In the programming industry like others, you will find many terms(vocabulary) which are not usual in common speech. In this article of the series about “learning how to develop web applications in the modern way”, allow me introduce to some of those terms. In case you missed reading some parts, click here to read part one or click an item in the table of contents below.
- Prerequisite
- Web design vs Web applications development
- Extending is smart!
- Components of a Web application.
- Powering web applications with WordPress
- The do list application
What is extending in programming?
In simple terms it’s the opposite of developing applications from scratch. In detail it means a coder will write his/her own application from the start to finish without using and relying on other programmers code. Therefore to extend is when a coder starts with someone’s code to develop an application or feature.
In Object Oriented Programming paradigm, to extend means to derive/instantiate objects which inherit features in terms of method and properties from existing class(es).
What are the advantages of extending?
- It makes programming a lot easier because you don’t have to write every line of code by yourself.
- It is cheaper than starting from scratch which will require a bigger team and tools for the team besides investing in the team to learn how to work together.
- Availability of help from all corners though this depends on the choice of framework. Most programmers choose a framework which has a large number of contributors, the profile of the founder, the number of tools in place and how old it is.
- Easier learning curve due to availability and supply of learning material on top of a comprehensive documentation.
- Ask me how people become better than others at coding and I will tell you that the secrete is hidden in reading code written by others whether good or bad coders.
My personal recommendation is to spend more time creating solutions than learning how to create solutions. In the upcoming part, share about the basic and major components of a Web application.
Merry Christmas and a marvelous New year.
