As this semester comes to an end this week, the next topic of discussion regarding myself and web development comes into play as I move forward with this information. This semester in terms of this class has been one of the most challenging subjects to understand and have a grasp on learning since one of my first years during pursuing my undergraduate degree. I was hoping that it would be fun and slightly challenging in a new concept or manner. It was definitely both of those things — something I had not encountered before and absolutely challenging.

In terms of what I foresee next for myself and my journey to understanding web development and coding, I am grateful that I took this class and actually stuck it out to successfully make it to the end of the semester. After viewing what I have completed with my WordPress site, I am disappointed in the fact that I know that it has the potential to be SO MUCH more. However, I am very proud of what I have put forth regardless, especially knowing how daunting this assignment seemed to me when first presented and understanding the time and effort I put into trying to make this a functioning site that adhered to my proposed theme.

I think I will not completely abandon my WordPress site following this class, absolutely not. I think that realistically I will come back to it and tweak it here and there or actually use it as a podium for my thoughts as I finish completing my level one sommelier this summer in July. It can host itself as a nice site to refine my thoughts, general or granular, in regards to wine — especially since I have the domain name for a year, I don’t see why not. The hardest part that I was struggling with following the destruction of my original laptop mid-semester was re-doing the back-end installation of programs and I think that was the ultimate setback that frustrated me and discouraged me at times.

Believe it or not, I actually want to work more on my website following this class. I ran into a few bumps that I would like to resolve. In previous posts, I mentioned how web development entails a lot of problem solving. This is a skill I would continue to exercise as I figure out how to improve the map and contact form on my page. When developing my website for the final project, I did not think I would touch it again once this class was over. However, I am inspired to first figure out the issue to my website problems and then create my own personal portfolio website with the tips and tricks that I have learned in this class. Fortunately, I am not taking any courses over the summer so I am hoping to embark on another frustrating journey and finish launching my website by the end of the summer.

Another thing I hope plan to do is go through the syllabus again and refresh my memory of topics that I struggled with. For example, I know we did the PHP lesson through a different resource than Codeacademy, but I would like to try taking the Codeacademy lesson to see if this would help improve my knowledge of PHP. I think going through material I have seen before would improve my comfortability with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP.

I really don’t want to forget the skills that I have learned in this class. A matter of fact, I was hoping to turn this into a hobby. I enjoy the feeling of being able to code something correctly and seeing my vision work! I know the world of web development is a lot more intense than this course, but who knows where my skills will take me? It would also be interesting to try going to a coding meet-up this summer. I can’t wait to see where my new journey takes me!

My next step is a new project I want to work on. I want to create a site for our toolkit at work. The toolkit explains the steps our clients need  to take in order to livestream their events through our services. The website I want to create will have different pages that explain the process. Then I am going to create a form where the client submits their materials. This would include a box for the title of event, the description, livestream embed code, and the image. I want to be working on this for the next month. Our next series of events is in September, so I want to make sure I have it done and ready and tested before then.

Looking back at these past couple of months, I am very glad I took this class. It has allowed me to learn something I had zero knowledge of. I did not even know the different languages. The class exposed me to different resources like Codecademy where I can learn more on my own. I also learned a valuable skill, which is that the answer is always available somewhere and all you need to do is look. I, now, Google everything. Reddit is a huge resource for me and not just for coding questions, but any question I have. I look up news, resources, articles about food, fitness, etc. It is not easy to look things up. You need to know what key words to use and you can not use too many words in your search. You need to keep it simple and straightforward.

I want to learn C++ and use the resources I have to do so. C++ is also widely considered the language of choice when performance is needed. It is mature and can run anywhere. I did hear that it is a little risky and that it is preferred to use other higher level languages like PHP and Javascript in most business applications today. This is because they have managed memory that make them safer to code in. I feel like it would be interesting to learn or just pick one of the languages we learned, like JavaScript or HTML, and work more with it until I master it and become an expert at it. I do think this experience made me realize that web development is not the route for me. While it was a good learning experience and it added a lot of value to me and my work, I do not see myself doing web development as a career. I am happy that I have a basic knowledge of it now but that is about it.

I think this was a really good class for me to take. It allowed me to understand what was possible in addition to fairly judging my limits so far. I think the final class was probably the most beneficial for me because it was both corrective and eye opening.

With my current job, we do a ton of planning and scheduling for interviews and whatnot, but most of our work is done by one or two people in a couple sittings. When I said “eye opening,” I mean it was good to hear from a programmer who was previously working directly in journalism/WaPo because I felt like the logic behind completing assignments in one and the other are completely different.

Most of the work is solitary or with perhaps one other person filling in background information. Whereas in coding, it’s several people building the same final project. I think putting me in the position where I have to dedicate a ton of sittings to one project and work with a number of different people was the most “out of my element” part.

Going off of that tangent, the most immediate “what’s next” change for me would be applying some of those same practices for successful coding projects to my own work. Dedicating more sittings to assignments and asking for more eyes on work rather than just a copy desk and one other person.

As for code-driven plans, I still want to extend my domain into the following year and use it as a host for a short project. It’s not too much of a weighty endeavor, but it also wouldn’t be brief. (I mentioned it in class, but I want to make about 5 different avatars in Pokemon Game Boy fashion and draw boundaries and obstacles for around two levels.

I still have the server on my computer and I want to write out the HTML designs for the unique characters on the test site. It’s something I’d like to add to my resume. Although it’s not necessarily advanced enough to land a job at Sony or Nintendo, it’s still neat to show you have practical knowledge of different fields. I’ll also build off of it, depending on how well it looks after the first couple stages.

Let’s get back to the roots of my decision — namely the reason why I chose to take this course, even though it is not part of my program. At first, I thought “I’m done with most of my course requirements, so it would be fun to take something different, a class that could help me spread my wings.” I did it multiple times during my undergraduate study, where I have developed my passion for film photography. Thus, in January of 2019, my brain’s craving for fresh ideas was about to be satisfied. This investment of my time definitely paid off, as right now I can update my resume with a description of the basic web development skills I have acquired. After finishing the class, I will definitely aim to advance my skills and try to practice the languages I have learned throughout the course so that my knowledge doesn’t fade away.

I think I will concentrate on the basics such as HTML and CSS, which I could later on put on my resume and apply in my future career in media creation for my organization and clients. I could take on more tech-savvy projects and show off my skills to employers. I will definitely try to build confidence in my own abilities through online practice and maybe contribute to other Open Source projects on GitHub. Through this, I will make sure I understand the code and gain confidence in myself and whether I can articulate how to use it.

To conclude, it was an interesting experience, even though it required a lot of work and psychological strength. In the future, I will definitely consider taking a lighter course, especially when developing my professional career at the same time as I am working on my master’s degree.