CIW Foundations Self Study

Discussion in 'CIW Certifications' started by NeilH, Dec 2, 2006.

  1. NeilH

    NeilH New Member

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    Hi all

    Im looking to take the CIW Foundations exam but due to astronomical charges at local training centres i'm planning on using the CIW self study packs from ComputerPREP.com.

    Anyone have experience of these? Also, what software will I need as a minimum, i assume they dont include any?

    Regards
    Neil
     
  2. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I've used some of the manuals.
    A bit pricey, but very good!

    You don't need any software to study CIW, but if you are serious about getting into web design, you are going to have to become proficient at at least one package.

    When I studied with the OU, we were encouraged to produce our web stuff using notepad, or a really simple editor - I learnt a lot that way.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  3. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Jonny you are a poser :biggrin

    Notepad is one of the most versatile applications there is but for a beginner to create modern day web pages with it, would be tough to say the least.
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  4. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    8)

    That's true!
    But I believe in it as a way of learning.

    The problem these days is that modern packages let you do so much stuff just by 'drag and drop' that there is no real requirement to actually understand how anything works.

    The code they generate is so unwieldly that you probably would struggle to understand it even if you know XHTML.

    I must admit, I've had many instances where FrontPage has simply refused to put an image on the right side of a horizontal line and the only way to fix it was to edit the code myself.

    Maybe I'm getting old...

    :disguise
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  5. csx

    csx Megabyte Poster

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    I would highly recommend learning to code in Notepad as the code generated by some packages can be bloody awful.

    I was employed to speed up a site and they originally designed the site in Front Page. Viewed the source and the amount of crap code that was there was unbelievable! It took me a good few hours to go through this and delete all the useless code (which was a lot) and the site loaded faster afterwards! File sizes before were like 150KB and managed to get them down to 20KB.

    I tend to code in Notepad for the base of the site and then use Dreamweaver (love this program to bits) to type in the content as i know I'm not going to be touching the layout much.

    Really don't use Front page it's bloody awful!

    Chris
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, 70-271 & 70-272, CCENT, VCP5-DCV and CCNA
    WIP: Citrix
  6. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    I concur :dry
     
    Certifications: C&G Electronics - MCSA (W2K) MCSE (W2K)
  7. NeilH

    NeilH New Member

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    Hello and thank you for your repsonses so far.

    I want ot go behond anything amatuer, so learning to use code in note pad seems sensible, however I do also realise the pages are sometimes a tool of the trade.

    I've seen various courses (with price tags! :eek: ) but the self study option is quite appealing. However, a lot of the course packages do offer verious software packages, which of course a self study pack doesn't provide.

    Neil
     
  8. csx

    csx Megabyte Poster

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    Anyone is more the capable of using Notepad if you really set your mind to it. It's nothing to difficult and as long as you keep at it then you don't need software packages. If you really want to be good at web design (i assume as your taking the course) then i would start with notepad now and get used to it then wasting xxx amount on a course... when later on your bound to code in notepad anyways.

    I would give coding a go with notepad and see how you feel... coding with notepad gives you 100% control over how you want the site to look and how the code should be. That way if you feel you can do it, you'll save your self a lot of cash. :)

    Chris
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, 70-271 & 70-272, CCENT, VCP5-DCV and CCNA
    WIP: Citrix
  9. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    It might be worth checking out some computing magazines. They often have full copies of programs on their cover disks. They are usually a couple of versions old but it's better than nothing. Also, they will often have a special offer price to upgrade to the latest version.
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+
    WIP: 70-270
  10. hardraj

    hardraj Banned

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    Sorry - messed the post - so il retry.

    Webdesign is a massive industry there is so much you can do - Flash, Actionscript, Javascript, Coldfusion, XML, XHTML, Ajax, Java.... I could go on and on. The question is do you need to know how to code?

    It is an invaluable talent is you can code - or atleast understand what your Dreamweaver package is giving you, but ultimately is you want to go seriously into scripting then there is no option but to learning the language you will be coding in.

    Someone mentioned computer mags - I recommend computer weekly - I think it is great - covers code design and everything else a designer should know. It sure helped me when I was a Webdesigner.
     
    Certifications: CIW, SECURITY+
  11. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Depends what you want to do.
    Unless you really use it at an expert level, no-one is likely to be impressed that you can use Dreamweaver or whatever to design a website.
    However, if you are skilled at Actionscript, Javascript or C# then you have a marketable skill which will set you apart from the crowd.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD
  12. Dan Ballance

    Dan Ballance Bit Poster

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    i would say, as somone learning myself, that it is great to write your own code, but there are better packages than notepad to use.

    for instance, i have started using PHP Designer 2007 - the personal version of which is free. it doesn't generate code for you or anything like that, but it has more powerful text search functions, you can have several pages open at once and you can flick between them easily - and even little things like numbering of page lines and nice layout for long lines that run off the screen in notepad is really useful. also automatic code highlighting in differnt colours so you can read the code more easily is great - like html tags are blue, server side code is red etc. this really helps when debugging - cos you can see - just from the colour, that you've not closed a tag or a quote. this would be very painful in notepad.

    notepad is a nightmare to use, but writing code yourself in a good editior seems to be the way fotrward to me. when that xhtml validator spits back an error on line 83 coloumn 154, and you have to now work out which php page has spewed out this badly written code - a good editor is a lifesaver. i don't think i could debug complex code in notepad,

    ok, said my bit,

    dan :-)
     
  13. Dan Ballance

    Dan Ballance Bit Poster

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    <self-deleted>
     
  14. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Well no, neither would I.

    Notepad is handy for straight forward static HTML pages. However, if you want to do ASP, PHP or scripting then no - you would need something better.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCTS, i-Net+, CIW CI, Prince2, MSP, MCSD

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