Learning jQuery and Responsive Web Development

In beginning my time here at Blueprint, I have learned a tremendous amount about web development and all that it encompasses. From HTML to CSS to scripting and functionality, there is so much that goes into a website that I had never considered, and it all works together behind the scenes to make a website functional and attractive.

As I learn more and more about web development, I am constantly bothering our senior developer Michelle and asking her how certain things work, where I should put my code, and how it should all interact. In learning more about web development, one thing I have kept coming across is responsive design, which you can learn more about here from the brilliant Michelle. In a constantly changing world where more and more people are now surfing the web on iPads and other tablets, as well as all manner of smartphones, responsive design is more important than ever as the web pushes forward. To keep a user engaged and active on a site they must be able to navigate it effortlessly no matter how they reach it.

Another subject I have learned extensively in the past week (beyond HTML and CSS, which I feel like I have gone from knowing nothing to fully understanding in just a week, which has to mean I’m missing something important) is scripting with jQuery. jQuery is amazing in how easy it makes scripting for websites, especially for anyone that has programming experience, which I certainly do have. While I still have much to learn in terms of making my code more efficient and general, I have managed to make a website with a functional main content slider, and a content slider for small photos of sponsors. Again, I have looked to one of our senior developers to teach me as much as I can learn about jQuery and how it interacts with my websites.