So I have a general knowledge of computers and networking however I don’t know code at all. I am the type of person that takes on complex issues and figuring them out from scratch. I work in law enforcement and one of the things I have to deal with is cars that get impounded. Our office is on a paper system and nothing is digitized. My question is what coding would I need to learn? Would it be a combo of things such as a language and knowledge about databases. Essentially I’m asking for a supply list what would you suggest someone with no experience to learn in able to complete a program that could track and manage cars and fees for a small department.
This question is not really suitable for StackOverflow but maybe https://stackexchange.com/. Anyhow, to digitize everything you would need a UI (User interface) that could be made in HTML and CSS and you would also need to learn javascript to handle the logic in the browser.
For the database, I would go with https://Firebase.com since its free tier is awesome and good for your use case. It is a database as a service so you wouldn't need to learn another special language since you could interact with the database using Javascript.
Summary: HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT
Related
Where I stand: I am a junior in college. I have a solid background in Java and C++. I've been coding websites in JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and PHP (using MySql databases) since middle school. I have only just uncovered the magical box filled with these mysterious "frameworks."
My Predicament: After reading in my spare time wikis, blogs, and StackOverflow questions week after week for the past few months, I feel that I am no closer to understanding the items in this ominous list and how they relate to one another.
Yeoman, Grunt, Linemanjs, Bower
Nodejs, Go, PHP
Mongodb, Couchdb, MySql
Angularjs, Ember, Backbone
Terms like: boilerplate, scaffolding, frameworks, etc...
What I am asking: I understand that explaining any one of the above would be a question too big for a single Stack Overflow question, but that's not what I'm looking for. What I am looking for is a guide that explains in-depth what each of these groups are used for and if/how they can be combined (ex: using Angularjs with Nodejs). I am happy with a link if an article already exists, but I have yet to find an article that covers all of the above.
El Fin: I love learning new languages (especially for the web), but right now I feel like I'm blinded, running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. A shove in the right direction would be great :)
I'll put this in as an answer to help clarify why this is too broad.
I think that the GREAT BIG point you are missing is that there are specific reasons someone chooses a particular framework or server environment when they start a project.
This is all dependent of a boatload of things that like budget, knowledge, availability, expected scope of the project, etc... It also may come down to, "I'm starting this new project, what is available in this work environment for me to use?"
Then you don't really get to choose. You get what you get.
So what's the best package of technologies to use? That SO depends on what you're doing.
Example: If you are building a simple site for a local store that just needs a few pages, and you want to keep your costs low. A simple LAMP solution would work fine. But if you want to design the next Facebook, even though the core of the system could be build using all LAMP (and it in fact IS), you will need MUCH more powerful servers, and MUCH better and more efficient coding. Not to mention a boatload of server space for both the site AND the database.
In many cases, when you see people pooling together what might be considered obscure technologies, all they really break down to are collections of libraries. It's like choosing JQuery over some other JS library that essentially does the same thing. One may be better than the other. But you go with what you are comfortable with.
So, when you are asking about how, why, and in which way, do people combine technologies together, there is no way to answer that at all. Other than to say, it's specific to their needs. And that's about it.
Reading articles that compare all these different things together will only give you an idea of what they are capable of, and what their limitations are. In the end, it's always a matter of opinion what is better. Otherwise we would all be coding with the same thing.
For my part, I prefer PHP over ASP. I prefer working straight out of a text editor than using an IDE or any MVC framework. I use jQuery where it's needed, but don't over use it.
But that's just me.
And I'm sure this still didn't answer your question.
Years ago (pre-web) I used to be a Fortran developer (yes it was a very long time ago!) but these days I run a small non-IT business. I would like to develop a database application for my clients to access via a browser (or maybe down the line via a mobile phone). I haven't done any programming for a while apart from some VB macros in Microsoft Excel. I would be grateful if anyone could suggest the best language/technology to learn to get me heading in the right direction.
As Neil said in his comments there are dozens of different, valid answers to this.
Usually I would suggest going with a language you already know, but neither Fortran or VBA are really suited for this task, as far as I know.
Personally I would suggest Django, which is a web framework written in Python. It simplifies many common tasks and it is very well documented.
But there are many more possible solutions.
Before I started with a framework I'd break the problem into pieces. If you've never done anything with a database before you'll find that challenging enough without piling web or mobile on top of it.
Model your problem and get a good object or data model in place. Test that thoroughly without thinking about UI. Once you have that, perhaps you can expose it as services that any UI can call.
You'll quickly become overwhelmed if you try to do it all at once.
Here's another thought: If these are paying customers, why not do yourself and them a favor and hire someone that knows how to do this? It's great that you used to write Fortran, but if you haven't kept up you won't be doing your business any good by putting out a bad first effort for customers to see.
Do it right - get a professional. Do your learning on your own time.
You can use ASP.NET and SQL Server to get something online that will allow users to edit a database table fairly easily. They've simplified it to the point where you can drag and drop the necessary controls (GridView and a SqlDataSource for instance) and define your datasource in a wizard for most simple table CRUD functionality. Basically give users the ability to edit a table without writing any code.
If you need to do something a little more difficult it's easy to write code that will add functionality to the original drag/drop stuff you did.
There are lots of good resources out there for asp.net and C# also, so it will help you get up to speed quickly.
Keep in mind that I work almost entirely with .NET/SQL Server so my opinion will be slanted towards them...
Forgive me if this is the wrong place but I am curious as to how other programmers feel about this topic:
I am currently working on my portfolio site, it is being designed and built in silverlight 4. I initially started off with a typical stylised e-folio theme much like a standard website in terms of layout and flow.
As I work more in the concept stages something has struck me. Am I trying to shoe-horn yesterday into today? What I am talking about is UI expectations. I'm all for clean user interfaces but that does not mean they should not take advantage of new concepts in presentation right?
If you where to develop a site in silverlight as your own portfolio piece would you stick to the tried and tested "website" feel or would you try to come up with a UI that is intuitive and complements the technology?
I feel that UI discussions are all the more important now that all forms of web development are allowing better methods to engage the user.
One of the most important things in UI design is to avoid being "clever". Understand the cultural, psychological and experiential expectations of your users and meet those expectations, don't challenge them. If a user has to learn your UI concept, or an unusual mental model of information organization, you have failed.
Read The Design of Everyday Things and Designing Visual Interfaces to dig into these ideas more deeply.
There is (very nearly) no such thing as a new UI scheme - simply new arrangements of the basic concepts of user interaction - see the iPod click wheel, for example. Almost without fail, anyone who thinks they have come up with some great new interface concept has actually just come up with crap that doesn't follow any of the rules of UI design - and it's bound to frustrate users, make them feel stupid, or make them think the designer is stupid.
If you understand these basic pieces, you can use new technologies like Silverlight to put them together in better ways than ever before. Again, the key is understanding them and what drives them, and how they align with the user's conscious and unconscious needs.
There's two answers to this: macro and micro.
On micro level, the usual UI design idea is to NOT violate the users' expectations.
If they expect a certain type of widget/flow/look to do "X", don't make your site do "Y". It confuses or even frustrates the users.
However, you can always come up with new widgets/paradigms! (an example would be expandable panes upon introduction of JavaScript)
On a macro level, if you can come up with a new work/view/data flow or feel due to new technologies used (Silverlight), most certainly try it!
However, as usual, follow the Nielsen mantra... Hallway test!
Come up with an idea, prototype, and try it out on 5 people you know (coworkers, friends, family) to gauge usability "in real life".
I would avoid making a Silverlight application that is the same as a web page. But were I to make a portfolio, I wouldn't put all my eggs in the Silverlight basket either. (Well unless I had the money to wait for a Silverlight job.)
I would look to embed a couple small applications made in Silverlight. Depending on what you want to emphasize, it could even be something as simple as a calculator with cool effects on the keys. Another idea is some kind of feed reader.
Feel free to answer the question in the title as generally as I posed it, I offer some more details and specifics below.
Currently I develop and maintain a somewhat legacy business app (ASP/SQL) that is highly customizable allowing for moderate to full customization on: custom fields, forms, views, reports, actions, events, workflows, etc. This customization is necessary in the domain we develop for and has allowed us to build a niche.
I have been reading up on the inner-platform effect and ways of implementing high level user defined customization and have concluded that we do suffer from many of the inner-platform effect problems because essentially we have created a high level abstraction on top of the SQL. The organization of custom fields is implemented in a similar way to the approach found here
http://blog.springsource.com/arjen/archives/2008/01/24/storing-custom-fields-in-the-database/
We use something similar to the meta database method described in that article. All customization is built around this approach and in many ways we suffer from database on top of a database.
The end result is something that looks fantastic on paper yet the more features are added and custom coding is done for clients the more of a mess everything becomes. It seems that the more I read the more I realize this is somewhat of an anti-pattern. It also seems that the more I try to read the more I find so little has been written on the topic. Anyways, I am trying to learn modern approaches to this problem and trying to find more discussion/articles on the topic. Are Database systems such as CouchDB relevant to this type of application?
My question is clearly pretty general. It seems like there is a lot against this kind of application in favor of just "knowing and defining your domain better". Are there any good/better ways to implement this kind of application? I'm not looking for black and white answers, and any further readings on the subject would be fantastic. Thanks for any help.
My answer is be conscious and clear about what is for a plugin to do and what is a user setting. In that case, your platform and your settings are different. Your application provides basic services and is unabashedly a platform. It may also provide an application built on that platform.
So in that case you focus on programmer interfaces instead of implementation possibilities.
The standard advice in CS is to create another level of abstraction, not sure if that's not the problem here.
The only advice I could give is to push as much functionality onto the database, given it's the platform. SQL Server supports custom functions, fields and stored (SQL) procedures.
Either that or try to pull repeated functionality into separate functions in ASP.
I'm going to write a rather big/complex WinForm application such as Paint.NET, SharpDevelop, etc. I think one of the most important things to build such an application is to structure the project properly to increase maintainability and control the complexity.
So what kind of patterns or practices show I use? Any blog posts, papers, open source projects are welcomed. I'm trying to learn something from SharpDevelop but it's rather huge for me to step into.
PS: I'm an experienced programmer formerly targeting to web developement(asp.net, rails, etc.). So I know some design principles and how to use them when implement business logics. Maybe I really need now is a sample to get started with a WinForm application so that I can realize how to handle the menus, controls and others. I've learnt something about the MVP pattern but still unconfident to start a large/complex application.
For big projects the methodology and the tools you are using are equally as important as the architectural design. You need to set up a source control system (like SVN) from day one. Also, it is very good to have a standard build procedure and perform builds in a daily basis. The build procedure should include running all tests, which you should also put some effort in implementing from the start.
Regarding the structure, I believe the single most important thing is to divide your project into building blocks with mimimal dependecies on each other. This way you will be able to think about one small part of the system at the same time and not have to face the full complexity of it. It will also help delegate some work to a fellow programmer, if you have this chance.
In order to get started, I recommend that you implement first something minimal as quick as possible. Then work to make it better and add functionality. This will keep you motivated as you will have something concrete to work with. It will also help you identify major design flaws and important issues early enough to correct them.
This is a good beginners guide from Microsoft itself:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/default.aspx
check the Windows track there.
After mastering basics - and since you are an experienced developer - you can check this book "patterns & practices Application Architecture Guide 2.0" from Microsoft also.
I would imagine that many of the techniques that make for successful web projects will translate to Winforms projects. Start small and grow the application incrementally. Try to keep the entire application building/working while you add features one at a time.