NOTEPAD

I got into the website bug around 1995 when the company that I was working for started putting PC's on everyones desk. This was the beginning of the IT Revolution for me.

Web content was poor (by todays standards) but nevertheless it was new, exciting and annonymous. People were starting to put information on the web, and while searching for 'something' I stumbled across a website that said that you could do websites using Notepad.

Notepad! What - free with Windows - Notepad?

Yep, it was true. (It still is true) All web development software packages are just glorified versions of Notepad, (That might be a slight understatement - but you get the idea!) and they were right. And I proved it. I wrote a website in Notepad, back in 1995.

HTML

What I learnt doing this was HTML. Hyper-Text Markup Language. It was hard and it was cruel. There was no help if you made a mistake, no colour coding, no code hints, no WYSISWYG view. That is the way to learn and I am glad that I learnt it. Some professional web developers can't write (or even read) HTML.

Firstly: HTML ain't hard - although good design and nice appearance are another matter.

Secondly: HTML isn't expensive to learn either. There are so many resources out there - the hardest part is... ..well, there isn't one.

Thirdly: HTML is addictive. I find myself looking at posters or pictures, and imagining me building it with tables, roll-overs, sliced images, etc.. (Geeky - I know!)

I have been doing this now for over 10 years. I am officially a Geek.

PHP

Hmmm, PHP. This was a massive leap.

Dynamic websites? Nah..., I'll just stick to simple stuff - it sounds too over-complicated.

Wrong!

I was introduced to PHP - not really knowing what to expect and was hooked from day 1.
Kris (aka Mr PHP, 'Font of all Knowledge') was a good teacher and that makes a difference.

I started building dynamic websites and learning on the job. When we finally stopped for a rest and looked at what we had achieved - it was awesome.

PHP is easy! (Did I say that about HTML?) and the support available from fellow developers is unbelievable.

But I wanted more. More! MORE!

CSS

Wheeeee......another giant leap. CSS! Not just styles, but layouts.

CSS is web-design (or is web-design CSS?). Anyway, I love it. (I also hate it at times.)

Web design these days needs to be optimal, you know, proper-like. Validation, positioning, cross-browser compatible, printer friendly versions etc..

CSS is commonly used for styling, but layouts - thats a different feed for the animals. CSS (and now CSS2) can be used for so much, we are all really playing catchup. It makes so much sense to have all repetative stuff like 'font-size = ', 'background-color =' blah blah in a seperate file, as this leaves less code on your web pages, therefore a higher percentage of relevant content, therefore better optimisation, higher page rankings, more sales, big bonus, new car.... (OK, slightly caried away here)

So..

If I had never done that first website in Notepad, not learnt HTML...etc...etc...Then I would never have been able to offer you this little piece of technical brilliance.

(Although - I don't take the credit for it - just proving a point.)

..and so on

There is a next bit - but I'm currently working on it.

You know the icing...? well this is the candle, in the cherry, on the top of the cake.

Stay tuned.