(Thanks again to 37signals not only for the Getting Real book, but also for posting my thanks email on their new product blog. It’s probably what brought you here now. There were some big factors driving me forward on this project - the love of learning new things, the thought of escaping contractordom, the dream of having my own systems to love and care for (rather than other people’s), and now the small publicity boost from 37signals has made people notice this project which makes me want to make a great product and not disappoint.)

For anyone reading this who’s wanting to write a web app too, if you’ve not already, I first recommend you read the getting real book. Well worth it. The thing that stumped me for quite a while though was where to find the free time to actually get your product ff the ground. I tried working in the evenings but it didn’t work for me mainly due to my new son!

So, I had no choice but to take time off my paying job to work on courseway. This is a big and real move. It at last set the ball rolling technically, but also and more importantly it pushed the cost of failure over the edge. If I get nothing from my time invested then I’ll have to go back to my old ways to pay off the debt and I don’t want to do that! So, what I’m trying to say is, there’s nothing better then diving in the deep end to see if you’ll sink or swim. Try it. Hopefully it’ll be worth it.

At last I’m making good progress with courseway. I’m thinking it might even be time to set a deadline… end of July - first cut on internet, although I reserve the right to change that! Also, I’m going to start posting more to this blog with the techy things I’ve been learning. Before this app I had no official web knowledge, and no ruby or rails knowledge. Hopefully I’ll be able to help you if you’re in the same boat too. Hasta luego…

I recently gave advice to someone I know who might want to start programming. This is the email:

“So, what I reckon is this… First you have to split the world of computing into the different and distinctive types or genres (I only have experience in the 1st):

- There are business systems like what potts mllarkey make - this is basically the whole microsoft world of programming - C# with SQL doing windows applications or ASP.NET for web applications. This type of work also comes in different flavours like Java with an Oracle database, etc. Basically, this stuff you have to normally work in a large company in the IT department, or for a software house like PM. The money’s not bad and you have the prospect of working your way up to being lead developer and then project manager maybe. It’s the obvious route and what most people do. To break into this market, you’ll need to do a course or something (maybe with a microsoft cetificate at the end of it) and almost everywhere wants a year’s experience to start which makes it seem impossible to get a first job! Potts mllarkey would be happy to give you that year’s experience though I’m sure! If you go down this path then you might regret not having any imagination in your career choice when you get older! http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/beginner/default.aspx

- Then there’s being a web developer - for this you can probably break into the industry by creating an online example web site/page, then using this as part of your CV. If you do then make sure the HTML is fully standards compliant. A static page will help you if you want to be a web designer, but that’s not programming and the money is bad, so you’ll want to make it datadriven - having a SQL backend probably using MySQL. The language to use here will be either PHP, Python, Perl, or Ruby. PHP is the most popular and therefore there will be the most jobs, but also the most competition. I’d personally avoid PHP. Python and Perl are ok but I don’t know much about them. Ruby is a new one, and if you know it and manage to get a job using it then I rekon you’ll properly jump start your career. Start here: http://www.rubyonrails.org http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/ Look for jobs in manchester for ruby before committing though. On a general note: to do web stuff, I might be wrong but I think you have to have a good eye for design. Also note - there’s a BIG difference between web designer and web developer. A designer simply creates HTML pages and does no programming. For this web stuff generally, you’ll be working in a smaller company where the people will be less geeky than the business programmers, and your work will be more valued and you’ll have more satisfaction (possibly).

- Then there’s games. The money isn’t good, but if you find you love programming then this is where the action is. To break into this world, because you don’t have a computing degree, you’ll have to code a demo to use for your CV. There are loads of games programming tutorial sites out there that can give you advice. http://gpwiki.org http://www.gamedev.net Also, get a copy of EDGE magazine - there are jobs in the back.
There’s also the world of ‘independent’ games written by one person or small groups sold on the internet, but you’ll have to be very good and dedicated to pull that one off. Examples of this type of game here: http://gametunnel.com

So, there you go! There are other industries like programming rockets and stuff but you need a degree for that.
These 3 that I’ve listed are decreasing in money but increasing in interest. Up to you.

Oh yeah - so generally, what I’d do to start with before you do anything else is pick one of the 3 above (once you’ve started down one route then it’s V hard to switch), then simply try to learn a bit of programming yourself! It’s a hard learning curve but worth it in my opinion. If you find that you get too frustrated or lose patience then it’s probably not for you! Also, if you don’t like one of the 3 then you could try another because the programming styles are very different.

Sorry for such a long mail!! Hope it helps. Please let me know what you end up doing….”

What do you think?