[Tenderfoot]

I'll start by listing my skills and then I'll get to the point pronto:

• Skills I possess
  
• PHP - Intermediate
  
• HTML - Intermediate
  
• CSS - Intermediate
  
• MySQL - Intermediate
  
• C# - Intermediate
  
• SQL Server - Intermediate
  
• C++ - Beginner

I'm very mediocre at all of those things. I'm familiar with the fundamentals of OOP programming and to some extent, controller-based websites with PHP.

My goal:

• Becoming good at web development

So what I'd really like to ask, is whether someone on here has the time/will to guide me towards my goal. I've been thinking about this for some time now. I don't really know any successful web developers in real life, or developers for that matter, so I have no one to model or get inspired by or to ask questions when I feel lost. I feel like that would really get me on track. I hope I don't come off too needy here. What I want to start wih is a litle project I've had in mind for a while now. I want to create a small forum that a group of people would use. The layout I have in mind is fairly simple. My biggest problem is that I need a plan, where to start, where to go from there, and up until I finish the project and launch it. And hopefully someone to nudge me in the right direction when I'm using bad coding practices or someone who can tell me when I need to look something up and what to look up.

If someone would be willing to do this for me, that is, draw up a plan for me to follow in order to complete this successfully, and become a more skilled developer in the process, I'd be very grateful. But what can I, offer you in return? This is where I have no good ideas. I'm a student, and I can't really offer any substantial amount of money, maybe something small, like a video game on steam, a cheap book, or any small donation. Other than that, I can only offer my sincere admiration and gratitude. Unless of course your interest in languages isn't limited to programming languages, then I could attempt to teach you mine. If not, I'm not sure what exactly I have to offer, but perhaps we can think of something, or maybe I'll one day be proficient enough at this (or some other technology) to return the favor in some way.

[modi123_1]

Moving to post a job..

[macosxnerd101]

For the C# and PHP ends, check out these threads:
Getting Better at Programming PHP
Learning C# Series

[Secretmapper]

Hey there. Recently I've been in a startup engineering class in Stanford and an alumni is offering the exact same thing; He is running a free (and will always be free) Mentoring Program Everything is run by volunteers, but from what I've seen so far, it seems pretty good, and some nice people out there.

Generally, the model is that volunteer mentors will go about assigning things to mentee, asking help for open source projects and stuff like that.

Don't take my word for it though, here is the Info Page
Here's the sign up page -Mentoring Program

It's not on yet, just a signup page. They're still deciding the language and stuff.

This post has been edited by modi123_1: 03 July 2013 - 06:56 AM
Reason for edit:: removed referral links

[jon.kiparsky]

I suggest that your best course would be to start working on the things you want to learn and come up with really interesting questions that will attract the attention of the web dev and graphic design heads* here on DIC. That way, you'll get the best sort of feedback, interested commentary from a more experienced developer, and you'll pay for the mentoring in the coin that is most interesting to the people you're looking for, which is interesting problems to think about.

If you show an interest in the work, others will likely take an interest in what you're doing.

- don't ask others to learn for you. Do your research and try experiments before you ask.
- ask good questions. Make your questions specific, give short and focused examples in code to illustrate your points, and give a brief summary of what you have hypothesized and how you've tested your hypotheses.
- share what you know. You clearly have some knowledge already. Explaining the things you're familiar with to novices is a great way to solidify your understanding. (and also garners you shiny reputation points, if you like that sort of thing) It also goes a long way to earning respect from the people you want to be in dialogue with. The important thing to remember on this score: if you don't know, don't guess. "I think it may be like this, but I'm not sure" is okay, but the best thing is if you either do some quick research or run a quick test. "I think it's like this, and here's why I think so" is much better, particularly if the "here's why I think so" cites language documentation or an appropriate example in code.

Good luck!



* yes, I know web development and graphic design are separate skills, but if you're doing web stuff, you might as well get a basic understanding of visual design. It won't hurt you at all.