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Stumbling along in the murky code
19 March 2005
I'm an idiot. At least I feel that way sometimes. I'm trying to make some modifications to this forum and find myself wading through the quagmire of CSS and PHP coding. It's getting frustrating.
It must be an age thing because I read forum posts on other sites where users say they can make something work - and when I try it it just doesn't do it. That leads to late nights staring at the code on the screen while tiny droplets of blood eke from my forehead...
I used to be a real geek, a code jockey. I could write programs, tinker in several computer languages, even understand machine code (6502 and Z80) in a passable manner. I started building web sites in 1995 using Notepad as my editor and manually making all the HTML code and tables.
But I seem to have lost those skills. I can, with some effort, understand what a program or code is trying to do, but I get flummoxed trying to write my own beyond a few lines, or make significant changes to any existing code.
Maybe I should have spent more time with my nose in the books, keeping up with all these new developments, instead of researching the history of the spice trade, pursuing rare models of Triumph motorcycles, or trying to learn Spanish...
And here I am trying to build a sophisticated form for our tequila tasting database using PHP, Javascript and CSS, with sliders, radio boxes, variables, form-mail, MYSQL access, cookies... it's sometimes like trying to run forward on a sheet of very smooth ice... other times like trying to wade through waist-high molasses. So far I haven't managed to solve what are basic problems... impassable mile-high mountains for me that are likely simple issues for any experienced coders..
Another problem is the "latest blog" list at the bottom of the page. I only want that on the board index/front page. But because of where I have the code now, it shows up on every page. I have tried cutting and pasting it into all sorts of locations recommended by other users. It just won't show up. Doesn't matter where I put it, or if I tweak the contents, it vanishes.
(Sunday, March 20: Solved that one. Seems there was an error in the permissions setting of my site, some digital switch flicked at the server end... once that was reset, it worked).
One user cut and pasted my code line for line into his board at the very place I was hoping to get it to work -and it worked beautifully for him. Sigh. I can only hope it's an issue at the server end and that I'm not as stupid as this makes me feel.
Coding, like mathematics and mosh pits, is apparently a young person's game. Or at least the domain of those who have a lot more time on their hands to practice it. Maybe I should go back to history. It's so much easier to understand, say, the intricacies of Elizabeth trade economics than the subtleties of Javascript parsing routines...
It must be an age thing because I read forum posts on other sites where users say they can make something work - and when I try it it just doesn't do it. That leads to late nights staring at the code on the screen while tiny droplets of blood eke from my forehead...
I used to be a real geek, a code jockey. I could write programs, tinker in several computer languages, even understand machine code (6502 and Z80) in a passable manner. I started building web sites in 1995 using Notepad as my editor and manually making all the HTML code and tables.
But I seem to have lost those skills. I can, with some effort, understand what a program or code is trying to do, but I get flummoxed trying to write my own beyond a few lines, or make significant changes to any existing code.
Maybe I should have spent more time with my nose in the books, keeping up with all these new developments, instead of researching the history of the spice trade, pursuing rare models of Triumph motorcycles, or trying to learn Spanish...
And here I am trying to build a sophisticated form for our tequila tasting database using PHP, Javascript and CSS, with sliders, radio boxes, variables, form-mail, MYSQL access, cookies... it's sometimes like trying to run forward on a sheet of very smooth ice... other times like trying to wade through waist-high molasses. So far I haven't managed to solve what are basic problems... impassable mile-high mountains for me that are likely simple issues for any experienced coders..
Another problem is the "latest blog" list at the bottom of the page. I only want that on the board index/front page. But because of where I have the code now, it shows up on every page. I have tried cutting and pasting it into all sorts of locations recommended by other users. It just won't show up. Doesn't matter where I put it, or if I tweak the contents, it vanishes.
(Sunday, March 20: Solved that one. Seems there was an error in the permissions setting of my site, some digital switch flicked at the server end... once that was reset, it worked).
One user cut and pasted my code line for line into his board at the very place I was hoping to get it to work -and it worked beautifully for him. Sigh. I can only hope it's an issue at the server end and that I'm not as stupid as this makes me feel.
Coding, like mathematics and mosh pits, is apparently a young person's game. Or at least the domain of those who have a lot more time on their hands to practice it. Maybe I should go back to history. It's so much easier to understand, say, the intricacies of Elizabeth trade economics than the subtleties of Javascript parsing routines...
