Visual InterDev
The Visual Studio Gateway Drug!
Web Dev Level Up!
I can recall exactly when I was first introduced to the Microsoft Visual InterDev product and Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. The year was 1997 and I was in my fourth month of working at TPI.
As part of the Developer technology model that I was working through, Visual InterDev was one of the last Microsoft applications and certification exams I had to complete. I remember the first moment InterDev was shown to me, as this was before I took the actual class and installed the product myself.
Jarrod, a TPI Developer from Group C, who was currently working on coding tasks for the TPI company intranet. He was kind enough to give me my first peek at what server-side VBScript code in an ASP page looked like.
I was able to absorb most of what he showed me, typical code patterns for that time would be server-side VBScript implementing an ADO connection to connect to a SQL Server DB, retrieve the related data and render it into an HTML Table.
I had yet to take my SQL Server 6.5 Development course (but I was probably one month away from doing so). So, some of the SQL specific stuff was beyond me at that point. ASP had me at first glance though and I recognized immediately that this was the next Web Development level.
Gamer Perspective
I identify as a Video Gamer first and a Software Developer second. It has to be this way for me, as I consider Software Development to be another game I play.
Since it is a game to me, I consider the game score to be my direct deposit. Any bonus or accolades I earn along the way; these are considered Game Achievements. The different organizations that I am employed by during my career path... those environments are levels.
When I learn a new technology or skill for my trade, I consider that to be Leveling Up. I am also very Team and Role focused in this IT game. Building a strong Dev Team in the real world is very similar to building a strong Party in a virtual, fantasy world.
I even consider that as I have leveled up my Role from that of Jr Web Developer (Code Monkey) to Senior Full Stack Developer (Code Gorilla) in my career, it’s really me leveling up as a Gamer who is playing the Game to win!
When playing a well-designed video game, it is easy to start playing but hard to master. Software Projects are the same way and when you try, fail, re-try, fail and finally succeed... DING! You get a natural dopamine rush! FYI that’s exactly what happens when playing a fun video game you are really into!
About Dreamweaver
Back in the late '90s, Macromedia (remember them?) acquired Drumbeat 2000, a premier web development tool, from Elemental Software. It was like a digital handshake: Elemental handed over Drumbeat, and Macromedia said, “Welcome to the family!”
When Macromedia bought Drumbeat 2000 it also hired several of the original Drumbeat team members from Elemental. Then in April 2000, Macromedia dropped the bombshell: Drumbeat would be discontinued, and a new product called Dreamweaver UltraDev would take its place. Current Drumbeat users got a special upgrade offer.
Mastering Web Dev World Tour
After successfully completing the TPI developer technology model and earning a few Microsoft certifications, the company started booking me out for teaches. I was first assigned to teach the Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) course 1016: Mastering Web Application Development with Visual InterDev 6.
I would fly around the country, a new city and training center each week, for 3 to 4 weeks a month. Some of the notable clients I ran classes for were Bank of America, Intel and several New Horizons training centers.
Eventually, I earned enough experience by teaching ASP web development that TPI would take me off the road and assign me to work Software Development contracts on-site with local clients in town.
Never-ending Story
Just like an open world, non-linear video game, the Web Developer journey goes on and on, forever. There are always new technologies to learn and new specialties to focus on. There are new teams of developers to collaborate and level-up with.
The distributed web applications and web services are never done. As soon as you deploy a build of one to the live production environment, the client immediately has changes or enhancements that they want implemented for the next version!