The beginning of a journey.
What am I doing? #
I have to admit, I am a little surprised at myself. I was sure that I would never want to program computers. Ever. After a summer internship learning and writing simple SQL queries and sending reports of client and trade information throughout the office of a brokerage firm, I had discovered what my career would not be. Not only did I dislike sitting in front of a computer all day, I felt like my work was contained to the four walls of the office, never extending to the world beyond.
Fast forward almost ten years, and I’ve decided that I want to learn to code, and ultimately, to make websites.
So why the change of heart? I’ve realized that my perspective on programming was probably a bit limited, so here are some reasons why it has expanded.
1. The “programming” world is massive.
There is so much going on in the programming world that I wasn’t aware of when I was writing queries, and it’s growing more every day. From web pages to software to smart phone apps, there seems to be a niche for almost anyone who is interested. True, not all of these things would be considered “programming” in it’s strictest sense, but they certainly require a basic understanding of how to write code. I may not have been thrilled with my internship, but that was an incredibly small drop in the ocean that is today’s coding community.
2. Developers are on the cutting edge.
I can remember times when I’ve seen some of my developer friends going nuts on social media about the next big thing, and at the time thinking, “Well, I haven’t heard of it, so it’s probably not that big of a deal.” Sure enough, it became a big deal. The reality is that developers recognize the cutting edge of technology because many of them are working with it everyday. How epic to be a part of the next big thing.
3. People are changing the world with code.
Who knew that a few lines of code in a Harvard dorm room would end up changing the way the world communicates. Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny that Facebook ushered in a completely new paradigm for human interaction. We even came up with a new phrase to describe it: social networking. The Facebook story is just one of many examples of the influence a programmer can have on the world. I’ve even learned to appreciate the part that my meager SQL queries play in the larger development process.
Where am I headed? #
Over the next several months, it is my goal to 1) learn Javascript
2) learn and experiment with Ruby on Rails and 3) build a custom WordPress theme that will be a more comprehensive way to keep track of my progress and house examples of projects I’m working on. Occasionally I may also post interesting tidbits I pick up from my software programming class.
I will try to post every weekend and give an overview of what I’ve learned that week. I have several different resources I plan to use, which I will explain in a later post. Also, I have already begun to learn some elements of web development. As of right now, I have a fairly solid understanding of HTML and CSS, as well as a basic knowledge of the general concepts of programming. Still, even in these areas, I have a lot to learn. So, for all intents and purposes we’re starting from square one.
This is my journey to learn to make websites… feel free to come along.