Thread:User talk:MaxSem/Thank you

I understand that you want to learn PHP and be helpful, but you probably should learn first, contribute to manual later, because you currently can't even tell &lt;includeonly&gt; from require_once. Let me advise you something: don't write a long and detailed plan while you still don't have the skills required to implement it. You've got to dive into web programming first. Take a PHP tutorial, read through Security for developers and Coding conventions, then try writing a simple extension. Don't even try writing RemotePageExistenceDetection yet, you will fail. First exercise yourself with something easier. Browsing Bugzilla for simple bugs and trying to fix them could also give you an opportunity to try real programming before starting a large project. Max Semenik 06:54, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the welcome message, and for correcting my mistake.


 * I agree that RemotePageExistenceDetection will be a difficult project, but I've put my mind to it. I've already had to break through some brick walls on the way to completing it, and I will break through some more before this project is over. It is just a matter of tenacity and ingenuity. Whenever I get stuck, I google the heck out of the problem that confronts me and keep trying different things. Whenever possible, I look for code that accomplishes something similar to what I am doing and copy it. I've accomplished programming projects before that people said couldn't be done. Watch - you'll see! Version 1.0.0 of this extension might not be very elegant or meet Mediawiki's usual standards, but it will work (after a fashion), and in subsequent versions I'll make it better. I just need to get a proof of concept going so that people understand the significance of the project.


 * I could work on easier fixes, but Mediawiki is such a big program, with so many different facets, that the fixes I would make in response to Bugzilla requests probably wouldn't have much relevance to what I'm trying to accomplish. In any event, I can make baby steps toward completing RemotePageExistenceDetection and test them individually without having to complete the whole program at once. That'll probably be just as efficient a way of learning Mediawiki; the only downside is that I have to do it alone, without the support of other developers on Bugzilla. But I've always done most of my coding alone, so this isn't much of a change. Take care, Tisane 07:45, 24 February 2010 (UTC)