Intro to Web dev and design
Day 1, Part A: Class Syllabus, Scope, and Expectations
Ashley Williams, NYCDA
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Get to know me
- Ashley Williams
- ashley.internets@gmail.com
- twitter: @ag_dubs
- github: ashleygwilliams
The best way to get in touch with me is Twitter,
followed by email.
MY PEOPLE
my food/feed
- The Future Friendly Web Dev and Design Movement http://futurefriend.ly, Member List
- Design/Dev Newsletters: Sidebar.io, SmashingMag, CSS-Tricks
- User Experience: Nieman Lab, UIE, One Thing Well
- Startup Scene: Betabeat, Verge, TechCrunch, Mashable
MY tools
How I got my groove
- Railstutorial.org
- codecademy (the old school javascript classes)
- CodeSchool (all of it)
- Martin Haverbeke's Eloquent Javascript (esp Ch5+6)
- "Inspect Element"
- READING OTHER PEOPLE'S CODE
- READING DOCS
- practice practice practice
- get uncomfortable
Curation advice
- Go to meetups. Not too many. Mostly tech ones. TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBOR AND ASK QUESTIONS.
- Find individual designers and devs whose work inspires you. Follow them on twitter. Interact with their content. Go meet them in person.
- Avoid people who talk about the 'scene'. Focus on people who talk about making things.
Get to know you
- Name (req'd)
+ any/all:
- What you do with your time (job/passion/hobby)
- What enrages/excites you the most about the Internet
- Your favorite website/webapp/app
- Your favorite tools
- Your favorite games
- What you want to make
- What do you already know
- What do you want to learn
CLASS OVERVIEW
The purpose of this class is to give you a foundation upon which you can build a successful full-stack web career on.
You will be able to:
- Write semantic front-end markup
- Follow a user-centric design strategy
- Create engaging and interactive user experiences
- Understand agile product dev practices
- Design efficient databases
- Architect elegant Ruby-based web apps
class Structure
Tuesdays:
- Part A: Current Events, Q&A, Freeform Convo
- Part B: Design, Theory & Practice
- Part C: Architecture & Environment Exploratory Session
Thursdays:
- Part D: Syntax & Style
- Part E: Guided Debugging, Coding
- Part F: Work Session and/or Critique
Syllabus
Part 1: Intro to Web Dev
- Week 1: History // HTML, CSS, JS
- Week 2: Wireframes and Workflows // Layout and Nav
- Week 3: UX and Responsive Design // Browser Flags and Resets
- Week 4: Data as Dynamic Content // Forms and PHP
- Week 5: Review + Intro to Web Apps // GitHub
SYllabus
Part 2: Ruby, Rails, and Active Record
- Week 6: Intro to Programming // Ruby FizzBuzz
- Week 7: Templates // HAML, SASS, ERB
- Week 8: DSLs and MVCs // Sinatra and Single Serve apps
- Week 9: Databases // CRUD
- Week 10: Agile Development // ActiveRecord
- Week 11: Refactoring and Performance
- Week 12: APIs // Authentication with OAuth
SYLLABUS
Part 3: Personal Projects
- Week 13: Writing User Stories // Creating Wireframes
- Week 14: Scaffolding Your App // Designing Your Database
- Week 15: Designing Your Views // QA + Testing
- Week 16: Presentations and Critique
A brief opine on learning to code
Much of web development is NOT SEXY:
- There is a lot of reading
- There is a lot of math
- You will mostly be staring at a text editor and the terminal
Much of web development is MESSY:
- There are rarely "correct answers"
- There is no 'Perfect'
- Things are changing constantly
- "Not knowing what you are doing" is standard
GOALS
- Equip you with the best tools and resources
- Give you a critical, nuanced understanding of the web development world
- Teach you how to take risks and fix your mistakes
- Familiarize you with real-life dev and design workflows
EXPECTATIONS
I will:
- Be prepared every class
- Be available for help outside of class
- Be responsive to the class's needs / progress / pace and adjust accordingly
I expect you to:
- Be prepared every class
- Ask for help when you need it
- Be open and assertive about your feelings and opinions
CLASS RESOURCES
- Website: http://nycda-webdev.herokuapp.com
- Twitter: NYCDA_WebDev
welcome and class info
By ag_dubs
welcome and class info
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