Jonathan Snook remembers the very first time he interacted with a computer. He was nine years old, in school and the computer was an Apple IIe. “It is a very clear and vivid memory for me. They had a contest to name the computers. We had gotten two of them and I believe the name I chose for the Apple was Herby,” says Snook.
The Web developer from Ottawa, Canada has come a long way since then. Recognised as one of the world's top experts, Snook has co-authored two acclaimed books on Web development, called Accelerated DOM Scripting with Ajax, APIs, and Libraries and The Art and Science of CSS.
“I never studied. I had contemplated at one point getting some schooling in Web development, mostly so that I had some sort of certificate that I could put on my resume when applying for work,” says Snook, who got into coding and design as a hobby.
“I finished school in 1993 just as the World Wide Web was about to take off.” Snook fell in love with computers after that first introduction to an Apple, and enjoyed being able to connect to the world and to create code that manifests in a tangible way online. “I started getting into coding and Web design as a hobby, learning about HTML - these were the days before Java Script. I set up my own Web page on inline skating and started connecting to a community of people with similar interests. As I got into coding and design, I realised that the Internet was a medium where you could learn an incredible amount of stuff.”
Share and learn
Snook says everything he knows about Web development he has learned online. “I have this huge resource of people that I can rely on online, and this huge network of people that I can share things with and learn from, which has driven my growth. Everything I know hasn't come from school, but from picking things up as I worked, talked to other developers, and learnt from co-workers. It is a learning style that has worked well for me.”
What a degree or diploma usually does is declare to people who want to hire you that you know what you're doing. But things work a little differently when it comes to Web development. “I do think that at some levels there is a social snobbery about having a degree or some sort of diploma that says: 'Yes, I went to school.' However, I haven't seen that kind of snobbery in the Web development community and it really seems to be less relevant. The Web development industry has a culture of doing,” says Snook.
Everything I know hasn't come from school, but from picking things up as I worked.
Jonathan Snook, Web developer
In this world, designers and coders look favourably on the 'doers' - those who push the envelope, create successful applications, share knowledge and build a legacy through work. “One of the biggest factors to whatever success I have had thus far has been that I try to create and put that work out there. Through writing my own site, writing books, writing for other Web sites, and speaking, I have tried to share knowledge and showcase my thinking. I believe this accomplishes the same thing that a degree does.”
Peer acknowledgement is a big factor in the Web development industry, which is distinctive because of the community's love of sharing and showcasing good work. “It feels like a very supportive community in that you if you build something cool - if it is an interesting demonstration of technology or a full blown Web site with practical uses - within our community there is the desire to promote the people behind these products.”
What is Snook's advice for businesses that want to hire coders and designers? Go online and see how they are ranked and regarded by the Web development and coding community, by peers who have the skills and insight to rate their work. “If you are looking to hire someone and you know they are on Twitter, you can do a Twitter search and see what kind of response they get from the work they do. Companies can search on Google to find the applications and sites these people have built, and what people are saying about them. There is definitely potential to get more honest feedback about somebody online, rather than relying on job referrals where the person applying for a job more than likely will pick friends they know who will give a good review.”
Snook's design philosophy:
“Simplicity is definitely one of the things that I try to accomplish. A lot of what I do is about coming up with solutions that are simple, familiar and intuitive. I have no formal education so it is just a matter of building something and then having the experience of seeing people use the stuff that I have built.”
The key to great application design:
“Having an understanding of existing patterns and paradigms, and knowing how people do existing tasks. Then trying to figure out how to apply this understanding to new things and trying to see those patterns. In application design, it is important to establish rules and to stick to those rules as much as possible. This approach works not only in application design but also graphic design when it comes to Web sites. You establish rules to create the illusion of a simple application, and by knowing innately what users expect. It is about understanding visual hierarchies because this is something we have learned over the years. We know intuitively that bigger things are more important and brighter things are more important. By putting in these subtle clues it helps make an application that is easier to use.”
What's your advice for youth wanting to get into Web development?
“Broadband will open doors and create an amazing difference. However, whether you are on a slow connection or a fast connection is irrelevant. What is important is that the resources are out there. It doesn't matter where you are in the world as long as you can connect even just a little bit. The knowledge is out there and there are a lot of free resources. If you want to get into Web development, you don't necessarily have to have schooling, you just need a passion for technology, and a passion for the community.”
What are the biggest trends you're seeing?
“The biggest trends are aligned to the shift in HTML, CSS and Java Script. There was a lull for five or six years when Internet Explorer wasn't being developed, and a lot of the other browsers were playing catch-up to try leap frog past IE. Now we are seeing a battle between these platforms and there's a massive drive to get out new features. Between 1995 and 2000 we saw a huge leap in what browsers could do. In the next two or three years we will see this again, which means designers and coders will have to learn new tricks of the trade. This means there will be a lot of new and exciting stuff coming through from the Web development world.”
Jonathan Snook will present at the Tech4Africa Conference to be held during the second week of August 2010.
Read Snook's blog Snook.ca, where he offers tips, tricks and bookmarks on Web development. Learn more about Snook's work at his creative co-operative Sidebar Creative. Find Snook on Twitter @snookca.
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