Code

Main Languages

One of the many aspects of computing that I spend a lot of time with is coding. My favourite language is PHP coupled with a MySQL database.

In the last couple of years I have been expanding into the Laravel world and picking up various new methods for creating code projects and have been extremely satisfied with how easy it is to learn and to use. Some of my blog posts are about Laravel projects and various aspects of Laravel which may not be documented well.

Most recently I have been diving into the realms of javascript in the form of VueJS which, in my opinion, does a job but can be a pain initially to get some simple things working. VueJS is an amazing library containing some very powerful features (most of which could be put together with other things like jQuery instead) and I have utilised them to some extent in some of my most recent projects.

Other Languages

In the world of the web I generally can work out most languages but tend to stick with my strengths and build up slowly around them. In other worlds, C# is my strong point when it comes to application building and design, partly because Microsoft supply an effective IDE with a point and click design unlike most languages which require addons to IDE's

IDE's

In terms of IDE, my favourite is PHPStorm from Jetbrains and I will plug their product for many many years. It is almost certainly one of the best, if not the best ESPECIALLY for education purposes. If you are a university student, teacher at a school or "IT guy", apply for your school to get their products for free. You do not have to use them in house but some gifted students will want to have a go.

From an application programming perspective, I just tend to stick with Visual studio, partly because its free and partly because it does practically everything I need.