Become a Web Developer from Scratch! (Complete Course) - not spam

[GeekTinker]

Before I start, this post is not spam.  Although it is training that must be paid for.  I think the price is pretty good for what you get.  I'm a complete newb when it comes to programming for the web, although I have a natural knack for it.  Being a new to Web Development, I think the price of $100 is pretty good for what you get here.  I've sat through the free course videos that were available and I think they seem straightforward enough, even if it is just the basics.

If you are a web developer, chime in here and let us know what you think.  I don't know how much longer the discount is going to be offered.  I'm still mulling it over at this point, but will likely make a decision later today.  

Become a Web Developer from Scratch! (Complete Course)

Gene

[Daniel Flaum]

I will once I get to a place where I can sit down and type.

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[Pete L.]

Looks pretty good. I just watched one of the videos (JavaScript Arrays) and I appreciate how he showed a couple different ways to do things, encouraging experimentation. The price seems pretty reasonable for this much material. The nice thing about web development is that you really don't need much to get started, just a text editor and browser (and there are plenty of free options). This won't substitute for a college degree or anything, but learning the material would probably give you the knowledge needed to create and maintain a small business's or organization's website. 

They spend all of 30 minutes on security (covering just the essential basics, it appears), so I'd probably recommend against creating a website that allows commercial transactions or accepts users' private information without some more formal training in security. But certainly it seems to provide everything needed to create informational websites. And since these days pretty much every business needs to have an informational website, there's probably a good deal of work out there for folks who can do simple sites on the cheap.

-Pete

[Daniel]

It looks okay to me. I would make sure you're aware of the downsides of choosing video lessons, though.

• You can't search through video. If, a week from now, you want to back and find one small piece of information he talked about, you have to remember which video he said it in and roughly when he said it. This could life needlessly harder. For a specific example, he says in the video on multidimensional and associative PHP arrays that he forgot to mention in the video on simple arrays that arrays can hold elements of mixed types. That could be hard to find later if wanted to refresh yourself on that concept, because it's not where you'd expect it.
• There doesn't seem to be a way to download the videos. The website highlights lifetime access with no limits. That's great--if this website is still online one, five, ten, fifteen years from now. Not that it's likely to even be relevant in five years, but the point is that if they go down, it looks like you'll lose your videos. Definitely something to check on before spending money.
• HTML5 and CSS3 are a separate topic. This is more opinion than anything else, but it doesn't seem to me very forward thinking to only mention these things near the very end. Lots of CSS3 is usable in the current versions of all the major browsers, and the upcoming release of IE10 will have significant support for HTML5, opening the doors to its widespread use. A modern curriculum should treat HTML5 and CSS3 as first class topics to be integrated with the existing HTML and CSS material.

If you can stomach those quibbles, than by all means go for it. It looks to me like its well laid-out. It covers a full collection of topics and technologies needed to build dynamic and interactive websites. I don't think it will make an expert in any one of those subjects, but it certainly constitutes a good introduction.

[John Reskusich]

as an alternative, i highly recommend lynda.com  

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[GeekTinker]

Lynda.com is much more expensive than $100.  Of course you would get more content for the additional investment.

Gene