Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
commands?! This is why that entire summer before school started was spent going to
the library checking out every computer book I could find to prepare for what I
thoughtmight be in store for my upcoming beginner's class to computers. That
excitement quickly turned to disappointmentwhen I learned that the world of computers
was not as glamorous and exciting as Star Trek and every movie with a computer
hacker in it made it appear to be. Instead, the most I learned out of that class was how
to make a copy of the Beverly Hills Cop theme song and put it on a floppy disk, as well
as how to open a HyperCard application (though strangely enough we never learned to
write a HyperCard application.)
That first year, as much of a disappointmentas it was, became the catalyst to my
determination/obsession with computersthat lead me to sign up for a computer class
again during my seventh grade year. Unbeknownst to me,this computer class, this
minuscule hour a day out of my lifewould eventually lead to what has been a lifelong
obsession. See, this was the year that AOL was starting to get really popular in the
United States.Most importantly, this yearsaw the birth of HTML 2.0. My teacher at the
time saw where this technology was going and embraced a vision of a future where
information was exchanged freely. Every day in class, he would hammer home that one
day the "people that create the Internet pages" (this was before the term Web Developer
was coined) would one day be paid as much as doctors and lawyers and would be just
as valuable and important. Of course, we all thought he was a crazy old man but his
excitement for this future that he envisioned was enough to get me hooked and
eventually I started believing in it and preaching it as well. He believed in this vision so
much that the only work we had to do all year was create the school's entire website.
Out of everything I learned from that class, the most important rule I learned was the
KISS principle, an acronym for "Keep it Simple Stupid." As much as I loved this teacher
for what he gave me in terms of knowledge, there was no denying that he was a grouchy
old jerk. Every time we had a brilliant idea for our school's website, such as adding
animated GIF flames and sprites of Beavis and Butthead, he would always just say
"Keep it simple stupid!" As annoying as it was as a child to constantly be shot down and
basically called an idiot daily, it did wonders in teaching me the art of patience and
restraint. It made me realize that even though Feature X, Y, and Z would be awesome on
any given project I was working on, it was more important to put them on the
backburner so I can get Feature A, B, and C coded and delivered. Now when I am
working on a project, I sit down and map out exactly what I need to do to launch my
project. I set aside any cool ideas I have for extra features that are not mandatory to a
launch so I can work on them later whenthe task at hand will not sidetrack me.
No matter who you are and no matter how long you have been designing or developing,
one thing always rings true. The hardest part of any project is starting that project. The
more awesome features that aren't needed in your project that you end up adding in
because they're awesome (e.g., adding flames to a hot rod to make it go faster), the
harder it is for you to decide where to start with your project to get the ball rolling. So
remember, no matter how incredible that idea you just had is, if it is not absolutely
necessary to get your project off the ground and garner interest in it, then try to think
twice before adding it to the project at this time. Make a mental note or physical note of
this idea and come back to it later. A perfect example of this would be a program such
