Adding Another String to my Bow

Regular readers will know I’m a geek. Possibly also a nerd. Ok, definitely a nerd. Point being, I like traditionally ‘nerdy’ things, and that usually involves anything to do with computers. I work with computers and numbers all day, and for the most part I guess I enjoy it too, but with work the way it is these days, I don’t want to rest on my laurels, so I need to expand my knowledge and get some more things under my belt.

I’ve posted on here before about mucking about with Linux, starting programming again and suchlike, but these have invariably fallen by the wayside (saying that, I do still have an active Linux install at home, I just never use it). I think it’s mostly because I’ve got no actual reason to use them, or any ongoing projects I can apply them to, and it’s hard to keep myself inspired enough to keep going.

However, I’ve embarked on something new now (well, kinda new to me), and I’m getting my web developer credentials back up-to-date. I was reasonably handy with HTML back in the day, when most sites were being coded by hand in Notepad, and Dreamweaver was in its infancy, but since then I just haven’t bothered to do any more – I don’t need to thanks to freely downloadable, idiot-proof CMS software. Ok, I might dip my toe in and alter some CSS or basic code, but that’s it. Database-driven, PHP-based dynamic sites making judicious use of Javascript is where it’s at right now – until HTML 5 hits hard in the not-too-distant future – and so that’s what I’m teaching myself.

I got myself a rather excellent book called *Learning PHP, MySQL and JavaScript – A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites* which I’m learning from, and it’s excellent. I’m already 200 pages in, of about 500-ish, and for the most part it’s not too hard, but you really need to get your head around the concepts. So far the PHP is just about sinking in, MySQL I’m finding a bit easier (thanks to the very readable commands), and we’ve not even touched on JavaScript yet. I’m really enjoying it too, it’s fascinating to watch all the pieces come together, and I’ve had some real ‘Eureka!’ moments when concepts have finally clicked.

All the software I’ve needed so far has been completely free too, as to be expected. When you’re developing for a home PC, like me or in a development environment, you’ll generally use what’s known as a WAMP system – Windows (operating system), Apache (web server), MySQL (database) and PHP (generating web content), although if you’re using a Mac or Linux that changes to MAMP or XAMP respectively. They can be a pain to install and set-up if you’ve no experience, but there are some excellent bundled packages out there, so I’m using one called EasyPHP which is a one-time install that sets it all up. Brilliantly, it’s portable too, so I can copy it all to a USB stick and take the whole package anywhere. Other than EasyPHP the only thing I’ve needed is a decent text editor to write the code in the first place, and despite having used the rather excellent Crimson Editor for ages, I’ve decided on Notepad++ instead, and I’m just as happy.

If you want to learn any of this stuff, to get an insight as to how your forums, blog or just about any other website works, and how you can start to build your own, I can’t recommend the book enough. I’m really hoping this all sticks, because these skills are really easily transferrable to other jobs too.