In another life, I’d be working developing web applications.
There’s something about web application that gets my blood going – but in a good way. Is it the fact that I get instant feedback on whether I’m doing something right or wrong? The fact that I’m developing on such a short cycle for a platform that is so universal?
I think it simultaneously scratches two urges that I don’t really get to scratch otherwise.
1. Programming
I’ve gotten pretty rusty in that whole software engineering department. Sure, I can still think through algorithms and I know how to use for loops properly, but I think I’d have a hard time passing a senior level college CS class right now. Putting a webapp together in PHP is a bit like proving to myself that I’ve still got it, even if “it” isn’t quite what it used to be.
Still, the merging of PHP, mySql, and HTML into some union of files that does what I tell it to do feels good. (I’ve written about this before, too, on Day 138.)
2. Website Design
This indulges my artistic side in a really geeky way. I like to think that I have relatively good taste, at least when it comes to the aesthetic layout of images and text. I’ve always been interested in graphic and communications design and even did a good bit of it in my first job out of college.
Messing with CSS and the way webpages present themselves is a part of this ongoing training. As I continue to do it, I think I begin to find the kinds of layouts and designs that look best to me. This is a bit self-indulgent, but I think it also speaks to finding my own style. The more I learn about what that is, the more I can accurately apply it to other areas of my life and job in a way that makes sense and makes me a better designer in general.
One last thing that really feels good about webapp development: results. Within a day, I can see actual results from my work. Within a week, the original vision of the site begins to form. It feels so fast and gratifying.
Anyway, if you have a webapp idea but want someone else to take a crack at it, I may be your man, depending on my mood and how busy I am.