Here are 10 classes I've taken at EDCC on my way to an ATA in Web Development. I have enjoyed my time at EDCC, and this selection of my work showcases some of the things I've learned, as well as some of my creativity.
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Course Description: An introductory course in programming using VB.NET. No previous programming experience is expected. Topics include designing, creating and debugging interactive, event-driven programs with a graphical user interface and developing problem-solving skills.
What I learned: I had no previous programming experience before this class. This class taught me about logic, arrays, binary, hexidecimal, and general programming standards. We made several small executables throughout the quarter, ranging from small calculators to the final project- a game based on "Rock/Paper/Scissors" as shown in the pictures below. This game required the user to choose an option, and the computer would randomly select an option. The logic would then determine if the player won, lost to, or tied the computer, and would show the results. There is a scoreboard that keeps track, and images and text appear depending on outcomes. For bonus points we could include the variant rules for "Rock/Paper/Scissors/Lizard/Spock."
Course Description: Graphic design, its history, imaging and the elements and principles of digital design in visual communication. An introduction to computer graphic design production tools and processes in visual illustration.
What I learned: I learned about minimalism and how less can be more. We used only white, black, and shades of grey throughout the course, which proved to be challenging for some assignments. For the final, we tied each of the main projects into one as a magazine, and had to develop a color palette to use throughout the magazine. During the final project, I learned more about color use and combinations.
Course Description: Provides hands-on experience in systems design and implementation using a prototype approach. The case study is designed, tested and implemented. User manuals are written.
What I learned: I learned there is a lot more involved with designing and implementing a system or app than I previously thought. This class is the culmination of 3 classes, and for this I'm going to use this class to represent all 3 classes. This class taught me how to think about the design of a system, how it will function, and how to go about documenting each aspect. It was both interesting and challenging, and has prepared me to think critically about such projects.
Course Description: Internet and intranet Web site development using XHTML approached from a source code perspective. Covers tags, forms, linked objects, CSS, frames, tables, and introduction to the use of scripting. Students build multi-page Web sites.
What I learned: I learned about the beginning and fundamentals of HTML and XHTML. We worked with code to create various pages and forms. It was a history course and intro course in one.
Course Description: Students will explore the topics of embedding, inline and external scripts, functions, form validation, loops, conditional statements, strings, numbers, DHTML, and an introduction to JavaScript Frameworks. Students build multi-page Web sites using these technologies.
What I learned: JavaScript was fun, but challenging from my perspective. All of my experience before EDCC was with HTML and CSS. I had used JavaScript before, but it was always copying and pasting code someone else had written, and it was only for retrieving the date to display on a clock, or getting weather, or things like that. I never knew how or why it worked. It was fun to actually find out how and why, and test out some of my own code.
JavaScript Expression Evaluator
Course Description: Topics include server-side scripting for Web pages using PHP. Students will learn fundamentals of PHP scripting including functions, logical structure, and database connectivity used in creating websites.
What I learned: Like JavaScript, I had little experience with this prior to the class. I have installed CMS's like WordPress and some forums that ran on PHP before, but had no actual coding experience. It was nice to get a handle on PHP, and I'm still working on some personal projects involved with PHP to get more comfortable with it.
Course Description: Students will learn to work with open-source content management systems (CMSs) and search engine optimization (SEO). Topics include Joomla!, installation of Joomla!, creating and updating content, and SEO concepts and techniques. Students will apply these topics while building multi-page websites
What I learned: I learned that not all CMS's are alike. They share some similarities, but their purpose and application, as well as technical skill, varies greatly. I am more comfortable now installing and running a Joomla! site at an advanced level, and would not hesitate to recommend and set up such a site for someone. Also, I knew SEO had changed since I last designed websites, but after this class I realized I had made mistakes even back then. The SEO portion of this class has helped me to evaluate how I code, and how to make sure what I want to be seen is seen and searchable.
Course Description: Students will learn the details required to combine CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) with HTML, XHTML, or XML to create rich, powerful websites. Topics include: selectors, cascade and inheritance, text and font manipulation, layout, and positioning.
What I learned: I learned the CSS3 is way more feature-packed than when I last worked with it. I had been trying to move towards CSS-only design, but still relied heavily on tables. I'm more confident now in delivering rich and valid coding with no tables involved in the layout.
Course Description: Students will investigate and use the advanced techniques available in JavaScript frameworks (libraries) such as JQuery, AJAX, MooTools and Prototype.
What I learned: There are a lot of cool things you can do with frameworks. It's nice that you can pick and choose what library you want to use, and then even add some more functionality to it, without doing a lot of heavy coding. It's one less thing to have to worry about, and one less comma or bracket, etc I have to find that I missed putting in.
Course Description: Covers topics in Structure Query Language (SQL) including statements such as select, update, insert, delete, create. Emphasis on the ability to extract, update and maintain databases using SQL.
What I learned: SQL was interesting. I haven't worked with a lot of databases, so it was new to set up and run queries off a database. I had fun thinking about how to logically search and maintain a database.
