Welcome to the Treehouse Community
Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.
Looking to learn something new?
Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.
Start your free trial
Sarah Thomas
4,190 PointsFront end, back end, and design?
I have a website idea that I'm super passionate about, but I have VERY limited experience with web design - just a bit of HTML and CSS. I'm realizing though that I'll need to learn a lot of back end code to setup databases, user profiles, and interactive tools. I also want the website to be very user friendly, well-branded, and well-designed.
I stumbled on treehouse not too long ago and the classes are so great that I feel like I could learn all of these areas if I had the time. I'm also reluctant to work with others since I don't want to compromise on my vision for the site.
So my question is: is it a reasonable goal to become proficient in all of these areas or am I setting myself up to have an all around sh*tty website?
Thanks!
Sarah Thomas
4,190 PointsGreat tip, Acie - thanks! I try to do at least a little bit each morning before work and I definitely find that I get super rusty if I skip a few days
1 Answer
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsHI, first of it is about the word you used. The **, instead you could write a bad website. You have to be positive. Believe that you can make it and start it . No one ever went for a run for the first time and won a olympic medal. Do your best and if you believe and put hard work in it, it will evolve and you will make it.
Im doing pretty same thing as you. I can use HTML/CSS ,Bootstrap in a pretty good way i would say and now i need database ( back-end) so im just learning PHP now, put a lot of work and i believe that in hmm, if you get how PHP works as in the user type input, the input goes to the code you set and the code you set generate an link for example and connect it to databse etc.. i think that should be enough . You can do it with wordpress but im not really wide on that area.
Break it in pieces, things takes time. If you want to become a millionaire, i think it will take more than a month or two , maybe on the third month you could be a millionaire . In that one, two months, you can probably learn enough with the help of videos and interent to do website you want . Not including JS . maybe a little of jQuery .
Thats what i think mostly . Set a goal, write it on a paper . Write all goals or skills you want to achieve lets say in 3 months. Write the date of that date past three months form today and write it in present. Write how you will achieve it. What makes you distract? phone? put it upstairs on silent . Facebook? well, you will have choose how bady you want to succeed . If you are willing a lot enoguh , it wont be a problem . Think how you can improve your day . Maybe wake up ealier and read 1h book in your field , in design , every morrnign? thats a book for week , 5 books per months and lets say around 30-50 books per year. That times in like full time at university . You will have a good knowledge .
Make websites, finish them with HTML/CSS and then style it. Then make another website with server langauge or front end language and as you learn it , use it in you new practice webiste and then style it . Do it for desktop, tablet and mobile.
Hope this helps!
Ricky Catron
13,023 Points^ This exactly. To add a little what you are looking to become is called a full stack developer. This is kind of a buzz word right now but its general meaning is someone who can work on each part of the website "stack", design, front end, and backend. Being able to do it all is amazing but rare is the person who can do it all well. I have no doubt with the time, knowledge and determination you could single handed make an amazing website which worked fantastically and drew in tons of people.
That said it does have its drawbacks. It will never be the same standard as someone who has a devoted and specialized team working together. You simply can't master it all yourself. Someone who specializes in one part knows it better, can do it faster, and learns the new tricks for it much easier as it is all they do.
You can build it all yourself and in fact I would recommend it for you. For myself I wouldn't, I am a true back end dev with minimal design and front end ability.
A solution to all your problems would be: Build it all yourself to your vision, get it popular, hire new members to build your vision.
At this point you call all the shots because you built it but someone with specialized talents can help flesh out your vision with their own skill set. You can focus on a part you prefer and hire for the rest. Your site will improved from the combined talent and you will have achieved the site you aimed for.
Goodluck! --Ricky
Konrad Pilch
2,435 PointsTo add even more, i will say, focus on one .
Who do you want to be? Designer or Developer? it takes a lot and lots of time to be both . You can spend 20 years on that and 20 years on that . Or something like that if you know what i mean.
You cant learn all your self , life is just too short . To get most out of it, the best is partner up. If your the programmer , look for a designer and make a team. He fully studied it same as you fully studied you.
I would say, that every web developer, should have a very basic design skill using shapes/pen-tool and basic color-theory .
At start , if you have an idea, of course you can make a website worth millions by your own , making it all your self. Infact! its even better because you can change it and move ads(if your using them ) to experiment places.
Its very rare as Ricky said to have a Web Developer and Designer in one person . If you look at people that say their are both, and if youcompare them to a designer, jsut a designer , you will cetranly see the difference .
As well as Ricky said, you can specialise in front or back end(server langauge) . These have both their own benefits too like eveything has. If you specialise in server langauge, you specialise in a way to hack soembody because the internet is secure with code and if you can break that algorythm , then you broke the code . If you specialise with e.g JS, then you can draw anything you like on the screen and animate anythng you like , just do anything you like in the browser window . Animation like anything. You can make games too that amazing .
But i believe most of it its in the future.
Now you should practice and work on it every single day to get a flow on it . Make cople of HTML/CSS projects, maybe lern how to do a slide show and mobile nav menu hamburger and that would be the basic of every webpage if believe. Every website now uses JS, almost everyone, most of them.
If you learn PHP or other server language, try to maybe comeback to your projects and add automatic date, automatic links .
Little project for you : Plan a website and code it in HTML/CSS or use a framework like Bootstrap . If in JS, make a gallery when you click the image apear big with buttons to slide. Maybe when you scroll, something moves on the screen. Have a background that changes its color every 5 second . With PHP, make it dynamic, instead of re-writing that 5 feeds , use PHP to write only one <p></p> and then in the PHP make it that way that when a user put input in, it creates new paragraph and adds to the page .
Look for inspiratoins.
if you want to design , i recommend simple. Look at ebay. Its very simple, look at lynda.com , its very simple . Treehouse its simple to . I mean the idea, not the code behind it .
The moree you spend , the more you will learn aswell. What i do is i focus on the design too when i check for the code of other websites like facebook , they have good code on their feeds and plus i check their design too . If you know what i mean .
Hope this helps too :)
Sarah Thomas
4,190 PointsThank you for the detailed & positive comments, they were very helpful. I'm optimistic that if I can continue to dedicate the time and stay motivated that this can happen. I like the idea of starting simple myself and working with others as the site matures, like you said Ricky.
Konrad, thanks for the suggestions on goals and distractions - those certainly spoke to me :) Also, great advice on test projects and areas to practice. I'll keep that all in mind as I continue working on Treehouse courses.
Acie Slade
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 10,895 PointsAcie Slade
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 10,895 PointsHi Sarah -
I'm an experienced PM/IT consultant, but an all-day newbie with respect to programming and design.
However, to start my new journey, I've done an incredible amount of research over the past three months, and landed on this #1 takeaway: Code or read/learn about coding every day.
Even if it's just a few lines or just a few articles, a time period of one hour can be incredibly productive; whether continuous or broken up across your day.
Best of luck to you!