and still am with it today - full time. Loved every minuted of
> the learning, working, and teaching. I'm currently relatively near to my
> Bachelor's and Master's degree at the university, which is fun too
> (oftentimes, anyway - other times you teach the professors yourself :p).
> Sometimes can't believe, though, how it all started - coding websites by
> hand, then quickly logging onto the internet (using a state of the art
> 28.8 bits per seconds modem, which was able to transfer about 2-3 bytes
> per second). Then admired my webpage and looked for new information. And
> then, of course, I got phone bills, which would easily rival the annual
> budget of many third world countries.
>
> "It was a childhood passion that grew into an adult profession" - love
> that quote!
>
> Cheers,
> Lauri
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
> > [mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of Paul Bennett
> > Sent: 29. juuni 2004. a. 8:40
> > To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> > Subject: [thelist] how did you learn?
> >
> >
> > OK, I have a question for all those developers out there who
> > didn't spend 3 years at university / college to gain
> > professional web development skills.
> >
> > How did you first begin your learning? Did you pick up a book?
> > Go to online forums? Ask a friend? Take a short course?
> >
> > The reason I ask is that I am considering developing a training
> > product and want to see if it is at least viable before sinking
> > countless hours into it :)
> >
> > I took the 'short course' option, although it was 9 months and a
> > bit more focussed on sys admin stuff than I needed. (I still
> > have dreaded memories about setting up and configuring NT
> > server)
> >
> > Feel free to answer off-list if you like.
> >
> > Many thanks,
> > Paul Bennett
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
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> >
>
> -- 
> * * Please support the community that supports you.  * *
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>
> For unsubscribe and other options, including the Tip Harvester
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