As you can tell this is my first post on this forum but I hope you don't hold that against me. I've been in IT, more specifically system and network administration for around 13 years. During this time I've created my fair share of batch files, VBscripts and Powershell scripts. I was one of those guys that said he'd never get into "big boy" code development but look at me now asking for advice in a PHP forum.
Within the last few years I've caught the entrepreneurial bug and have decided to build some web apps for myself and for others. I've been an Amazon and eBay seller for 3 years now and average around $10,000 in sales every month but still also have my full-time system admin job. I want to merge my tech skills with my Amazon/eBay skills and develop web apps for this genre.
So far, I've learned enough PHP to get things done but that's about it. The biggest problem I've found with coding in general is that the nitty gritty tech details are simple. There is generally nothing that a quick Google search won't fix. My real problem is myself and my "perfection syndrome"
The more I learn the longer developing my app takes me. Even if I find a "right" way of doing something I'm consistently second guessing myself. I'm finding that my brain doesn't know how to process the seemingly endless ways that a problem can be solved in code. I started out with a few simple scripts with some functions and I was happy. However, I then learned about PHP 5.3's great OOP support and I scrapped what I had and recoded the app via OOP. A little more learning later it seems that MVC is the way to go now so scrap my little classes and properties and let's do OOP MVC style!
But wait...there's more! Why am I having to create these individual HTML forms or why am I having to create a new controller every time infant something else done? Here comes the frameworks! I'm now on my 5th start at this little web app trying to learn Yii but considering scrapping it again for Zend because it seems like that is more popular. WTF, self?! Make up your mind! I bought an eBook on Yii and they recommended using test driven development. "Ooo...that seems like a really good idea! 3 days later and long hours trying to get PHPUnit and Selenium setup I know a lot more about TDD but at what cost? I still haven't made any progress on my app!
Maybe this is just how my brain picks up on new concepts. I don't know. I've always had a tendency to hash out every single detail possible before making a decision. It's like I can't feel comfortable with something until I've left no stone unturned. Web development leaves my mind to wander all over the place and I hate it. I'm really enjoying starting from nothing, putting blocks together and building something functional. It's very rewarding. However, if you can't sit down, go through the vision, design and coding process without jumping around all over the place the chances of developing a successful web app are nil.
Can anyone else relate? At this point Ive done so much research my brain hurts and am on my 6th version of my app and it hasn't even been completed! I need some serious help here.