Tommy Williams

Javascript is the universal language... everyone in the world that has a computer has a browser, and hence can execute Javascript. Also, lower level languages such as C, C++, C# and Java can now be converted to javascript to compile faster. With the additions HTML5 has brought, we can now render real 3D graphics on the GPU with WebGL and SVG, as well as the plethora of other advances HTML5 has brought (location, sqlite, storage, web components, etc).

jQuery was one of the more exciting libraries to have ever hit the web. I recall the euphoria I experienced when learning that animations and ajax calls could be done across any browser with just a line of code. The jQuery team has provided the world with a wonderfully stable library that will grow and continue to help developers to make beautiful and functional sites for decades to come. I have been working with jQuery for over 5 years now, and have also been around during the creation of jQuery UI and jQuery mobile. While being a pioneer for this suite of libraries, I have found that they do a great job, and it encourages programmers of all levels of knowledge to learn more. If you have any run-ins with not fully understanding any part of these frameworks, I am confident I can get you over that hump.

I have been working with with HTML since the early 90's. It was always my goal to make the 'COOLEST' website the www had ever seen. In the early days I did this by creating animated skulls with flames, and today, by creating responsive, elegant designs. My experience in HTML reaches back to XHTML and is as current as HTML5. The excitement that HTML5 has brought to my life is indescribable, but I would be happy to share that excitement with others through teaching what I have learned. It is a much more interactive web today than what it was 20 years ago, which is a great thing, and also a scary thing (with the amount of security and cautiousness that is required).

I recall when CSS first came about, and like many things, I was reluctant to strip out all of my <font color="red"> tags that I had worked so hard on perfecting. It took me a while to then learn why I needed to separate my inline styles and move them over to a CSS stylesheet. Today, I am not sure how I could have ever had that initial mindset. CSS changed web design the same way that Javascript changed the web's ability to provide dynamic content... two of the three cornerstones in front end web development. CSS has been around long enough to have hundreds of different design patterns created by now, and with the emergence of CSS3, we can now see animations, transitions and transforms ALL at the expense of the GPU (rather than using precious CPU processing time). Working with HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript (ECMAScript 5+) has a wonderful harmony. They work so well together to make beautiful and functional web apps. These areas are moving quickly, and I would be happy to help anyone catch up to this roaring train of technology, as there are many areas to cover.

Ever since discovering JSON's power to transmit information, it didn't take me long to completely throw away XML. Key:value pairs, objects and arrays make JSON strings the cheapest, easiest to understand, most concise way to transfer data. I am familiar with JSON strings that are used in AJAX request/responses, as well as JSONP for CORS (cross site JSON). It is a beautiful thing, and I would love to teach you what I know.

I remember using AJAX for my very first time, long before the years of jQuery. It was a very big feat for me. The term was thrown around like it cured diseases, and figuratively, it did! I have a great grasp on how AJAX works, and would be happy to help anyone learn what I know.

I needed to graduate from a simple HTML website to something with a back end of information. So I took the dive into the LAMP stack. Today, I still use LAMP for the most part, but have brushed with other databases, other servers, but still love PHP. It is a straight-forward, loosely typed scripting language, and a great, relatively easy language to learn.