< how did you start dev (for those who do)?

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~tffb

Hey, ~owleyarc! Congrats on the promotion! I double the sentiment about backend - I've learned that I prefer to work with things in relation to VPS management, and I (surprisingly) took a liking to deal with MySQL stuff, as I am always repeating XYZ command(s) to access a table/column to make a change or whatever. One can't help but become accustomed to getting the overall "basics" of navigating a MySQL db over time. Figuring out the proper stuff to put IN such and such db, such as connecting a PHP script for UN/PW input on the frontend, that's another story ;) I also consider MySQL as a possible "marketable" skill in freelance type of stuff, because a lot of devs/designers and CSS gurus don't want to touch a db with a 50 foot pole, lol! (not knocking the CSS gurus out there)

Funny you mention the Lego robotics thing, because I asked this same Q/told this same story over on the Commander X16 forum just after writing this here, and a guy mentioned some Lego robotics devices he built ("some from kits, some with mods").

I have no idea if I'd make dev a full-time gig/job, but I am a passionate hobbyist, and would even do a freelance thing at some point (maybe) should I be well versed enough in a certain area to confidently charge money for my service.

Thanks for the response!

~bartender, a round of anything for folks about The Midnight this AM. And a hot coffee for me, thank you! :)

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~owleyarc wrote (thread):

Yeah, server management can be a lot of fun (see also, reinstalling my OS all the time). And lol, I don't know about "can't help". I deal with `$EMPLOYER`SQL most days and I still can't remember more than a basic select statement without looking at the docs again. Speaking of UN/PW entering... my first internship in HS, total nepotism gig, my first day I was looking over the PHP codebase and was like "What are all these bind statements? That seems redundant." and removed them all, introducing like twenty SQL injection vulnerabilities. I would have felt worse about it, except my coworker who had years of experience approved the changes. And yeah, SomethingSQL is a good skill to have!

For me it was an after school club, so IDK what was a kit and what was random legos the school had. I do recall they had little IR communicators on the front and I could use that to cheat at the club's main event, robot fights, by making the other robot just back out of the ring.

And ooh, the CX16 project looks so cool! I can't wait.

Freelancing is hard, but I'm sure there's always someone around who need computer help with their website or something. But yeah, doing it for work takes a lot of the fun out of it, and since working fulltime, I'm no longer near as passionate of a hobbyist as I used to be.