Journal #6 Self-reflection

I came into this class with a solid background in the basic structure of HTML and CSS, albeit with a few gaping holes in my knowledge. The only formal web instruction I had was at a nerdy 13 and under technology summer camp where the day was split into two sections, intro to web, and intro to game programing. Since that camp I have always had an immense interest in how the internet and websites work. When I was in high school I created a few basic forums, bought my own domain name, and created a few gaming based websites. I used a lot of WYSIWYG editors like DreamWeaver (Version 4! No, not CS4 - Version 4, like when Macromedia was still its own entity and not owned by Adobe) and Photoshop 7 and mostly everything was static, so HTML and CSS vocabulary was unnecessary or very limited. It wasn't until I was in college where I started helped create a website using WordPress and the woman I was working with was so specific, I had to learn enough vocabulary to get by using the themes within WordPress. Because of my self-taught, round-about way of learning HTML and CSS, these gaping holes in my knowledge have suppressed my creativity and frustrated me.

This class has, perhaps unsurprisingly, filled in a lot of these gaping holes. My major issue was vocabulary confusion - the mismatching of definitions for basic things. For example the difference between elements (<p>, <a> , <table>), classes (specified groups of elements to make up a sub-style, noted with a period [.name]), and the id selector (aka divs, sectioned areas of styles for individual elements noted with a hashtag [#name]). The last class period when we started creating the two column layout was when it finally all came together. It is so basic, but I just didn't make the connection that the placement of divs within the structure of the HTML is key. I knew to use CSS rules to negotiate it's place with the other divs, but if the divs aren't nested in correct order in the HTML the layout won't appear as desired. 

I enjoy the hands on format of the class and I am really enjoying the new HTML5 stuff that is being shared with us, even if we aren't using it. It is awesome to see how much is being incorporated directly into HTML, like the drawing canvases and advanced form field integration, without having to go to third party products like Flash. Mostly, this class has made me extremely excited to get to the advanced course with Dr. McGarvey, so I can get to the really fun (err, complicated) stuff.

I don't think anything was really overly complicated, so I will share what my favorite project has been so far. My favorite has actually been creating the navigation buttons and the CSS behind it. You can see my red to gold navigation buttons on my main page, http://www.csupomona.edu/~dcstewart/first.html .