evBlog

Yesterday I had the first of many phone calls with a fellow employee who wants to learn how to design web design. I don't think he particularly cares if that web design uses ColdFusion, ASP, or just plain jane HTML. However since he asked me for help he gets the ColdFusion. When it comes to training and helping people learn I believe I have a pretty good track record. The three that come to mind are both doing extremely well in their day to day careers as programmers now. However, how much of that is my doing vs. their own desire is unknown. To be a programmer you have to have that "want to desire" along with that desire to learn.

This time it's different however, this time the programmer in waiting is not located in the same location I am. He's not even located in the same state, or even the same time zone! How can I teach someone who isn't setting right next to me? There is something to be said for the ability to walk over and ask someone a question. Not that you can't ask questions over the phone, but I think you get my point. As mentioned above we started the learning process yesterday with our first call. He wants to take an process that is completed today on an Excel Spreadsheet and turn it in to a web application. Simple enough I thought to myself, but then I began to thinking. There is so much that I have learned over the 8+ years I've been coding. How do I pass that along in two hour phone conversations twice a week. Plus it's not just ColdFusion, it's HTML and CSS. The basics of web design. Not to mention the SQL!! After all what would the point be in learning CF without a database to talk to, right? Luckily for me he has taking the beginning courses of HTML and ColdFusion that my company offers, so we aren't starting completely from scratch. However there are some things that he has learned in those classes that are probably dated and that he'll have to unlearn.

So where to begin? Where do I begin to teach him the code that I write vs. the code that newbies write. Nothing against newbies, we were all there once, he needs to start somewhere. Do I let him write the ColdFusion code he learned in class or do I teach him the ColdFusion code I want on my server. After all this is my server, my web site, my baby and my job to fix it if it breaks and he isn't here. I've struggled with the idea of shoving him directly in to the OOish stuff I've been coding lately but Fro and I decided against that. Instead I think I'll show him how I wrote nice clean code (IMO) before my venture into this OO stuff. Separating code into different pages to be used as cfincludes so the it stays clean and easy managed. Writing stored procedures for most of the queries, again lending itself to cleaner more manageable code.

What are your thoughts? I'll try to keep you all updated on this, it honestly should be fun. I really do like teaching and I think I'm decent at it. I guess the distance thing is what is bothering me now.

Good Day!
Ryan