Web Development with the Mac [Paperback]

 

 

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I work in the field of IT and have worked in web development but it has never been a focused effort to concentrate on it because my day jobs have always had me moving around from one function to another. I was always a Windows person and had never touched a Mac until last year.

The title of this book intrigued me right away because I am a web developer and I have a Mac. If that describes you or if you are thinking about jumping into the field, then this book is for you.

Having come from a Windows background, jumping into the Mac was definitely challenging - but I got over the bumps and learned to love the Mac. I thought I had a pretty good handle on what it could do, until I read this book. I honestly had no idea of the features that were built in to the platform, features that you have to install as add-ons in Windows. I mean, who would think that a complete web development platform was already present and waiting to be enabled. I'm speaking of the fact that Apache, PHP and even Ruby are all right there for you. Aaron clearly loves the Mac and he wants you to love it as well. He has gone out of his way to reveal all the secrets to working with the Mac. You can basically envision how he works on a daily basis, through the information and comments that he provides.

This book goes through pretty much anything you would need to know to set yourself up as a web developer and have a good chance at being successful. Of course, you have to provide the talent and the book does not teach you how to be a "designer" but it teaches you all the fundamentals of how to be a developer. The book goes from how to edit content on your Mac to how to test it locally, including enabling all the services the Mac has to offer. Then, you are provided guidance on how to work with a Unix server. Why? Because most web hosts are Unix based and it is a system you need to know if you are going to do the job. You'll learn how to push files to the Mac and how to back them up. You'll learn how to automate the login process through the creation and storage of authentication keys. You'll even get a tutorial of how to work with the Unix firewall tools so that you can harden the system and prevent someone from breaking into the server.

Once you get a good overview of the mechanical aspects, the book moves you into the development world by going through HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc. You get the full tour. This is not just one small chapter that tells you that these technologies exist. The detail is sufficient to give you a very good start on working with all of it.

Next up, the book moves on to the topic of designing web sites and again, the book does a great job at giving you instructions on how to do this. No, it does not really teach you about how to build a great design. That's a subjective topic and one that probably can't even be taught. However, if you want to know the basics about how to use Photoshop or a similar design tool, this will open your eyes. Ever heard of wireframes? Do you know how to use them? You're covered here. You'll even learn the secrets to the twelve-column web layout that may sites use and you don't even realize it.

Finally, the book moves into server-side technology and covers MySQL, PHP as well as Ruby and the Rails Framework. I come from a Java background, mostly backend, so I only skimmed the chapter on Ruby and Rails. However, I will go back and look at it when I get a chance. It looks like a great option for developers.

Be sure to go through the Appendix sections of the book as well. They are full of useful tips and links that you'll be glad to have gone through.

The writing style of the book is casual and feels like you grabbed a very large mug of your favorite beverage and sat down with Aaron so that he could teach you everything you need to know. The colorful wording and injection of reality gives you the sense that you are learning secrets from a good friend who really wants you to do well.

My overall thought is that this book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who is, or wants to be, a freelance web developer. It will also be a great book to have if you are a relatively new Mac user and work with these technologies. Is this book useful if you are a "Windows" user? Honestly? Yes. If you leave out the Mac-specific references, this book is still a solid read for anyone wanting a good overview of how to be a developer and you'll learn a lot from it.

Finally a broad scope web development book that's easy to read and written for the perspective of a Mac developer to boot. I've been waiting for this book to be written for a long time and it's exactly what I needed. I want to branch out beyond desktop app development and this book puts all the web dev technologies I've heard about but didn't understand in clear, well written terms. I specially liked how the author makes clear what kind of development is done on the client side and the server side, what languages to use and the strengths of each choice. I highly recommend this book for the intermediate to expert developer who needs to learn the web development environment.

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