Web developer
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- flavorful0
I'm all for trial by error and learning on your own.
If you're going to go to a school to learn please for the love of everything holy ask to see senior projects or whatever to see what kind of talent they are churning out. You know what you want to do in your head, don't accidentally get roped into a school that isn't going to get you to where you want to go.
Books are helpful, O'Reilly is a good source and you can even get books online from them. Hell, I have my work pay for a subscription that I rarely use actually if you see any books you like.
I'm not one for the school environment. I can't be bothered with some blow hard taking me back to square one, or waiting on some other classmate to "get it".
The only trouble with learning on your own is you don't necessarily have sheepskin to prove it, and that's where a portfolio helps, and being able to speak to what you know in a manner that it's obvious you know what you are talking about. Or I'm sure there are some kind of certification you can get outside of going to an actual school.
I guess I just don't like school, haha. And I'm dreading having to go back next year and having to attempt to sit still for an hour while some douche talks about shit I already know but they have class attendance is part of the grade.
FLAVORFUL SMASH!
- I'm a learn buy doing + books guy too, but i do think a class would have kicked me off quicker to being with...YAYPaul
- flavorful0
^ I think you know more than you think you know basically and you're going to waltz into a class and want to slit your wrists.
- Jaline0
"I can't be bothered with some blow hard taking me back to square one, or waiting on some other classmate to "get it"."
Not only that, but you have to pay more money.
Why are you going back and what are you taking?
- Jaline0
I forgot to mention...I don't care about getting credit for the courses or this type of learning. It could be important for employers, but I could probably just mention my experience in my skills list or during the interview.
- flavorful0
I got a full scholarship but I wasn't ready for school at the time so they ended up throwing me out, haha.
Now to continue career advancement where I want to go, I've had to jump through hoops not having a degree and levels of degree, and finally someone told me that I can basically have no ceiling if I get them. I always joked, "If you want me to kill a sheep and write 'Graduate' on it, I'll do it."
My company is very perception based I'm learning.
Going back to major in Business (not sure what specific) with a minor in Psychology. Kind of as a little fuck you that I refuse to go back for anything Computer Science related, haha.
I'm sure that'll change.
Plus I'm thinking I already know the business world pretty good, so what I'll do is steal everyone's ideas in the class and I'll already have the connections to get them done.
- Jaline0
Nice! Do you have to start from the beginning? Or are you just taking some courses you didn't take before? 3 year program?
It's weird...I'm almost finished. I don't know what to do with myself.
- play?vrmbr
- I don't know which is what has made me so wary of the years. But I can opt out of most General Studies I think/hope.flavorful
- Well ... you'd be helping the fight against prostate cancer if you did janne's suggestion, haha.flavorful
- You know ... because you have a prostate.flavorful
- hahJaline
- Are you doing a Masters after?Jaline
- Yea, I'm trying to get everything done as quickly as possible so the next few years are going to be hell, haha.flavorful
- shit! I'm thinking about a Masters as well, but I may work for a bit first. Because I'm not ready to leave Ottawa :(Jaline
- good luck :)Jaline
- Get your Masters at PITT or CMU!
:Dflavorful - haha, maaaaybbe...Jaline
- do medicine, then politics..
become a Master Debater on the topic of Prostate Cancer!vrmbr - hahahahflavorful
- flavorful0
This is the best resource for books and the like. I'd stick with specific O'Reilly books though.
- o reilly is pretty good for reference but not as a primary book. more like to delve deeper...geralddean
- detritus0
As in most things in life - learn by doing.
My personal theory is that there are two types of people in the world - academics and do-ers.
Academics are a waste of space, money and effort.
Do-ers aren't.- er.. my scorn for academics only applies to real world business - I recognise the need for 'em, just not in work.detritus
- doers do not invent
academics dodrgs - Hmm. not really, drgs - but I get where you're coming from - hence my notage addendum.detritus
- Many of the great thinkers and inventors over the centuries have been the bodgers and the fiddlers - creatives 'like us'detritus
- ..but yeah - these days, if you're wanting to make gains in scitech, you need to have an academic environment.detritus
- accademics are just work shy fopsmimeartist
- if academics exist, and earn money - they are neededdrgs
- Same could be said for celebrities, but I'd still disagree!detritus
- I'm with Nairn on this one. Unfortunately as a result I'm going back to school next year because I can make more money if I do.flavorful
- * money if I do. :Xflavorful
- no, not necessarily, you simply ran out of options. or lack creative entrepreneurship.vrmbr
- most of the rich and really really rich people i know or met have done things themselvesvrmbr
- not that life is all about getting rich though. learning can be of great value to your personal growth as well.vrmbr
- No Janne I physically have to get a Masters to be considered for a VP job, haha.flavorful
- Are there creative ways around it? Time. This is a short cut. Being rich is my main motivator.flavorful
- ok. but you look from the employee perspective. that's ok.vrmbr
- the people i mentioned were mostly self-employed.vrmbr
- canuck0
I find that most flash courses are very basic, and are a waste of money.
- Jaline0
Okay, sorry, just tell me things I could learn, in general.
- Jaline0
I think I have a lot of the CSS and HTML down. I could always learn more, of course.
- drgs0
"To build, one must know. To know, one must learn." Stalin
- canuck0
Where are you looking Algonquin college?
- Jaline0
I was going to, Alex, but I don't think they have the stuff I may have to learn. Perhaps I will learn things on my own, but I'm not sure I'll have the time.
- Fariska0
For getting a grasp on classes i did this tutorial
http://www.gotoandlearn.com/play…
then read and applied the OOP subsection on the kirupa website
and well, kept doing.
- Corvo0
PHP
Basic Server management (Unix or Windows)(the advantage of taking courses over learn-by-doing is that (during the time you're in the classroom) you're not in your own environment with your usual distractions and loose learning objectives.)
- fyoucher10
I recommend getting Colin Moock's new AS3 book if u want to learn Flash coding. I just started reading it a cpl weeks ago and its written out VERY clearly and his Virtual Zoo example is about the easiest way to learn that I can think of. Its written with the beginner in mind which is great if you don't know $hit about coding. I've read his first two and this one is clearly easier to understand. Then come up with your own project to practice with.
- fugged0
I'd say - Start with a good foundation of (X)HTML, XML, CSS and Javascript. Flash is great, but I'd focus on the others first.
Then move onto server-side technologies. I would focus mostly on the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL and either Perl, Python or PHP), but you might want to know a bit about .NET as well.
I think a good foundation in JavaScript is crucial (will help you understand ActionScript a bit too). The DOM is your friend.
I always find that personal projects are a fantastic way to learn. But, sometimes a bit of education to get you off the ground and running is good. Bad habits are easy to pickup and hard to drop. Learn to do it the right way from the start. Messy and hacked-together solutions will only bite ya in the ass later. Less is more. OOP is your friend. Comment your code. Don't take the shortcut. Eat all your vegetables (even the mushy green ones). Do it right from the start, you'll thank yourself later.
Good luck :)
- Thanks.Jaline
- if you're learning LAMP you don't want to be bothering with .NET, go one way or the other.YAYPaul
- you can't dictate your clients platform all the time...fugged
- There are arguments for PHP/.NET but most corporations have a business need for .NET and pay more.flavorful
- I'll agree with you on that front. But if you're going to learn a language, learn one well...YAYPaul
- ...Then once you have PHP mostly mastered learn .NET and it's IDE.YAYPaul