Autodidact

In my previous blog post, I briefly discussed how I learned to write computer programs. I was an autodidact. Simply defined, an autodidact is a self-taught person. Vocabulary.com says an autodidact is "a person who learns things on her own, from books or videos or by practicing skills, rather than in a traditional school setting." I studied and used various computer languages. I wrote programs for the CP/M operating system. This was before Windows and before MS/DOS, when Microsoft was just a tiny company that no one had heard of. Once upon a time, CP/M was the king of personal computer operating systems. It ran computers like the Osborne One and the Kaypro. A full list of computers that ran CP/M is here.

But in 1995, I began learning a new kind or "programming language." It was called HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and it was the language of the World Wide Web. This was in the early days of the Web, but I saw its promise and I knew my company should have a website. I decided to create the website, and to do that I had to learn the language of the Web, which is HTML. So I bought a book about HTML.

Back then, there were no HTML design tools, so I used Windows Notepad and wrote all the HTML by hand. This was cumbersome, and the downside was making sure I didn't have broken links. It's easy to have broken links when one designs a website with multiple pages by hand. 

Then the day came that I wanted to put an ROI (Return On Investment) calculator on the website. This kind of spreadsheet requires more than HTML. It required another language called Javascript. So I bought a book on Javascript and began studying it. 

Eventually, HTML design tools began to appear. There was Microsoft's Frontpage, which was primitive but useful for simple designs. I ended up with a design tool called NetObjects Fusion, which I used for years through several versions. 

If you want to see what HTML looks like, simply put your browser cursor over this page (or any other web page) and right-click. From the menu that appears, click on "View Source." What you will see is HTML, and that is what the browser reads and then converts into a page of "objects" such as text, pictures, video, hyperlinks, and so on. 

Was it fun? Yes, it was fun. I must be part "nerd" because I enjoy learning how things work and I enjoy putting that knowledge to good use.

This blog, which is on Blogger, has two interfaces available to writers. One is like a simple version of a word processor (like Word) and that is the Composer interface. There is also an HTML interface that allows the blog writer to go into the HTML and tweak various settings that are not available on the Composer interface. My recent "Stardust" blog post required a lot of HTML writing. Other blog posts may be done using only the Composer interface. So the interface is fairly versatile, but not as versatile as if you had your own website with full control of what tools you used.

I know many people who, in my opinion, have important things to say and could be an excellent blogger on this kind of platform. But they don't write a blog. They don't write a book. They don't write and submit articles for publication on any kind of media. It's too bad because they have something to say that could benefit many, but, I suppose, they just don't believe they have anything to offer. But sometimes I tell them, "Look at me! I am proof you can be a writer even if you have nothing to say."

Be an autodidact. Teach yourself something. Then use it to enlighten your corner of your world.