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by michelle_ 5137 days ago
Not quite zero. This past semester I took a course in MATLAB which was fairly unrelated, but definitely helped me get comfortable with programming a real project (we did bridge design in the course). I also live with a software developer who helped bail me out from time to time. DailyDo.it was started on April 29th, and I worked long days since then to get it up to what you see now. During the weekend before that I made http://html5helicopter.com to get familiar with JS. I've played around with HTML and CSS before, but always found the process frustrating and overwhelming when trying to make a whole website from scratch; this time I started with a micro-framework that helped me focus on the actual app.

As for anyone who was in my position (limited coding knowledge and not a pro-designer) I would definitely recommend starting from a cheap themeforest design and building up on that. Also, start small and focus. The idea of DailyDo.it was actually conceived last year, but I tried to do way too much with it, and ultimately it amounted to nothing of value. Just piles of bad designs and funky, non-functioning UI, never mind getting to code. This summer I started from scratch (which cleared my mind up), plus I was able to focus on it full-time, and everything just kind of clicked.

I think I just used the word "focus" three times in this post. That's the key. :)
2 comments
xriddle 5135 days ago
Not to take anything away from such a great accomplishment ... but i find it a little odd that you failed to mention your live-in boyfriend is a coding ninja. Either way ... hats off to you ... and keep it up.

http://nathan.ca/2012/04/html5-helicopter/

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michelle_ 5134 days ago
In the post you're replying to I said: "I also live with a software developer who helped bail me out from time to time", and I linked to the html5helicopter.com page which links to that blog post. I wasn't trying to hide anything and didn't mean to be misleading. I'm sorry if I caused any confusion. Nathan helped teach me to code, but DailyDo.it is my own creation.
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gere 5137 days ago
Sorry, what do you mean with "bridge design"? Great first app, by the way!
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glimcat 5137 days ago
You use a series of members under tension or compression to support a load-bearing surface spanning a gap. Then you see if it falls down under a static or dynamic load. It's a common exercise for engineering students.

I hear there's a nice one in San Francisco.

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