Shy Web design old-timer

[JaredWhite]

Hi folks,

I've been posting away here for days, and it just occurred to me that I didn't introduce myself on the forums.

My name is Jared White, and I've been designing Web sites since 1997. I abandoned static HTML and hopped on the PHP bandwagon in 2000 or 2001 (I forget). I've done dozens of sites for various individuals and a few small businesses. Recently, since I took on a full-time job employing various Web technologies (including some enterprise-level XML & Java stuff), I've been learning about a deeper level of OOP design patterns and software architecture. It's fun. I just bought Fowler's Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture book, and it's fascinating. Also been looking at a lot of Web frameworks in various dynamic languages (Ruby/Rails, PHP [Prado, Solar, Cerebral Cortex, CakePHP, and others], Django, etc.). Java really doesn't appeal to me: "class soup", static typing (sorry Python), classpath (argh!), and general design bloat are my main complaints. But it can do some pretty cool things too.

All in all though, I'm a PHP/MySQL guy, mainly because I'm comfortable with the combo, and it works for me.

The reason I put "shy" in my subject title is because my main Web design site is woefully out of date. But if you want to see some of the individual sites I've worked on, check out:

http://www.patrickball.com
http://www.susanrball.com
http://www.roserestorations.com
http://www.distantoaks.com (my Celtic music group)
http://www.northernwindrecordings.com (said group's label)
http://www.camriversigns.com.au/home (someone's personal site)
http://www.sengoidelc.com

As you can see, I've done a lot of Celtic-themed sites, largely through word-of-mouth because of the fact I'm in a Celtic music group.

I've browsed SitePoint for some time and always enjoyed reading the featured articles, and because of a recent thread that started regarding concerns of PHP's future, I thought I'd step in and join the fray. I'm generally an upbeat, positive fellow, but sometimes I get sucked into flame wars beyond my control....

Looking forward to many years of SitePoint goodness!

$happyToBeHere = true;

$jared = new JaredWhite($happyToBeHere);

if ($jared->isHappy) {

    $jared->say("Take care everyone!");

    $jared->signName("Jared");

}

$button = "Submit New Thread";

$jared->press($button);