Web Design Degree Useless?

[Alen]

I’ve found that in this industry, you need an insatiable hunger to learn

This is the reason why many of seasoned developers switch to managerial roles and hire out of school, no kids, work for a dalla… people.

I mean try staying up to date with everything + wife + 2 kids!!!

Let’s just say. Insomnia.

[Erik]

@Alen I hear ya.. I have 3 kids and a craba** wife lol

[nixnerd]

Right there with you Alen. Except for one more kid. I’m ACTIVELY working on a way to make life more manageable.

@Erik, I’d really recommend you stay away from WordPress right now. Hell… maybe don’t ever go back. Just saying.

[shaneisme]

Oh you should definitely reverse-engineer stuff to see how it works. I still do this!

See a site that does something awesome? Dig into the source, find out everything… new toys.

I’m not 100% sure PHP is a place to begin these days… don’t get me wrong, you can still get work doing it, but for back-end I’d go with Ruby, Python or JavaScript via Node. Learning PHP from WordPress is probably not a good idea, maybe instead check out PHP frameworks like Laravel to build your own thing.

[Erik]

@NIXThe reason I started with WordPress is it’s easy and I could make some money building simple WordPress sites for customers. I built 4 already just to get a portfolio started… If WordPress is the devil what do you suggest?

[Alen]

Is this a ok way to learn, or should I be learning to build from scratch?

Whenever my parents bought me toys, I would just disassemble them and ultimately destroy them.

Whenever I would buy a new camera or any electronic, I would never read the manual.

I always tinkered with stuff.

Web stuff is pretty much the same for me.

I just build, until I hit a road block, then I research and reevaluate. Learn then implement. Or rewrite.

Again. I don’t think there’s one way of learning. You have to figure out what works best for you.

[nixnerd]

The reason I started with WordPress is it’s easy and I could make some money building simple WordPress sites for customers.

You could make about 4-5 times as much building custom stuff. Maybe more.

First ask yourself… how many projects need a full-blown CMS? Probably not nearly as many as you think. Client saying “I need to change photos!” is NOT a sufficient reason.

They want a blog? I recommend Ghost. But don’t worry about that for now.

[Erik]

@shaneismeI did just read that major colleges are really stressing on teaching Python now because of all the Apps… not sure I want to go that route though.

[Erik]

This is all great information.. but, what software does a guy get to start to even build a site from scratch as a learning tool.

[nixnerd]

Python is good because it’s EASY as hell to learn. And… maybe you should learn it. It might be the best general purpose language out there. But… not nearly as ubiquitous as Javascript and pretty cumbersome to work with on the web. There’s a really fragmented community around it. Which I found frustrating.

Remember: Many colleges taught Java and only Java for years! What do they know?

[Alen]

While I think WordPress is complete mess. People still make a killing developing for it. I work with WordPress daily. It makes money. What I think about it doesn’t really matter. There is a need for it. A huge one at that. So to just dismiss it is going about it the wrong way. I think learning it and realizing the limitations, will ultimately make you a better developer. Plus, it’s another skill in your arsenal.

If you’re serving general public, small businesses, it’s WordPress by default. Good luck trying to convince someone to invest in custom solution. It’s just the reality.

If you’re into medium to large businesses then learning how to architect a system, working with large code base (OOP), etc becomes more important.

[nixnerd]

Here is what you need:

1. A computer
2. A text editor
3. An Internet connection
4. A terminal/CLI (preferably)

That’s pretty much it!

[nixnerd]

Good luck trying to convince someone to invest in custom solution. It’s just the reality.

I do this all the time… but I’ve been in sales since I was out of High School. It’s just kind of my thing.

Alen is right but WordPress will probably just confuse you right now IMHO.

[Erik]

@NIX

Here is what you need:

• A computer
• A text editor
• An Internet connection
• A terminal/CLI (preferably)

That’s pretty much it!

I have a computer… I have Notepad ++, I got internet… No clue what #4 is lol

[nixnerd]

The thing I MOST dislike about WordPress: LOTS of people know how to work with it. So… where does that leave me? In constant competition. That’s not really my style. I like to fill a niche where I can charge more and assert myself as the expert. And… I derive more enjoyment from the process.

[Author]

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