Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!! Not that I did anything fun, but hey, it was still a good day.  This post will be short, because frankly, tonight's chapter was a snoozer.  Chapter 4 of Whittaker's Producing for Web 2.0: A Student Guide entitled "Creating Dynamic Sites" left a little to be desired.  It covered Client-side scripting with JavaScript, Server-side scripting with PHP, and MySQL.  I definitely agree that all of these things are necessary to create dynamic and exciting web pages, but slogging through all of the examples of code was a bit daunting.  And the thing is, I won't remember any of this come tomorrow morning.  Well, I might remember some words and phrases, but I will definitely have to come back to this chapter numerous times to utilize and familiarize myself with this stuff.

But again, I like Whittaker's approach.  He states that even though this chapter "only covers a basic introduction to client- and server-side scripting, it is important to have at least this essential familiarity with them as they drive so many Web 2.0 technologies" (92).  Again, I think Whittaker hits the nail on the head with his pedagogical approach that while most will never need to do raw coding, it is still imperative that one at least understands what one is looking at when one sees this code.

It's late, I'm tired, and I still have work to do.  On that note, good night.

This post will begin a series of posts on Jason Whittaker's book entitled Producing for Web 2.0: A Student Guide.  After reading chapter 1, or the introduction, this morning, I have decided that I would like to finish this book.  It is only 9 chapters, so if I am lucky, the last post will be on the 10th give a couple of days or so.

The introduction does a great job of discussing the history of the web without going into too many boring details or putting one to sleep.  I will admit, however, that I would read a bit, and then something in the text would spark a relevant or completely random thought in my head, which resulted in me have a seriously ADD kind of morning, bouncing back and forth between reading, tweeting, facebooking, googling, playlisting, etc.

The intro also attempts to define some of the differences between what we have come to know as Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.  When I use the word "attempts", it does not mean that he tried but didn't quite get it right.  It means that I appreciate anyone who even enters into that discussion.  One of the biggest issues with the term Web 2.0 (as coined by Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline, or DD and CC as I like to call them), is that no one really knows how to define it in a solid, concrete, set in stone kind of way--you get the picture with all of the hard, rock images going on there.  So for Whittaker to not only define, but then compare Web 2.0 to Web 1.0 is inspiring.  What's more, I walked away actually feeling like I had a better understanding of it myself.

Whittaker takes the time to discuss what many feel would make the perfect web developer recruit.  What it boils down to is that the person who fits all on the wish list would be that superhuman kinda person.  Not many of those around, and Whittaker wants to make sure we know this.  What is important, though, is that web developers be aware of what these items are and maybe even be proficient in two or three of them.  Seems like sound advice to me.

Given my interest in web design and development, and the fact that I will be teaching the Intro to Web Authoring professional writing course this fall, I think this is a good book for me to continue on with.

Here is where I need to leave you with a cliff hanger that ensures you will come back tomorrow for the 2nd installment of Producing for Web 2.0: A Student Guide.  *Scratches head, thinks, ponders* 

Join us tomorrow when Dianna learns the revealing truth of the relationship that exists between Pre-Production Planning and the success of any website.

Dun Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnn