Posted by Peter Fox on 11/16/06 17:42

Following on from Gregor's message. . .
>Thanks Peter and everyone who responded, even the hijackers.
>I spend about ten hours per week, at this point, on purely theoretical study
>(mostly php) and about 60 hours per week actually building webpages. I
>really enjoy the coding aspect. I'm a lot weaker at graphics, although I
>enjoy that, too.
Aha! A /real/ programmer aims to spend 10 hours a week working and 60
in the pub. Programming _is not labouring_ but creative design and
efficient implementation.

I'm being a bit harsh :) Study of technology is fine but being fluent
at putting it to use is what matters. Suppose a light bulb fuses - You
don't need a degree in electrical engineering to fix it, you don't need
to put on your high-viz vest ... ...what you do need is to have got a
spare, know where it is and got a torch so you can find it in the dark.

>
>I'm working on my first page for someone else, a free job for a local
>neighborhood association. They are happy so far,
Get feedback from users and non-users. For example the graphics might
be cool but unreadable to those with poor eyesight or colour blind. The
layout might be easy to navigate but important information on each page
may be muddled.

>Anyway, a question about your reply. I really hadn't considered spending
>the time to learn about webservers, i.e. Apache. I just ftp the files to my
>host and forget about it. About my only work above the public_html
>directory is to install a few db-connection scripts and a few tweaks to
>php.ini. Do you really think it's that important for me?
Yes. You don't need to spend more than half an hour getting an overview
and bookmarking a few links. Knowing what httaccess and mod-rewrite do
is sufficient, knowing what sort of things happen in the config file is
important. You may not choose to use any of these features (I don't)
but knowing they are there if you want them is useful. [Remember that
spare lightbulb - There when you need it.]

PS. Don't get bogged down in graphics programs. Use what you have to
explore techniques then spend some time applying them before going
through the cycle again, possibly with extra tools.


--
PETER FOX Not the same since the cardboard box company folded
peterfox@eminent.demon.co.uk.not.this.bit.no.html
2 Tees Close, Witham, Essex.
Gravity beer in Essex <http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk>

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