Programming Fundamentals for Non-Programmers Weekend Workshop

Chris Castiglione, Digital Product Developer

Session I: Friday, January 4th from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Session II: Saturday, January 5th from 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Session III: Sunday, January 6th from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Friday: Lunch will be served

Saturday & Sunday: Mimosas and brunch will be served

The Programming for Non-Programmers Series:
Are you a creative or entrepreneur that wishes you could speak tech with your web development team? Maybe you wish you could code a bit yourself? Programming for Non-Programmers is workshop series at General Assembly designed to help non-programmers communicate more efficiently with developers. Because leading a development team (without being a developer yourself) can sometimes feels like “talking about dancing”, we’ve created an interactive and friendly environment in which to learn the basics.

If you're running a tech start-up, it's essential that you familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of web development. Ultimately knowing how to "talk to the talk" will help you communicate better with developers, and overall just look really cool. Come with questions, and a desire to have fun!

The programming for non-programmesr series is normally offered as a four part series during the work week.  By popular demand, we are bringing you the entire series as a weekend workshop. If you have already attended PFNP I, join us for sessions II and III.

PFNP 1: Fundamentals
In this workshop we'll tackle some development principles to get you on the right path. We'll look at questions like, "Front-end vs. Back-end?", "Is UX necessary for my project?", "What is this Javascript function thingy, and why am I passing it strange math equations to it?". We'll spend about half of the class looking at actual code and writing some basic Javascript, HTML & CSS ourselves.

• What coding languages should I use for my next project?
• Which CMS is right for the job?
• What are the stages of web development?
  What deliverables do I need to provide my developer? (FYI - This is important and often neglected or done poorly)
• Reading code & basic developing principles to get us started
• 7 concepts of programming that are the found in every programming language
• Understanding Javascript Variables & Functions

PFNP 2: Front-end Development
In this workshop we’re diving head first into front-end web development! In my work, I’ve discovered that I could be a better programmer by focusing on the good parts of a language, and avoiding the bad parts. After all, can you really build something with bad parts?

• HTML/CSS best-practices
• What is HTML5 really?!?
• Basics of divs, classes & IDs
• Making a basic portfolio landing page

PFNP 3: Backend-end Development, SQL Databases, & APIs
In this workshop each student will install a LAMP stack (ie. Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL). We’ll learn how to navigate around a SQL database, and work through a live project where we can practice coding some basic HTML/PHP/SQL.

• Setting up FTP, hosting, domains, DNS & sub domains
• How to manage a LAMP development stack
• How to write an SQL query and manage a MYSQL database
• How to write some back-end scripts (using PHP) and how it communicates with our front-end code (HTML/CSS)

• What is an API?
• As a non-developer how do I know which APIs are right for my project?
• How can I integrate data from services like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare into my project?
• How do I read through and parse some basic XML and JSON?

Prerequisites: It is suggested (but not mandatory) that you take the introductory workshop in this series “Programming for Non-Programmers: Fundamentals”. You must bring a laptop to class (Mac prefered, as the examples on screen will be for the Mac OS).

Where Do I go From Here?: After this class students will often go on to take Chris Castiglione’s “HTML / CSS Intensive”, and then possibly “Wordpress: Beyond Blogging”

Christopher Castiglione is a developer with a specialty in UX strategy and Wordpress. He has over ten years of experience developing digital products. In the past, he has designed applications for clients ranging from The Black Eyed Peas, Toyota, Bacardi, CLIF Bar, and American Express. Christopher holds an MA in New Media from The University of Amsterdam. He is currently a member of the General Assembly teaching faculty where he regularly teaches the following courses: Programming for Non-Programmers, Crash Course: HTML/CSS, Business Storytelling and Wordpress Theme Development.

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Our Refund Policy: Plans change? We get it. But if you can't make it to a class/workshop, please email us at classes@generalassemb.ly at least 5 days before the scheduled event date. No refunds will be given after this timeframe.

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