Ray Louis raylouis

Breaking into Web Development

I work as an analyst contractor, these days my roles are often a mixture of development and management. I have been asked by a countless number of people what they need to do to get the jobs I’m offered – and it’s simpler than most expect. The market for talented developers in the United Kingdom (and in many talent-lite communities around the world) is such that anyone who merely knows what they are doing has a very good chance of getting a job. Even a job contracting (which ordinarily has senior-level requirements).

To become a web developer with a good salary and employment expectations you need skills. Below I’ll provide a plan to get you towards the top of the largest market: PHP Web Development. Advanced knowledge of everything on this list would immediately make you one of the best, so just strive to have an exposure if not a comprehensive understanding (though the *starred points are essential). To learn these technologies you should use several in combination on on

Ten seconds to ponder if a thread is worth it

A userstyle that makes you wait ten seconds before entering a Hacker News thread. I use stylus to manage mine.

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	<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
	// Comcast Cable Communications, LLC Proprietary. Copyright 2012.
	// Intended use is to display browser notifications for critical and time sensitive alerts.
	var SYS_URL='/e8f6b078-0f35-11de-85c5-efc5ef23aa1f/aupm/notify.do';
	// var image_url='http://servicealerts.comcast.net:8080/images/mt';
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	var textline1='You have reached 90% of your <b>monthly data usage allowance</b>.';
	var textline2='Please sign in for more information and to remove this alert.';
	var acknowledgebutton='<a href=\"#\" onClick="document.location.href=\''+SYS_URL+'?dispatch=redirect&redirectName=login&paramName=bmUid\'" title="Sign in to acknowledge" style="color: #FFFFFF;"><img alt="Sign in to acknowledge" src="'+image_url+'/mt_signin.png"/></a>';

	#!/usr/bin/env bash

	export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive

	# Update Package List
	apt-get update

	# Update System Packages
	apt-get upgrade -y

	<?php

	/*
	ErrorHandler Class
	By James King
	v0.1 Alpha

	WARNING: This class is still in ALPHA phase. Not recommended for production.

	Manages and handles any PHP errors found in your script.

	/* UTF-8 console password prompt for Windows
	* This is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain.
	*/
	#include <windows.h>

	// Display prompt then read zero-terminated, UTF-8 password.
	// Return password length with terminator, or zero on error.
	static int
	read_password(char buf, int len, char prompt)
	{

	/* Morse code decoder automaton
	* This is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain.
	*/

	/* Advance to the next state for an input, '.', '-'. or 0 (terminal).
	* The initial state is zero. Returns the next state, or the result:
	* < 0 when more input is needed (i.e. next state)
	* = 0 for invalid input
	* > 0 the ASCII result
	*/

	CFLAGS = -std=c99 -Wall

	main : main.o

	.PHONY : test clean

	test : main
	./$^ "regex" "vtable" < main.c

	clean :

	<?php

	$name = "David \"Dave\" O'Connor";

	header('Content-Type: application/json');

	echo json_encode($name);