New Developers and Wireframing

Jamie Richardson — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 18:58:53 +0000

As a new developer, the biggest help to me thus far in my coding journey has been understanding what wireframes are and how they work.

I have worked with the basics of HTML and CSS and have been working everyday to further my knowledge, including building static web pages. The problem I've been faced with is being unsure of what I wanted to build. After some research I've realized I need to understand WHAT I want the design of the page to be, which lead me to wireframing.

Using wireframes, even on just paper, has helped me to better understand what I want the page to look like and visualize how I want the content displayed. I've been able to use the HTML and CSS skills I've acquired and have been introduced to other languages like JavaScript and PHP.

I am aware jumping from language to language is not advised. My primary focus is still HTML and CSS and to continue understanding the display aspect of web development. However, I think it's good practice for new developers to understand how different languages work with each other and different elements behave.

For Example:

While writing out a wireframe, I realized I wanted a button click to display something on the page itself. So I started learning about event listeners. I realized the button click wasn't doing EXACTLY what I wanted and, after doing some research and watching some YouTube videos, I learned I needed to use the PHP echo function (construct? I'm not sure, I've seen different wordings) to ultimately have the webpage do what I wanted. Wireframing introduced me to a new JavaScript functionality and how PHP works with webpages, taking them from static to dynamic.

The basic takeaway from this is

new developers should spend some time looking at wireframing to help with designing any webpage or app projects you want to build

And

don't be afraid to look at other languages besides the one you are mainly focused on. Keep a main one in mind, but if you want to know how some sort of function works or something on the back end functions, don't be afraid to dive in and see! It will help with understanding development as a whole and open new chapters of learning.

Also, as a last side note, looking at other languages helps you also understand they really aren't SO different from each other, especially when you have a basic understanding of how the language works.

My question here is do any veteran developers recommend learning about wireframing in this stage or do you think there are other topics that should be covered before that? I'd love to hear some feedback!

Here we go...

Jamie Richardson — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 04:18:33 +0000

I decided to finally post something on here and figured, since I've been lurking around for a couple weeks, I'd introduce myself to everyone.

So...hi!

My name is Jamie and (I think) I found this wonderful place via Twitter, probably someone sharing a post or something, and I've been here ever since.

A little about me; I currently work at a call center for welfare and have no formal education in web development or design, so I've been teaching myself since the end of May. I actually started last year with Codecademy but wasn't fond of the teaching style and started focusing on music, putting coding on the back burner.

I'm going to be honest with you all I just learned, as in while proofreading this, Codecademy is written this way, NOT as CodeAcademy.

I've had a rough time for over a year now, and rediscovering coding has really helped me to get to a better place - a place where I'm happy and feel productive.

My ultimate goals are to become a front-end web developer and possibly a full stack developer and designer, so I don't have to work for "The Man". But honestly, if it gets me out of where I am right now, I'd be happy. I also want to eventually get into app development, mainly so I can create things that make MY life easier and hopefully someone else's along the way, and start a blog documenting my journey. I've wanted to start blogging and had some app ideas in the past couple years but I wasn't sure where to start. Now I know.

I feel like I've finally found a calling that suits me. I feel so comfortable in the coding community thus far and, as a naturally introverted person, both in real life and online, I'm incredibly excited to start contributing.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Fee free to introduce yourself if you'd like! I'd love to connect with new people!

DEV Community: Jamie Richardson

New Developers and Wireframing

Here we go...