Home »
Silicon Beach Training Blog > Programming
Archives for the Programming category
Don’t miss out on the app boom due to a lack of coding skills! Take our iOS App Training Course for Non Developers and join the mobile revolution!
We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new iOS App Workshop that aims to give people with no prior programming experience the ability to start creating their own apps for the world’s most popular mobile platform.
There are currently 400 million iOS devices in the market: that’s 400 million potential customers who have collectively downloaded 35 billion iOS apps. Yes, you read that correctly, 35 Billion!
You; the would-be app designer, can’t ignore this huge market, so why not learn how you too can take a bite of the apple with our iOS App Training for Non Developers course?
iOS App training for Non Developers is our latest Mobile Development Training course, joining the popular iOS App Development training and Android App Development training courses for experienced programmers, as well our Mobile Web Design Week for web based developers looking to enter the mobile market. Read the rest of "New iOS App Course: Now Non-Developers Can Create iPhone Apps Too!"
Posted by Aaron Charlie in Mobile, News, Programming on October 30th, 2012| No Comments »
The widespread development of dynamic websites has been made possible by large proportions of content being handled and generated using databases. SQL, or Structured Query Language has been used for decades to query and edit information stored in database management systems.
Our 3-day SQL Course in Brighton teaches delegates ANSI-standard SQL and some common extensions. The course includes practical and theory elements so that delegates are fully equipped to read and write SQL effectively.
SQL – Where Did it All Begin?
In the 1970s in the laboratories of IBM new software was created to create databases called System R. SQL was the language developed to manage the data stored in System R. Initially named SEQUEL, it’s still often referred to by this name, for SQL, but was later renamed SQL.
Relational Software, which later became Oracle, released a modified version called Oracle V2 in 1979.
40 years on SQL is still used due to the flexibility it provides to users by supporting databases that can be run on several computer networks at the same time. SQL has become a database query language standard, and although many new languages have been developed since it still forms the basis of many well established database applications today.
The introduction of many open-source SQL database solutions such as MySQL, SQL-based applications have become increasingly affordable.
The SQL Standard
The SQL Standard has had a lot of new functionality added over the years, like support for XML, triggers, recursive queries, regular expression matching, standardized sequences and much more. Because of the volume of the SQL Standard many of the newer database solutions on which it is based, such as MySQL, do not use the whole standard. This is the reason why, even though all SQL implementations have the same base, they are not necessarily compatible. Read the rest of "An Introduction to SQL (Structured Query Language)"
Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, Programming on August 24th, 2012| No Comments »
Last year we wrote about ‘the mobile future’. Well that future has become the present. As a business owner, what are your options for entering the ever-growing mobile market?
In the US, smartphones outnumber feature phones. In India, this year mobile web users will outnumber desktop web users.
Not only is the mobile market growing but it’s becoming more profitable. Google recently added in-app subscriptions to the Play Store, PayPal is taking mobile to the high street and banks are getting in on the act led by Barclays Pingit.
Fears of security have been swept aside as mobile users worldwide devour information & entertainment on the go.
The opportunities for marketing are huge. Last year the mobile market was estimated to be worth $25-50 billion by 2015, but as China’s app market is valued at $35 billion those early figures massively undersell the mobile market.
The Great Mobile Choice
Swiftly putting telesales & SMS marketing to one side, there are four ways to make your business mobile. Depending on the size of your business you may wish to pick one, go for all of them or a use a selection based on your business aims and potential mobile revenue.
Users can access content on their smartphone or tablet in two ways – via a browser or by downloading an app. You should be making sure that potential customers can access your content via one of these options:
- Browser – Websites (desktop, mobile & responsive) and Web Apps
- Application – Native Apps
So which one should you choose? Use our helpful guide to decide! Read the rest of "Mobile Site vs. Responsive Site vs. Native App vs. Web App"
Posted by Craig Charley in Mobile, News, Programming, Web Design on May 30th, 2012| 1 Comment »
This guest blog post from Mike A. has some very helpful pointers for complete PHP beginners but if you want to learn more advanced techniques then you should consider PHP Training, one of a number of our excellent Programming Courses.
PHP Pointers for Beginners
With Web 2.0, website visitors expect a full-featured custom website that uses their location and other information to display a unique website. As a developer or designer, you want to find ways to make your website a unique experience for each visitor. You can use PHP to create a feature-rich, dynamic website for your visitors.
PHP is a scripting language embedded within HTML. A PHP processor module, which reads the script, is located on the web server. The module renders a readable web page, so site visitors do not need special software installed on their own computer to view features on the page. Used on over 20 million web pages, PHP is one of the most popular languages used to create dynamic web pages.
A few of the most popular Web 2.0 websites use PHP to create customized content for their visitors. Facebook, WordPress, Digg and Wikipedia all use PHP to produce websites tailored to each visitor’s needs and interests. Web developers can use PHP scripts to pull information from the database about each user, including location and previously saved data.
PHP has many features you can use to customize your website, but listing all of them would make this article too long ,not to mention too boring, to read. You will learn more techniques in future articles, but this article will introduce you to six easy ways to use PHP, even if your experience with PHP is limited.
Website Appearance
You can change the appearance of your web page depending on the day or any other factor. For example, show a picture of the sun during the day and a picture of the moon at night. This keeps your website fresh for returning visitors and keeps it interesting.
Place this code between the head tags in the HTML code:
$day = date(“w”);
$color = array(“white”, “orange”, “purple”, “pink”, “red”, “blue”, “green”);
Place this piece of code inside the and tags of your HTML to change the color:
print(“style=\”color:$color[$day];\”"); Read the rest of "PHP Pointers for Beginners"
Posted by Guest Author in Guest Blogs, News, Programming on October 31st, 2011| No Comments »
This is the third and final part of our review of the Update 2011 Conference in Brighton on mobile development and usability on Monday 6th September. You can also check out our posts on BrightonSEO Friday 9th - see #BrightonSEO 2011 – Attracting Quality Links
Are you looking to get into mobile app development? If so it is unlikely you’ll be able to as you need a whole new set of skills. Lucky for you we’ve just launched iOS App Training, a practical course that teaches developers how to create, style and market iPhone and iPad apps. Don’t miss out on the exciting and lucrative world of mobile app development by booking yourself a place on our course today.
How does your site look on a mobile? Rubbish? You might be interested in our new 5-day Mobile Web Design Course Package
If you haven’t already, check out our reviews of:
The morning session, featuring:
- Matt Gemmell on Usability
- Jeremy Keith on The One Web
- Chris Evans-Roberts – Ithaca Audio
- The Native vs Web App Debate
The first part of the afternoon, which featured:
- Seb Lee-Delisle – Angry Birds Corona Workshop
- Sarah Parmenter – UI Design for iOS
- Relly Annett-Baker – Arse Over Tit
- Interview with Ronald Wayne – Apple Co-Founder
Joachim Bondo – Going Beyond Delicious
Following the enthralling interview with Apple co-founder Ronald Wayne, we heard from Joachim Bondo – who Chess fans may be interested to hear is the creator of the Deep Green game – originally for the Apple Newton, and latterly for iPhone and iPad. So a clever chap!
Joachim Bondo at the Update 2011 After Party
As with some of the previous presentations at Update 2011, Joachim’s focus was on user experience. He stressed that ‘delicious’ apps give users more pleasure and are likely to be used and shared more than those that are ‘undelicious’
Joachim is a watch collector, and his presentation essentially used watch design and manufacture as an extended metaphor for app design and development.
In his view – although Apple’s products are designed by ‘dudes’ in California and manufactured on production lines in China where ‘people kill themselves’ (rather than being hand crafted in Switzerland like the watches he loves) – that they are on the right track with their attention to detail and ‘delicious’ product design and user interfaces.
However Joachim maintained that app developers have the opportunity to go beyond delicious – i.e. to look further than just a sleek user interface, and make sure that every component and every line of code is perfect.
His overriding point was that quality takes time – like the manufacture of a carefully crafted wristwatch, if you want your app to go ‘beyond delicious’ take the time to test every component, and that users will flock to a great product.
If I’m honest, I think Joachim’s presentation took rather a long time to make one point via an extended metaphor – and many of the other presentations at Update 2011 provided much more in the way of practical advice. However he’s clearly passionate about attention to detail in both watches and app development, and I’m sure his passion made some of the developers in the audience think twice about rushing half-baked apps to market.
Posted by Aaron Charlie in Brighton, Mobile, News, Programming on September 7th, 2011| 1 Comment »
Native Apps vs Web Apps…
Native apps on mobile platforms are a great way for developers to bring web content to mobile phones.
However, due to constant upgrades and fragmentation in the mobile hardware and software industry, to reach the widest possible audience a developer creating a native app for use on different mobiles would have to create separate apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry and Symbian. This is a costly and lengthy process and not a long term solution as the operating systems are always changing.
You can dramatically save costs on using native app developers by taking our iPhone App Training Course which teaches delegates how to build iOS5 apps from scratch. We will shortly be adding courses for native apps on other mobile operating systems so keep your eyes peeled.
Google is championing web apps, with CEO Eric Schmidt claiming an unexpectedly high increase in mobile web traffic as people demand content instantly and on the move. So why exactly are many developers switching to web-apps in favour of native apps?
What is a Web App?
A native phone app has to be downloaded on to your device from an online store (like Apple’s App Store, or the Android App Market)
A web app is a website that can be accessed via your phone’s standard web browser that looks and behaves like a native app – but doesn’t have to be installed locally. HTML5 is making it easier for developers to make web apps that behave more like native apps. Read the rest of "Native Apps vs. Web Apps – The Rise of HTML5"
Posted by Craig Charley in Mobile, News, Programming, Web Design on September 1st, 2011| No Comments »
Adobe Muse
Well well well - it seems that Adobe can’t stop releasing previews and betas at the moment!
We recently saw the unveiling of Adobe Edge – a potential future replacement for Flash which creates animations using HTML5. You might like to check out my summary of Adobe Edge (and my atrocious attempt at an animation).
Then last week, they also lifted the lid on Adobe Muse. Muse is a “code name” – so we wait with baited breath to see what the final product will be called. Adobe is currently “working with the branding team to determine the final name of this product” (perhaps the developers are fans of the Devon rock band of the same name!)
Whatever it ends up being called – Muse is a web design tool that allows designers without any coding experience to create website designs and publish them without having to look at any HTML. It’s a What You See is What You Get (WYSIWYG) tool.
Hang on a minute though! Adobe already has the industry standard WYSIWYG web design tool on its books in the shape of Dreamweaver – which has been around for a LONG time (we’ve been running web design training since 1999 and our Dreamweaver course was the first Silicon Beach Training ever offered!)
Dreamweaver was originally released in the age of static HTML pages – and has had to reinvent itself over the years to keep up in the age of dynamic database driven websites. It hasn’t done a bad job of that, and remains a very useful design tool and code editor (Dreamweaver CS5.5 also includes tools for mobile authoring – which is the biggest growth area in web design at the moment). But – to use Dreamweaver effectively to produce dynamic sites which include blogs, social integration etc… (all of which are really important now), increasingly requires more coding experience.
This is where blog and web design CMS systems like WordPress and Joomla have come in to their own in recent years. Via simple interfaces and easy to use plugins, these tools allow people with genuinely NO programming experience to set up sites with interaction and social integration. They are theme based, and don’t have as much flexibility in terms of layout design as Dreamweaver – but nevertheless can deliver professional results.
Read the rest of "Adobe Muse – The New Dreamweaver?"
Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, Programming, Web Design on August 22nd, 2011| 8 Comments »
We love jQuery! And one of the things its being used a LOT for at the moment is some lovely animated navigation elements.
We used to see some navigation elements designed in Flash – but now that it isn’t supported on any Apple mobile devices you’d have to be a complete lunatic to develop navigation elements in Flash (we recently started a discussion about this on LinkedIn which ran and ran!)
Adobe has cottoned on to this and has recently launched a preview of a new product – Edge – which animates using HTML5, jQuery and CSS3
Read our thoughts on Adobe Edge
Anyway – just as it looked like we would never be able to animate navigation elements of our sites again – along come HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery to save the day. Hurrah! Check out this lovely sliding jQuery menu on Fresh Egg’s new homepage
So – how’s it done then? There’s LOADS of jQuery navigation bar tutorials out there on the web, with more being added every day. Some of them are great, but there are a lot to sift through.
So – we’ve saved you the job by providing a list of our Top 10 jQuery Navigation Bar Tutorials below.
Of course – if you want to learn jQuery in depth – come along to our next jQuery course here in Brighton.
Top 10 jQuery Navigation Bar Tutorials
1) Apple Style Menu with Added Animation
This menu bar is in the same style as the Apple website and has a nice clean design, but has been improved with a nice sliding jQuery animation:
Demo | Tutorial
Posted by Aaron Charlie in News, Programming, Web Design on August 19th, 2011| 2 Comments »
