Andreas Beck has heard it all. Everyone has a great idea for a website.
Beck, executive board member of Drupal Camp PA, said the camp he helps organize, which teaches people how to use the open-source programming software Drupal, can help almost anyone with basic computer skills build a website.
The two-day camp will be held at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Systems this Saturday and Sunday. The conference includes speeches from developers and training sessions geared toward everyone from beginners to advanced users.
Drupal was released as an open source project in 2001, meaning it's freely available to be tweaked and modified, with the expectation that programmers share those improvements with the wider developer community.
Beck said Drupal is set up like a database, which offers programmers a lot of flexibility.
“That means you can do user logins, you can do mapping functionality and any type of more advanced features like e-commerce or even creating a Facebook-esque type of model. You could even do that there,” Beck said.
He said it’s not just hobbyists who use the software: major universities and corporation build custom databases with Drupal.
Beck also sees Drupal programming skills as a great asset for small business owners, and especially encourages teenagers and young people with an entrepreneurial spirit to attend the camp.
“The earlier that they can learn this code and this software, the (greater the) likelihood they’re going to have time to generate an idea and follow through with a start-up company … get venture capital, and go in that direction,” Beck said. “The younger, the better.”
Registration is open to anyone. Those interested can nab their spot here.
