Bandwidth is cheap
for some people yes, others are stuck on the end of modems or worse
Don't the majority of internet end-users use a form of modem to connect? You don't see too many eth connections these days. If you mean dial-up then yeah it's a fair point but getting a few CD's sent out every now and then would probably save you time and money.
diskspace is cheap
true for those running on modern desktops not at all true for those stuck with old hardware
Come on, you can get an IDE hdd for buttons these days. Hell, I'd even give you a few I've got lying around for free. If you're using something pre-IDE era I strongly suggest you shell out £50 or so to get a 'usable' pc from eBay or a local seller.
You might want to try http://www.nyphp.org/content/presentations/3templa tes/ - it's a good explanation of how and why you should use templating. Which method you go for is entirely up to you but I recommend not using a template engine unless you're planning on building a large site and using PHPs native ability to template instead.
After learning PHP some years back by reading a couple of books I was satisfied with the level of information I got from it. I was able to write my own web-apps, hoorah! Over time though, common sense kicked in when I realised that merging PHP and a fair amount (not the whole lot) of HTML did nothing for readability and future maintenance. It's worth nothing here that I'd not much experience in formalised programming methods or style at the time.
Let me tell you, as a newcomer to PHP you see plenty of guides and books explaining how to create run-of-the-mill web apps but will never come across anything that tells the benefits of splitting up your code into different layers of logic (or funnily enough, how to use OOP). As I mentioned, common sense kicked in and I spent some time looking into it until I eventually found what I was looking for. This is a clear example of how emphasis is placed on firing out code rather than doing it right.
I recently started a BSC CS degree in internet computing, admittedly because I see it as the best choice for obtaining a good career that I also enjoy. I've always been enthusiastic about computing and was expecting a lot of others like me on my course. Oh how wrong I was. To start, my particular course - for my individual year of study - has 7 students including me. We do a lot of CS courses at our uni so we modularise certain aspects and as a result end up sharing lectures with up to 200+ others, but this will lower as the years progress and the modules become more bespoke to the course.
Out of everyone I've met in various seminars and lectures not a single person has a genuine interest in computing. Next to none had former academic experience in computing (the general trend was ICT), next to no one in the programming sessions had done any type of high-level or otherwise programming, next to no one had written a web page in html, the list goes on. Does this unnerve me? Yes. Don't get me wrong, there'll be some out there but the ratio is slim. I'm a little comforted that they teach everything from scratch so you can learn to enjoy it. Although I know a lot of the stuff being taught now it's fun to be taught it in person and to also learn new things I didn't pick up the first time.
Despite this, the view I get is that all people want is safe entry into a career, rather than academic knowledge. Who mentioned we were down to the enthusiasts?
I've been thinking of switching to computer science as a whole but I believe when I aim for a job (which will be web-related, it's what I want) this degree will suit me more. The thing is, I don't want a job which non-enthusiasts can obtain just as easily. Surely there must be some professions out there that value us?
Slashdot Mirror
You might want to try http://www.nyphp.org/content/presentations/3templa tes/ - it's a good explanation of how and why you should use templating. Which method you go for is entirely up to you but I recommend not using a template engine unless you're planning on building a large site and using PHPs native ability to template instead.
After learning PHP some years back by reading a couple of books I was satisfied with the level of information I got from it. I was able to write my own web-apps, hoorah! Over time though, common sense kicked in when I realised that merging PHP and a fair amount (not the whole lot) of HTML did nothing for readability and future maintenance. It's worth nothing here that I'd not much experience in formalised programming methods or style at the time.
Let me tell you, as a newcomer to PHP you see plenty of guides and books explaining how to create run-of-the-mill web apps but will never come across anything that tells the benefits of splitting up your code into different layers of logic (or funnily enough, how to use OOP). As I mentioned, common sense kicked in and I spent some time looking into it until I eventually found what I was looking for. This is a clear example of how emphasis is placed on firing out code rather than doing it right.
I recently started a BSC CS degree in internet computing, admittedly because I see it as the best choice for obtaining a good career that I also enjoy. I've always been enthusiastic about computing and was expecting a lot of others like me on my course. Oh how wrong I was. To start, my particular course - for my individual year of study - has 7 students including me. We do a lot of CS courses at our uni so we modularise certain aspects and as a result end up sharing lectures with up to 200+ others, but this will lower as the years progress and the modules become more bespoke to the course.
Out of everyone I've met in various seminars and lectures not a single person has a genuine interest in computing. Next to none had former academic experience in computing (the general trend was ICT), next to no one in the programming sessions had done any type of high-level or otherwise programming, next to no one had written a web page in html, the list goes on. Does this unnerve me? Yes. Don't get me wrong, there'll be some out there but the ratio is slim. I'm a little comforted that they teach everything from scratch so you can learn to enjoy it. Although I know a lot of the stuff being taught now it's fun to be taught it in person and to also learn new things I didn't pick up the first time.
Despite this, the view I get is that all people want is safe entry into a career, rather than academic knowledge. Who mentioned we were down to the enthusiasts?
I've been thinking of switching to computer science as a whole but I believe when I aim for a job (which will be web-related, it's what I want) this degree will suit me more. The thing is, I don't want a job which non-enthusiasts can obtain just as easily. Surely there must be some professions out there that value us?