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• I've failed at PHP several times. Is Ruby the Cure? [closed]

  - by saltcod

  Extremely, extremely subjective question here, but its something I've been struggling with for quite a while. I've seriously tried to become a reasonable PHP coder for the past several years. But I've really failed every time. I hate to describe myself as a beginner, b/c I've been designing websites (using WordPress, Drupal, etc) for years, but still I just can't seem get better at programming. Could it be that I have some kind of allergy to PHP? I went through Chris Pine's awesome into to Ruby about a week ago (for about the fifth time), and though it did all all seem much clearer to me than PHP, I wondered if I was just switching languages to find an easy way out? The things I struggle with in PHP all seem elementary—when to use a function, how to return database queries in foreach/while statements, when to turn those queries into reusable functions, adding arguments to functions, etc, etc. And all the OOP stuff that I keep seeing these days just files over my head. I guess my question(s) are: Am I going about learning how to program in the wrong way? Do I have some aversion to PHP that's preventing me from catch on? If I keep pushing at Ruby/Rails, will it just eventually 'click'. Or, the one I fear, am I just unlikely to ever be a programmer? Honesty appreciated. Terry

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• The Web Hosting Connundrum for "not quite" developers

  - by saltcod

  Hey all, Apologies if this post feels like its been covered elsewhere, but I don't think it has. I've been down a winding web hosting road. To date, I've tried: Joyent, Media Temple, Bluehost, Hostgator, and finally Linode. The reason for switching are likely obvious to everyone: speed. With the exception of the lightening fast Linode, all of the shared hosts are absolutely sloooow. What do do when you're not really a "developer" While I'v grown addicted to the speed of Linode, I really don't feel like its where I should be. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that one of these days (likely soon), I'm going to run into something that i won't be able to figure out and i'll have days worth of downtime. Just the other day, for example, I realized that one of my domains wasn't sending emails. After 4(!) hours looking into the problem, I still can't get sendmail or postfix to work. Four hours!! I want to be a Drupal expert, not a Ubuntu expert That's really the heart of my problem: I spend way too much time learning Ubuntu's ins-and-outs, and not nearly enough time working on Drupal. So here goes: Is there a web host out there anywhere that offers the speed of Linode, but will let me focus on Drupal instead of sys-admin-ing? Thanks! [ I know, I know. There are going to be lots of people who read this saying - "just learn Ubuntu like a real developer". And I get that. I do. But when I work full-time and try and develop some of these sites in my evenings and weekends, I'm really feeling like the sys-admin stuff gets in the way.

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• Should I learn to code?

  - by saltcod

  Hi All, This is more of a philosophical question than a technical one, but I’d like some opinions on it, and I think that there are many others in my position that would benefit. My issue is that I don’t really have time to learn how to code. I know, I know… no one has time anymore, but please hear me out. Since learning to use Drupal about 2 years ago I’ve been involved with several projects wherein I’ve become the default quasi-developer, front-end designer, site manager, and system administrator. What I’ve found is that I can produce fairly nice, feature rich Drupal sites with the wealth of contrib. modules out there (Views, CCK, image handling, etc….). BUT! I can’t code. I know enough PHP to insert something into a block, or re-word a string, but that’s about it. I still don’t really even know how arrays work. My question Succinctly, my question is: Given the time that I have available for all of this stuff – in addition to a full-time job and regular life – am I better off trying to become more expert at the front-end stuff, or should I just learn PHP already? Pros 1. If a project doesn’t use Drupal, I’ll know enough PHP to be able to participate. 2. Learning PHP would help my Drupal development too 3. Learning PHP would make front-end theming easier 4. Learning PHP should give me that missing background in programming – and should allow me to learn other languages in the future Cons 1. At 28, I know I’m not too old to learn anything. But am I too old to become ‘good’? 2. Am I better off getting better and better at front-end UX work? 3. Am I better off farming out the PHP work? Suggestions from coders welcome! Thanks Terry

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