What are hackers, and what do they do? Moreover, why are they important?
Let’s discuss first one of the less used definitions, “hack: to manage successfully”. I reference this specific definition because it is the most widely applicable definitions in reference to this activity. Allow me to explain why.
The origins of hacking
We most of us think of “hacking” we often immediately go to computers and some shady unknown character hiding in a room, some savant of the technology age aiming to steal information for some nefarious reason.
The truth of the matter is yes, today that is sometimes the case, but this…
Trying not to drown in code
Let’s talk a little about DRY CSS practices and how they can help us write better code. More importantly lets also discuss why embracing these practices early on is so important.
For many newcomers to the industry the initial instinct is to code “top to bottom”, or on a page by page basis. These methods can work for small sites like portfolios and similar simple projects, however should one need to scale up the site later this could prove counterproductive. …
No div soup for you
Semantic and presentational HTML, a topic that I feel never gets the attention it needs. Whether you are a long time developer or just getting into the field, this subject can make or break the quality of code in your project!
It sounds like a fancy and complicated concept, so you may be thinking “oh great something else to learn and commit to memory”. The secret is, it’s not complicated at all. Heck, there’s barely anything to remember except that we want our HTML to reflect its use cases, and where possible be “readable”.
As a simple example of what…
The types of developers and what they do
In this post, I want to briefly discuss the differences between the types of web developers and distinguish with some clarity the difference between them. Specifically, the three most common which are Front-End, Back-End and Full Stack. There are a lot of great reasons to at least know what these roles roughly entail but in my opinion, the best reason is to avoid over or under taxing yourself and employees.
As a developer, there is little worse than looking for a position and finding the local options for a Front-End developer that describe responsibilities of a Full Stack role. Not…
Updates on the journey so far
I just wanted to publish a post talking about the various tech-related articles I’ve posted thus far and explain how they tie into each other.
So far I’ve posted which equates to a basic introduction to the Web Dev world and its inner operations.
The posts so far in chronological order :
- Tech, Tech 1,2,3… Which Industry is Right for me: This post explains the complicated nature behind ENTERING the industry and how I hope to help remove the obfuscation that comes with the experience
- The Full Web Dev Journey: This post discusses a generalized explanation of the full web…
From the browser to the server
Up next after my last post (The Front End Development Journey), is the Back End Development process. This can be a bit more involved and has about as much versatility to it as the previous two stages, if not more!
As a result, this means there is actually less documentation and often poorer in quality than of the other two fields. The Front End likely being the best and most documented of the three stages (UI/UX and Back End being the other two). Having said that let’s dig into this mysterious industry!
What Back End Dev actually is
Back End Development is building all the stuff…
From Mockup to Code
In the first post of this series (The Full Web Development Journey), I talked about the phases of making a website. I discussed the process of building a website, from design to development in short detail. Then I followed up with a post (The Web Design Journey) covering the Design aspect in a little more detail. Now it’s time to talk FEWD or Front End Web Development in a bit more detail. Remember my goal here is to explain the various processes that go into making a website. I want you to first understand the steps…
From idea to workable concept
As I’ve mentioned in my previous post (The Full Web Dev Journey), all great products come from an idea first. Some see’s a need or a vacuum and decides they are going to fix it by creating a product that solves that need. The design of such a product is the first step in creating a workable concept, it happens to be a crucial one. As it can set the scene for success as fast as a failure. …
From idea to finished-ish product.
Building on my last post (“Tech, Tech 1,2,3… Which industry is right for me?”), let’s discuss this process in more detail. Generally, all good products come from an idea, specifically one that solves a problem. This is where our journey begins as well, with the realization that there is some problem that needs solving. Sometimes it is a need that creates a vacuum, other times it is simply something makes life a little easier or more enjoyable. In either case, solving this problem usually leads to a product or service.
Step 1 Idea/Concept: Identify problem or need, and find a…
The first question I ever asked myself when considering moving into the tech industry was, “Where do I go first?”. This proved to be a good question with WAY to many answers, and as a result, I was often left with even more questions than I started with. Doubly so when the welcome wagon from the overall community read “RTFM” (Read The Fricking Manual)… right… but which one? Since that time so very many years ago I have found that things have changed drastically in that respect.
This journey for me started with C++ (with no prior coding knowledge), then…
