Why I write code.

Posted on by Ray Johnson

Because it is fun! No really. I do enjoy the ability to create something from basically nothing. That is an oversimplification to be sure. All the hard work has already been done. The physical computer, operating system, programming language, and programming tools have all been previously created and made to work together. I just get to use them to create! Be it a application, website, plug-in, or simple script.

The Wikipedia article on Computer programming starts as follows: “Computer programming (often shortened to programming) is a process that leads from an original formulation of a computing problem to executable programs.”

Wow. About a dry as most people probably think programming is. If you described the art of painting in the same terms, “a process that leads from an original formulation of an art problem to rendered art”, I think becoming an artist would be less desirable. I am not critiquing the Wikipedia article as it is accurate, just makes it sound so dry and boring. I find programming exciting, frustrating, fun, confusing, complex, and fulfilling. The last one is only when the project is near completion and everything is finally starting to work correctly.

I am often asked why I am so good with computers. My answer is the same as you might get from an artist. I live for programming. I study programming. I keep current on programming. I learn new programming languages and frameworks. I read through the code of other programmers. And, most importantly, I practice programming. I say “practice” because it is a continuous learning process.

One that I enjoy very much.

–RayJ

WordPress: Is the “do it yourself” approach the best way?

Posted on by Ray Johnson

The main reason for a WordPress based website is the ability to build a fully custom site all on your own. This may be your goal, but does it always make sense in practice? Once you get your WordPress site all setup, all the neat plugins added, a fine theme, a some new content. It is fire and forget! Right? Maybe…

The reality is that any website needs tending. All software gets updates, more often than you think. The plugins and theme will also need to be updated from time to time. What about security? Spammers and hackers spend their time looking for and exploiting WordPress sites that are easy targets. Taking care of it yourself seems simple, many updates are a single click away. However, there are times an updated plugin can totally break your website. This is normally due to the plugin vendor no being ready for a new version of WordPress. You need to keep up on the update cycles of the core, plugins, and themes. And know how to revert your site back a working state if there is a problem.

And then there is security, this is the most important thing. Hackers, spammers, and information thieves are always at work. You need to be able to respond quickly when your site gets hacked. The best thing you can do is to have a plan on how you can get your site back up and running if and when it is hacked. For this reason, managing your own website security is a risk you can’t afford to take.

WordPress is very user-friendly, a great content management system. Over a third of new websites use the platform (W3Techs). It is recommended that you use WordPress for your business website .It fulfills the needs of most companies. But, other than doing some simple tasks, blogging, and perhaps a text edit here and there you, should leave the management in the hands of a professional website management company. And be sure to use a company that specializes in WordPress sites.