Thread: keeping in practice

Ok so I have been going to school now for a few years learning all these computer languages but between semesters and after the class is over I am afraid that I am going to forget all that I learned. In the past 3 years I have learned html5, css3, javascipt, java, c++ and now this semester I am going to be learning c# and sql. Are there any websites that have exercises for free that you can test to make sure you are retaining what you learned. I'm afraid I will have to carry all my textbooks with me to my first job because I can't remember how to do anything since outside of classes I haven't used any of it.

Any suggestions?

I need practical uses for it.

Originally Posted by seagypsy

Ok so I have been going to school now for a few years learning all these computer languages but between semesters and after the class is over I am afraid that I am going to forget all that I learned. In the past 3 years I have learned html5, css3, javascipt, java, c++ and now this semester I am going to be learning c# and sql. Are there any websites that have exercises for free that you can test to make sure you are retaining what you learned. I'm afraid I will have to carry all my textbooks with me to my first job because I can't remember how to do anything since outside of classes I haven't used any of it.

Any suggestions?

I need practical uses for it.

What type of job are you looking for? If I had to guess I'd say you have the knowledge and skills to build some very sophisticated web sites. If your a good self starter and get a little real world experience you should be able to go into business for yourself. You just need to start one client at a time. But if you want to start working for other companies I would recommend you find the right temp agency as they will place you in positions with companies that are looking for employees that will be a good fit (meaning you both like eachother). The company will hire the temp agency to supply employees for a project. Usually they don't want to hire full time employees for a single project and it gives them a chance to look for full time new employees. It could be you'll have to work for many companies before you find a good fit. But that sure beats working for the wrong company and getting fired or having to quit at a most inconvenient time.

Many of the temp agencies I have looked into require a test to verify knowledge of particular skill sets. Often people have skills not covered by their schooling because they are self taught so they give the employee a chance to prove what they know and account for it. But I'm worried I won't pass the exams they give if I am out of practice since my courses were completed. For instance about 4 years ago I passed the official exam to be called a certified web developer and I had no idea what it actually meant. And I had no confidence that I could actually build a page. I do well when given actual requirements and content, but coming up with stuff out of my own head gets me lost. I can't even seem to figure out how to create my own blog from scratch because I get a creativity block. I can picture what I want but it seems so complex i don't know how to start lol. I'm probably underestimating my skills but I don't know. I guess i need a chance to test myself outside of my own requirements to be sure I am doing things sufficiently. Being a perfectionist is probably working against me here.

Originally Posted by seagypsy

Many of the temp agencies I have looked into require a test to verify knowledge of particular skill sets. Often people have skills not covered by their schooling because they are self taught so they give the employee a chance to prove what they know and account for it. But I'm worried I won't pass the exams they give if I am out of practice since my courses were completed. For instance about 4 years ago I passed the official exam to be called a certified web developer and I had no idea what it actually meant. And I had no confidence that I could actually build a page. I do well when given actual requirements and content, but coming up with stuff out of my own head gets me lost. I can't even seem to figure out how to create my own blog from scratch because I get a creativity block. I can picture what I want but it seems so complex i don't know how to start lol. I'm probably underestimating my skills but I don't know. I guess i need a chance to test myself outside of my own requirements to be sure I am doing things sufficiently. Being a perfectionist is probably working against me here.

Very few web developers build sites from scratch. They have software that allows you to download complete sites. Once you've downloaded a site you can work with the existing code and modify it just enough to make it your own design. There is no reason why you should have to reinvent the wheel for each new client. Also, if you maintain a library of coded modules, over time you will possibly have a module for just about anything you might want to put together a custom site for any client. It's a lot easier to select modules to piece together than write it from scratch.

I do want to get experience working for companies first but eventually start my own. My son is really good at creating 3d computer graphics and rpg games. He doesn't know any programming though lol which is hilarious. I asked him what programming language he was using to create his game and he had no idea what i was talking about. We finally figured out it was python but its because he is creating the game through blender and gimp. Between his graphics skills, my web building and my daughter's creative writing, I think we stand a pretty good chance of creating a really nice home business between us. It's a good thing we generally like each other lol.

Originally Posted by seagypsy

I do want to get experience working for companies first but eventually start my own. My son is really good at creating 3d computer graphics and rpg games. He doesn't know any programming though lol which is hilarious. I asked him what programming language he was using to create his game and he had no idea what i was talking about. We finally figured out it was python but its because he is creating the game through blender and gimp. Between his graphics skills, my web building and my daughter's creative writing, I think we stand a pretty good chance of creating a really nice home business between us. It's a good thing we generally like each other lol.

Yes it is. With companies it's the same way. It's easy to work with people you like. At least with a company it nice to get the benefits you have to pay for yourself when you run your own business. Anyway good luck with whatever you decide to do.

If you're looking for practical uses why not simply come up with ideas for coding relevant to what you want to be doing? (the creativity for both creating the 'problems' then working out the solutions would be greatly beneficial I'd imagine)

Don't know if you would be into something like this, but I quite like the Rockettheme site.

They've got a large variety of good quality Joomla, Magento, etc templates for fairly cheap that you could then modify and play around with. They also run promotions where you get coupons for discount to a variety of related sites for content etc.

Then the cheapest hosting packages at places like Hostgator should allow you to test out your creations, or you could run a local virtual server for that.

I've got an online computer store built in Joomla in limbo at Hostgator at the moment after it lost feasibility.


By the way, if you have the skills for something like this, something I couldn't find was a properly configurable program to consolidate product information from different source files and then upload it to a website. Also a way to easily source and present product images and information from the manufacturer websites. Everything I could find was too time consuming, as I needed to run the website and keep it up to date on a daily basis, while still doing my normal day job.


Anyway, good luck!

I can understand the original poster's concerns. There is something very forgettable about programming languages, and things aren't helped by the way in which they can change. The first language I learnt was ALGOL. You rarely hear of it these days and I doubt that I would now recognise ALGOL code if I saw it. Another ancient one was FORTRAN. These languages were developed for the purpose of calculating which, before the rise of the internet, is what computers were supposed to do!