I program applications using the Object Oriented Programming methodologies available in ActionScript. I work closely with visual interface designers, developing components for their level of technical ability to allow easy customisation of their work without compromising functionality or design. I have worked with (and sometimes against) ActionScript since Flash 4, through the prototype inhertience methodologies of AS1 and am happier with AS2. With AS3 on the scene, ActionScript is emerging as a mature programming language.
I have developed the server side functionality of several websites, Content Management Systems and web-based database applications with PHP and mySQL. I find PHP a flexible and excellent tool, and I have developed my own framework to support rapid deployment of projects. Most recently I have been using the Open Source CakePHP framework. (This website uses CakePHP)
I remember using JavaScript to support dynamic interfaces and web applications before someone named it 'ajax'. We used to hack it back then with forms and frames. With the recent interest in "Web 2.0" and explosion of available JavaScript libraries, the capability of the browser as a platform for applications has improved dramatically. After attempting my own version of an ajax and XHR library I opted for the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) library and have been using it extensively, as well as the Dojo Toolkit. Web to point... oh.
Using web standards and semantic markup is a Good Thing. It simply makes sense to be standards compliant when creating web pages. As far as I can tell my job has become easier since I do not have to create two or more versions of every web page. So with all my work I stick to standards and try keep web pages accessible. And I love the power of CSS to separate content from style.
I was introduced to interactive multimedia and computers when I attended an 8 week course called "Authoring Multimedia using Director 4" at a night college in east London. I was blown away – at last I had found a medium of expression that seemed to suit my brain. And so I spent the late nights of the following 6 months cutting my teeth on Director and Lingo. Over the years I have returned to sharpen up - and I still find Director better than anything else for some desktop applications, like interacting with the host file system.
As a self-employed developer these skills play an essential part of everyday practice I help clients identify opporunites for their online strategy and examine the best ways to optimise content for seach engines. I examine and employ appropriate interaction design patterns that do not make the user think. I organise information to support customer goals, I document abstract structures in wireframes and site plans, and then I start programming. In 2004 and 2005 I taught the "Principles of Design for Interactive Media" to 3rd year students at the University of Cape Town which gave me the chance to brush up on some the theoretical aspects of these domains of knowledge.