New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Hi there -does anyone know if the virtual pc is good for distance learning - I'm thinking of doing a 2 yr on line IT course - starting from scratch - I'm a complete beginner - and ending with front end web design - but all the tutorials and software is for pc's - they've offered me a laptop at a really good price -but I'd much rather use my mac (of course)- a trusty 10.2.8 OSX - I'd have to buy more ram -and windows XP (am i right?)do you think this is the way to go ? any advice would be received with huge thanks! I was shocked that I couldn't use my mac initially- and then got excited when I found virtual pc might do the trick.
|
quote |
is the next Chiquita
Join Date: Feb 2005
|
I haven't used VPC so I'll let someone answer it....
But you said you'll be doing front end web design...I'm very sure there's mac programs, and wouldn't it make more sense to use them instead of learning from PC programs and end up buying a PC because you can't use Mac programs? I'll have to ask my wife, but I think she said that Mac programs for this stuff are much better than PC...Seems to me it makes more sense to learn it in Mac. |
quote |
Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
|
I'm moving this to General Discussion and renaming the title because I suspect this will become a broader discussion of various applications, how to learn web programming, etc.
Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, and the like are all available for Mac OS X. You should be able to get those same software titles for your Mac through the school or with a substantial educational discount through an outlet like Academic Superstore. Exactly what do the tutorials for your classes look like? What applications do they require? WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors like Dreamweaver are not really suited for serious web work, IMO. The biggest flaw to learning with these apps is that they don't teach you the importance of the underlying code. A developer is only as good as his/her code, not necessarily the tools he/she uses. WYSIWYG editors also historically produce sloppy, inefficient code. I don't know if they've improved substantially very recently, but I rather doubt it. I learned to code with a simple text editor. That's all anyone really needs to make a gorgeous web site. P.S. Glad to see you got your account working, anne. The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting. |
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Quote:
|
|
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
Virtual PC runs amazingly slow, I really don't think that is the route you'd want to go.
Is this course for some sort for certification or are you just doing it to learn it? |
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Quote:
|
|
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Quote:
|
|
quote |
Senior Member
|
You don't really need to take classes to learn web design. Go out an buy some books. The programs their refering to are prolly editors, which aren't really needed. There are plenty of decent editors.
|
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
anne, I recently (within the past year or two) learned real web design...as in more than basic HTML.
I'd recommend staying away from a course, especially one that is two years old for web design. www.w3schools.com is an excellent source to learn tons of web languages. What I'd really recommend is to push yourself, take up projects that you aren't positive you can do, google help if you need it, post at forums asking for help, there are plenty out there that will be glad to help. Learning the basics is pretty easy, but implementing them them is there you need creativity. If you are doing dynamic languages like javascript, it's a lot about problem solving and analytical thinking. Again, I question weather a two year old course will cover XHTML, which should be a must for any new web dev. |
quote |
hustlin
Join Date: May 2004
|
I agree with ast3r3x. You'll actually probably have a harder time jumping through all of the hoops of the course and using a pc than learning on your own.
O'Reilly books are very good. See here for the list of web development books. What I've done is check out the amazon reviews for a book to see what people are saying about it (is the book good for beginners, only for experts?), then get it through Interlibrary Loan, which is a service that your public or university will provide for free or a low fee. Then, if it's a good book, I buy it. Books + internet are better because you can go at your own pace. You'll save a lot of money and probably learn more. |
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
I really can't thank you guys enough- all your advice I shall take -I now won't touch that course with a barge pole and I'll spend the money on mac programs and books -and a nikon d 70 camera -and an i pod -and a .............
it's absolutely brilliant that I found your website - phew! |
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
Again, just don't be afraid to ask questions. One of the things I am skeptical about courses like that is not that they teach you how to do use different languages, but that they don't teach you how to implement things and tie it all together.
Again I want to stress...ask questions, or google your problem, there are tons of websites that have something about almost anything. |
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
Quote:
|
|
quote |
Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
|
Yeah, W3School rocks. I still use it from time to time whenever I need a refresher about something I haven't used in a long time.
As you're making your pages, I highly recommend validating the code as you go. That'll help you from making mistakes early on that could balloon into huge problems that you'd have to fix later. Once you understand the very basics of XHTML, I also strongly suggest learning CSS. The W3Schools pages don't cover everything, of course. So, when you're comfortable with what they have to offer in XHTML and CSS, you can look to W3C for complete (albeit sometimes technical) descriptions of the languages. W3C is the organization that sets the standards. Here are some additional pages you may find useful: Getting Started with HTML CSS Layout Techniques: for Fun and Profit CSS/edge css Zen Garden Designing with Web Standards The Advanced HTML/CSS Resources Important Note: Some tutorials say things like: Quote:
The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting. |
|
quote |
Senior Member
|
That's still correct. The <p> tag though in xhtml must be <p /> though if you don't wish to end it.
w3schools is great, and responding to a comment before, Javascript isn't dynamic, it's interactive. Php/ASP.net/JSP is dynamic. |
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
Quote:
I never use nested paragraphs though. Quote:
|
||
quote |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Rockie Mountains
|
Quote:
Thanks for listing the applicable pages. I'll check them out. Looks like you've helped at least two people, Brad. Will the text editor already installed on my PB do the trick? Once again, applenova (and Brad) saves the day (and enough money to buy more icrack)! (Note the bold text. Wahoo! You can teach an old dog new tricks!) "A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other." Baltasar Gracian |
|
quote |
Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
|
Yeah. TextEdit does really well.
I also really like SubEthaEdit because it has nice tag coloring. All the coding I've done for AppleNova and a few other sites has been done entirely in SubEthaEdit and TextEdit. Oh. And... The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting. |
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
You could use TextEdit, but I think you'll find most members recommending BBEdit (not free) or SubEthaEdit (free)
|
quote |
New Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
|
More help from such a kindly forum - validate I shall !
|
quote |
Senior Member
|
Quote:
|
|
quote |
25 chars of wasted space.
|
Yeah, it seems that chapter they are using javascript/asp/personal web server stuff.
Anyways...I've always thought it best to stick to PHP and use javascript only when needed |
quote |
Posting Rules | Navigation |
|
Thread Tools | |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Q1 - 2005 : The State of Web Design | drewprops | General Discussion | 22 | 2005-07-12 02:03 |