What’s this?

Through the lens of mobile first and responsive design, you will learn to write semantic HTML5 markup, design in code with CSS3, and create responsive layouts using grids. We will then delve into the basics of jQuery and how to leverage plugins for more advanced interactions. The class will culminate in a project of your choosing that integrates all of these technologies.

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Basics

Time/Place:
Saturdays 1-4pm, 2/14 through 4/25
Room 515

Instructor:
Lara Schenck
lara@notlaura.com

Email list:
codingii-spring15@googlegroups.com

Materials

Computers

If you have a laptop, bring it. Though you are free to use the lab computers, I highly recommend that you BYO so that it is set up for you to work outside of class time.

If you don’t have a laptop, you will need to bring a hard drive (USB drive is fine, at least 5GB) to store your files and the required software.

Required Software

All of the following are available for free. Note that some of the applications are not available for Windows, but you should be able to find an equivalent with a quick Google search.

Sublime Text 3

This is the industry standard for text editors. The lab computers do not have it (but will soon), so if you are using them you will need to install it on your thumb drive by downloading the application and dragging it onto the drive.

Google Chrome

Chrome is the most popular browser used by web developers. While other browsers do have similar capabilities, we will be using Chrome in class.

Panda Chrome Extension

Panda is a Chrome extension that turns your opening tab into a news feed of popular web design, development, and user experience blogs. Staying up to date with the latest and greatest is essential for this material, and Panda provides a nice, easy way to do so.

Spectacle

Spectacle is an app for window management. While it is not critical to development, it is essential that you develop an efficient workflow, and window management is a key component of that.

Course Work

Assignments

Assignments are long checklists of tasks to result in a finished project. These must be fully completed and submitted for full credit in the course, and I’ll give lots of feedback.

Readings and Tutorials

I’ll assign readings and maybe tutorials between classes. These are so that you have the appropriate background before each class, and we can make the in person time as valuable as possible.

I don’t like to go over too much syntax and language specifics during class - it can be redundant for students that are a little further ahead, and I think is best learned on your own through trial and error anyways. I’ll assign tutorials occasionally to guide you in this process.

Final Project

This can be of your choosing, or based on a few prompts I provide. Ultimately, it will be a live website at your domain, ready for inclusion in your portfolio.

Misc

I may occasionally ask one of you to present to the class what I call a “clickhole” (a path of links you explored while learning a specific topic), an interesting bit of code you found, or a site critique.

Grading

Grading is simply based on attendence and completion. Code quality certainly plays a role, but everyone learns at their own pace and the most important part is your participation.

For full credit, you must:

  • Miss no more than 2 classes
  • Complete all Assignments by the end of the course
  • Complete misc tasks assigned to you (clickholes, code presentations, etc.)
  • Final project live on the web at your domain

Partial credit (C or D) will be awarded:

  • Miss no more than 4 classes
  • At least 50% of Assignments are completed
  • Complete misc tasks assigned to you (clickholes, code presentations, etc.)
  • Final project live on the web at your domain

Should you complete less than what is listed above, you will recieve an incomplete for the course.