Being a programmer
http://joyreactor.com/post/476665
Before I attended the Production Tools course this term, I was freaked out by programming classes. I had no idea whether I could handle programming language since it is all Greek to me. However, things turn out to be better than I thought. After taking the class, I have learned how to tackle problems by myself and I have got to say Google is a wonderful teacher in writing a program. Certainly there is no way for me to simply copy the answer, but I could learn from some similar samples then figure out my own.
Taking a sole course was absolutely not enough for me to become an programming expert. The biggest problem was I had to know all the basic programming languages and tools in a short time. Programming was difficult even for students who spent years taking professional IT courses at university. What I could do is to take more practice by myself.
I have learned HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript so far. After this semester, I found although different programming languages follow a variety of syntax rules, they have something in common. Instead of covering all the demands for web development, these programming languages focus on solving problems of some aspects. In other words, they are designed for different purposes, and all of them possess their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, HTML is used to build the basic structure of a web page while CSS is more for the decoration style; JavaScript facilitates the execution by the client side, while PHP is typically implemented on the server side. Thus programmers have to use these tools proficiently and combine their virtues for web development.
Another thing I found was the best way to remember the rules of programming language is to use them. The more we apply the abstract rules to a real case, the more we know about them. Practices help us better interpret the application of various situations of rules.