Applies to web design and just about any type of programming too!
A HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!!
Let’s start off with a scary premise… You’re starting a project or maybe you’re knee deep in the middle of one and you just feel stuck, or trapped. You’ve become mired in details and trying to be a programming hero, and you feel like you’re going in all directions at once! You need a better way to manage your workflow, young padawan…
In this video we lay out 5 steps to speed up your workflow whether a web designer or a programmer you be! Without too many spoilers, I’ll give you a little taste of what I’m talking about with tip number 4: Get the UI in front of the client ASAP. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t…) how many programmers and designers want to have this almost completed, work of DiVincian (yes that’s a word now) art to show the client. Nope, “You can mock all this up in HTML and you get the feedback from your client as quickly as possible.” Wouldn’t it suck to build something up and then have to change “…core behavior in your application because the client didn’t quite know what they wanted until they saw it?” Check out this video and free up some more time, money, and sanity for yourself.
I come from a family of teachers, and in carrying on the tradition, in 2002, I started creating web design and development courses for all those non-nerds out there.
The average person is socially more adept than your average nerd – this is true. But unfortunately, this typically means the average individual needs a more ‘human’ explanation of the languages of web design and development. If you are not aware, here they are:
HTML5
CSS3
JavaScript
PHP
The problem with so many code courses out there, is that they are ‘taught’ by nerds who don’t know how to teach. Yes, you are right, teaching is a separate skill from coding. Imagine that!!
🙂
Teacher + Programmer = rare combo
Fortunately, my experience teaching, and 20+ years experience as a coder/programmer, gives me the right mix of skills that allows me to create learning experiences that are fun, easy and very effective. You will learn more, and faster with my web design and development training package.
… But don’t take my word for it, here is an email I recently got from a student:
Hi Mr. Mischook,
Your courses are amazing. I can’t thank you enough.
I had tried a few other online programs (free and paid), without success. I felt like I just couldn’t hack it after trying those resources, and that maybe learning to code wasn’t for me after all. But I still had a deep desire to learn how to program.
I went back to work on my first (and so far, my only) webpage that I started in CodePen when I was attempting to learn to code through other sources. I left the page in complete shambles, until I found your courses on StudioWeb via your YouTube videos. Now, it looks presentable (in my opinion). I couldn’t be happier.
Your courses are so well-done and the sequence makes perfect sense. You fill in all the gaps, and I feel like I actually understand what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, which is very important to me. (I like details.) I purchased your book Web Design: Start Here as a reference manual. I’m looking forward to your entrepreneurship course once I complete your web developer course.
Forgive me if I’m over the top or inappropriate. I just appreciate your efforts, and I hope that your websites gain many new subscribers.
Cheers!
Stacey Nash
Stacey was nice enough to give me permission to use her email. Thanks Stacey!
If you would like to learn web design and programming as quickly as easily Stacey has, check out my courses.
Some of the most important things programmers need to learn, are the foundational concepts and techniques I refer to as the ‘core’.
Here are few examples:
• consistent and proper naming conventions.
• code formatting.
• simple modular code.
• using accepted design patterns like MVC.
• importance of being consistent with the way an apps’ codebase is structured.
Sadly, fundamentals like these are omitted by most online courses. These lessons should be interwoven within the context of any good programming course.
The ‘core’ principles are soooooo important, because they not only provide a solid foundation, they actually speed up the process of learning.
Check out my popular web design and development training package:
For database driven websites (web apps,) typically the biggest bottleneck is the database. So be sure your database is optimized. With SQL based databases, that starts with proper table design and smart indexing. That will handle 98% of websites performance needs.
In terms of client side code (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript,) it comes down to lazy loading strategies, the use of CDNs, and being sure you don’t have boatloads of JavaScript slowing everything down.
How about image optimization?
Back when I started building websites, in the day of the dinosaurs (1990’s)we used to be concerned about image size, and how ‘big’ the webpages were in terms of kilobytes … but we live in the YouTube generation now, with high speed mobile internet, HD and 4k video being watched on smartphones. That means that a data limitation is typically NOT the bottleneck anymore … it’s processing (of code) on both the client and server.
If you are reading this, you probably want to learn modern web design and development, or you may already know how to build websites, but you want to become really confident in your web skills … just like all my students who took my unique web design and programming training course.
After you take my course, you will be amazed at how much you know! Below, you will find a few student quotes, screen captured from YouTube comments.
Evil, evil, evil Wix!! That is the cry of many web designers. Will Wix kill web design? Short answer: nope.
Why won’t Wix just kill web design?
Simple answer: Wix doesn’t do it all, and frankly, professional web designers should just embrace Wix as an optional tool. Yes, some small business will opt for Wix (or some other web builder,) but many will realize sooner or later, that it does have its’ limits. When small business owners figure this out, in comes the modern web designer of 2018 and beyond!
Consider this:
There has always been an evolution in the software field. What I have seen over and over again in the last 23 years, is the promise of amazing leaps forward, where we ONLY end up with gradual improvement.
These days we can produce web apps and websites in a fraction of the time it used to take us, but the work for well trained web developers is still there, because the bar for modern websites is just simply higher today. The tools, push the bar up. Which is good!
So yes, some older practices/jobs go, but they are just replaced with new specializations in the field. To point, Wix. Yes, a non developer / amateur can put out a basic site with Wix, but they will often lack good UI, and especially UX skills, that make sites successful.
… Wix cannot account for good UX. Yes, Wix can make a site look good. But any experienced designer knows that UX is far, far more important than UI.
In terms of extended functionality, Wix now has a programmatic JavaScript layer for more advanced website customization. But you have to know JavaScript. So here is an example of how a good JavaScript coder who has UX skills, can work (and bill) in the Wix world.
For me, Wix is just another tool of the trade that smart web designers embrace.
If you want to learn web design and programming in record time, take my IWD course! It will make working with Wix, WordPress and vanilla web design, as easy as slicing an apple pie.
Someone asked me, if I had to pick the most important things you can do to improve your programming, what would it be?
Have a consistent self describing naming convention. This saves you yuuge time because you will make less mistakes and be able to code more quickly.
Keep your code fine-grained. This means you write functions and methods that do only 1 thing … Not five. This will keep your code easy to understand, to debug and expand.
The first thing to do when starting a new project, is to see what others have done. Perhaps there will be libraries to leverage, perhaps even entire open-source software you can use as a starting point. This is yuuge!
Love the YouTube channel, I just wondered what your thoughts on Webflow are? Will it spell the end of web development as we know it (coding) or will developers have to adopt a more visual approach to building a website with such as platforms like Webflow? I realise that the system is built for designers, however without the need for a developer on a platform such as this, the code is seminally marked up, they keep increasing the features capability and complexity, I ask the question where do we fit in if platforms like this become very popular?
My answer:
I don’t see it as a threat – it is a tool.
A big part of modern web design and development goes WAY beyond code:
Site aesthetic design – pre code design if you will
UX – making the site EASY to use
Information design / architecture, if you will. WHAT to place on the site
Setting up the domain, hosting … the basic mechanics of it
Tweaking – I’ve always found that no matter how good the tool, you will need to know code to tweak it
Then there is consulting on social media strategy, content marketing strategy
Finally, the websites function: do they need an e-commerce setup, wordpress, etc …
So Webflow, if it works as perfectly, can help automate the process and perhaps shift your time allocation (meaning you’ll write less code,) but you will still have plenty of work to do as a web designer/developer.
This is nothing new. In the early 2000’s, we did lots of stuff as web designer / developers that we no longer have to do because of better tools … and it’s a good thing!
Regardless of the tools that come out, it’s still good to know the code behind the pages and to learn how to put things together, because it will make you life easier as a web professional and even as a small business owner.
It is well known that code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python) is now an essential subject for students of all ages. Many US states and countries around the world, are making code a core part of their curriculum.
… The challenge many schools are facing though, is finding teachers to teach the coding classes.
StudioWeb’s Professional Development in Teaching Code
After working with many schools in the US and abroad, StudioWeb has developed an effective and engaging professional development program for teachers who have never written a single line of code!
Learn to teach code as you learn the course material for your classes
Teacher’s are super busy, and so it makes sense for them to learn to teach code, with the course material that they will be using to teach their students with. It’s a two for one!! The StudioWeb program has proven to fit that role perfectly.
How does it work?
Teachers do the StudioWeb courses on the subjects they will be teaching … like HTML, JavaScript, Python.
As teachers learn to code, they will also be learning the structure of the lessons, quizzes, projects and the code challenges!
Now teachers know how to code, and they know the courses they will be teaching with!
So rather than learning the coding languages, then having to find or develop a curriculum … professional development with StudioWeb means you get both at the same time.
… Needless to say, teachers love it!
If you are interested in learning how to teach code with our teacher approved (and proven!) curriculum, you are invited to contact us.
