North Gate

Acknowledgments: Boyd and Evans.
Fragment: Milton Keynes Library mural

About

The tools used to develop computer systems have changed dramatically in recent years. These new tools are vastly more powerful and easier to use than their predecessors but, remarkably, they are also largely free of charge. It is now perfectly possible for a bright but penniless individual to leverage the power of the internet to make a fortune at the expense of nothing more than the investment of their own time and ingenuity.

But there are one or two snags - aren't there always? For "certain amount", you should obviously read "quite a lot". Serious IT is demanding - there's a lot to learn and some of the concepts are quite hard to absorb. Also, while everything is documented in mind-bending detail on the web, this documentation is generally written for people who are already IT experts - there is little sympathy for beginners. Finally, since the IT world is a jungle of competing technologies, it can be difficult for an IT novice to pick a route through the numerous overlapping options that are available.

This site is an attempt to carve a path through this jungle. It assumes no previous experience and describes a route that I firmly believe will enable anybody with a good brain and some persistence to achieve some surprisingly useful results. I think you'll find it's also, quite a lot of fun!

MartinJ: June 2022