Evaluation
After a frantic week of trying to get the last threads of this assignment into something that resembles a website I have learnt a few valuable lessons along the way.
A problem I have had since the off set is the lack of ability to manage my time. The planning of the assignment seemed relatively easy but sticking to the actual schedule proved to be extremely difficult. There were times when certain aspects of my planned time over lapped or were missed and as a result everything snowballed at the last minute.
Learning a new technology has also proved quite stressful and I am only now beginning to understand how to use it to its full potential now that the assignment has passed.
I will be continuing to research and utilise PHP as much a possible for three reasons: it’s automated and takes some of the repetitiveness out of building; it communicates extremely well with MySQL, they seemed to have been designed with each other in mind; and the syntax, although at first daunting, is quite easy to pick up.
I think I will stray away from learning through book and stick to tutorials online. At least this way there is a possibility of an infinite source for any area of PHP. One thing I found extremely difficult to follow in my reading material was that there was no one to turn to when things went wrong.
Spending nearly four hours one day trying to figure out why I couldn’t connect to a database proved to be quite frustrating. After much angst I had to turn to the internet to get a better picture of what was happening with the mechanics of the process because I could actually see where my mistake was in using the book.
I found the best method for my learning was taking an already created script an breaking it down, or just breaking it, to see how the processes worked in the background. I know I’ve only just scratched the surface of the language but I feel confident in being able to apply scripts to my site and adapting them.
On the website http://www.samcrawshaw.co.uk/a8 I have created an image upload for and was able to implement a loop to display the contents of the directory from scratch. Through this I was able to change values and create another upload form for processing text and displaying the contents to another section of the site.
I’m still not comfortable with using functions such as stripslashes and explodes. I think it’s just because my brain isn’t tuned into the descriptive side of PHP yet. But as time has passed I have become more accustom and gained greater understanding.
I initially only knew how to include scripts into a site using the include function and if it didn’t work that was the end of that. I can now look at a piece of code and have a rough idea of the actions it’s performing and in some cases, manipulate to suit my needs.
One thing that really dragged it’s heels on my SMLP was the statement I included that said I would write down each new script I learnt, create a working example and provide the code for it to the user. This was a grievous on my part. I literally added another half an assignment into an already busy schedule.
I spent more time colour coding pre tagged HTML code than I did learning PHP and building the final site. And I still didn’t finish it all in time. I managed to get halfway through my new_skills section of the site before it became mundane and more of a chore than a learning exercise.
Colour co-ordinating code cost considerable time in all other aspects of my assignment. This is the one thing I would change in my SMLP if I could go back and re-plan. All the other problems that occurred were related to this fact.
I must have spent all of half a day using Photoshop through out this assignment which was a learning out come I had mentioned previously and stated I would spend more time developing these skills.
There are still a few things I would have liked to include in my site as well which I did create in my ‘skills bank’ but just didn’t have the time to implement into the final build.
A new problem that occurred towards the end of the assignment was with my web host. I was supposed to post my evidence in blogs on my site but as of yesterday I have lost my WordPress installation.
I took an event like this in to consideration and backed up blogs from day one. The only thing that it has cost me is convenience. I had to upload the blogs to a directory on my site and code a page for them to be viewed. This doesn’t technically meet my SMLP plan but at least the evidence is there.
I’m pleased that what I have built, in the little time that was left, required little to no validation mark up. This is showing me that my XHTML and CSS coding skills are starting to become second nature and over time, hopefully, I will be able to code blindfolded.
With all these new experiences I can reflect on the fact that my planning of time needs to be looked at in future assignments. I need to know realistic time frames and to be able to accurately predict project lengths.
To summarise, the skills I need to develop are as follows:
- Plan my time more efficiently;
- Make sure my knowledge of PHP doesn’t dwindle by keeping in practice;
- Create realistic goal for myself;
- Develop more complex scripts to interact with MySQL.
These skills are realistic and achievable and if I am able to achieve these goals through the run up of the next assignment I will be one step closer to being a better web developer and ready for employment at the end of this academic year.
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