Confessions of an Undercover Geek

As was previously announced, for my final project in my web client-side programming we had to do a e-commerce web site using Macromedia Flash. It wasn’t like a real e-commerce web site but like a web site that simulated an e-commerce web site and had a home page, category page, item page, shopping cart, checkout page.

The flash project has some timeline animation but most of the interface is programmed with flash action script. The action script talks to php and the php talks to the MySQL database. The MySQL Database has all of the item and shopping cart data in it.

I decided to make Justin’s Beer Shack. It sells different types of beers. It’s pretty sweet. I got an A- on the project. Woohooo. Let me know what you think. It may load the data a little slowly but just be patient. It should work.

I am took a Client-Side Programming class, this fall, were we learned Java Script, SVG, introduced to AJAX, and learned Flash Action Scripting. That gave us about 4 weeks for JavaScript and 4 weeks for Flash. It was a pretty intense class. It was fun but intense. A few times I didn’t want to go the bathroom in the middle of the class because I was afraid that I was going to miss something.

Now I am working on the final project, a flash e-commerce web site. The hardest part of the class is not learning the language but taking what you learned an stepping it up another level. Now that we have all the flash & action script building blocks we have figure out how to take the pieces and make something neat out of it. Most of the way you don’t really have a roadmap on how to do it so you just have to figure it out.

So watch my blog this week, I will debut my e-commerce site here first. It will be using flash & actionscripting for the interface and php & mysql for the data and data processing. Other than this project, I have two more finals then I am coming home to Lansing, MI.

This last week in Client Side Programming we learned how to drag and drop things around the screen in Macromedia Flash. Then we learned how to check drop collisions, so you can see if you dropped something on the right spot.

I wrote this example - Dragging Smilies.

In my Client Side Programming class, we have just started to learn action scripting in Macromedia Flash. It is going to be a pretty intense next three weeks. We are going to go from knowing nothing about Flash to object-oriented action scripting. It will be both nuts and sweet at the same time. I like being stretched.

While I am learning Flash and Action Scripting, I am going to try and make my own little things with what I have learned from class, in order to practice. I will post my action script examples here to my blog.

Being a web developer by trade and by hobby, having a good web development tool is very important to have. You need to have good tools to do your job effectively. Ever since I started working at Michigan State University, I have been a big fan of using Macromedia Dreamweaver.

I am very excited because it was just announced that a new version of Macromedia Studio will be coming out soon. Macromedia Studio 8 includes Dreamweaver 8, Flash Professional 8, Fireworks 8, Contribute 3, and FlashPaper 2.

I may not buy the whole Macromedia Studio but I will definitely get the new Dreamweaver. YAY! I will write more about this when I hear about the features that Macromedia is going to be adding to Dreamweaver. I will write about it on my web development blog, Think Before You Type.