[thelist] OT - do programmers/designers know everything?

Tue Jul 23 14:19:07 CDT 2002

(and now it's my turn.)

i've been involved with the intarweb for two years now. i'm 21 (just
like you jonathan!!) and i work for a small company in california. i got
my start doing c++ (not that i got very far) probably 8 years ago and
that gave me a very good basis for learning other programming languages.
just like jonathan said, learning the first one is the hardest, but from
then on it's gets easier and easier.

now, i am the webmaster/network administrator/techsupport for small
company.

although i could write (nearly) any (X)HTML document off the top of my
head, i still have to copy and paste some code from other projects
because i simply can't remember them. however i do this all day long
(probably 10 hours a day on average) so just like a lot of other people
on the list i am saturated (sometimes drowning) in code. which means i'm
writing code all the time and thinking about it all the time.

it just takes time roger, and determination too. there have been times
when i've been working on a website starting at say 8pm and i don't
realize anything has changed until i start to hear birds chirping the
next morning. (ok fine, that might be a little exagerated, i mean, i do
have to go to the bathroom and whatnot. the message is what's
important.)

just keep plugging away.

chris.

p.s. Arlen what's that second rule? it's driving me crazy!! ;)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: aardvark [mailto:roselli at earthlink.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 11:56 AM
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Subject: Re: [thelist] OT - do programmers/designers know
> *everything*?
>
>
> > From: "Roger Harness" <magic32 at jps.net>
> [...]
> > 1. Are most of the folks on this list (for example)
> actually making a
> > decent living programming, coding, design etc? Whether it be
> > free-lance, or working for other companies etc?
>
> yes... i started right out of college as a webmaster, then moved on
> to developing e-commerce sites, then spun off my own gig five
> years ago that's grown to about 17 people today...  starting it was
> hell -- long hours (which i still do), little to no pay, lots
> of scraping --
> but ultimately, it's a business, and expecting to just become a
> wealthy guy without the ramp up time would be silly...
>
> > 2. For the folks that ARE doing well enough to not have to work a
> > 'real' job (you know...as in retail, services...etc etc,...anything
> > NOT to do with their web passions)...do you folks actually know in
> > your head most of the skills you need to perform? For example,
> > PERL/CGI programmers...can you actually, basically write
> working code
> > that without having to rely on your notes, code snippets, manuals,
> > etc? Or is that just silly? Do almost ALL hardcore
> > designers/programmers use some sort of 'help' when working on
> > projects?
>
> i can write working HTML and CSS without looking at the specs at
> all... i still validate it, however...
>
> i can write JS and ASP pretty well from memory, but rely on an
> extensive code library i've amassed...
>
> i can SQL queries that work, but that you'd never want in a
> production environment... i can do the same with PHP, perl,
> ActionScript, Lingo, and a dozen other languages...
>
> IOW, if i didn't use a code library all the time, i'd be
> doing myself a
> disservice... with HTML and CSS, i still use a code library since it's
> nice to have a standard block of code to go in every
> <head></head> that you don't have to retype (saves lotsa time)...
>
> ultimately, you can never be expected to remember all these
> languages and all they do all at once... you'll pick up the ones you
> use the most pretty damn well, and the rest will be little forays here
> and there that build up your understanding and code library...
>
>
> --
> Read the evolt.org case study
> Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
> http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151035/evoltorg02-20
> ISBN: 1904151035
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>

[thelist] OT - do programmers/designers know *everything*?

[thelist] OT - do programmers/designers know everything?