Developer Mode!

I have learned a ton of information with my PHP course through Lynda.com, and sometimes I had to just simply stop for the day to simply process and remember everything I've learned. At some point this past week, I realized that the photo gallery I was building as part of the course was moving above and beyond the functionality I need for my portfolio. I decided I had learned enough code, I could re-write only what I needed, and I could customize it to my particular needs.

I sketched out my solution for my user interface with a very high-tech application known as pen and paper. As you can see it is a beautiful and stunning creation, but it saved my mind from exploding several times. Having a hard copy illustration makes programming a LOT easier because you can visually see what your end product will be. It is very easy to get lost in loops, if-then statements, MySql syntax, and functions. I cannot get lost when I have a blueprint for reference.

I have finished coding the "skeleton" of my portfolio application and written a very simple code to pull in the images according to category. I recently found an awesome Javascript/PHP crop tool jQuery code that I plan on implementing into my application in order to create thumbnail images through my user interface.

This past week I also finished my business application, payed the registration fee, and I faxed the required paperwork. I now have an official business, and I should be getting my Registration Certificate in the mail soon!