We continue our series of interviews this week with Noah Hendrix,a Computer Scienence student that writes the occassional piece for nettuts.

1. First of all introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you and what is it that you do?

My name is Noah Hendrix, and I am a Computer Science student at the University of Kansas currently studying C++. While not studying I can be found working at the University computer center where I am a part of the Web Services team. We work on websites for various departments around the University. In my free time I like to take on freelance web development work. Also I have been known to write a few tutorials for Nettuts.com (http://net.tutsplus.com/author/noahhendrix).

2. How did you get into the web development industry and how long did it take you to get to where you are today.

I first got involved in the community when I got a computer with Microsoft Frontpage. I enjoyed designing a personal website and uploading it to Geocities, RIP. It has taken me close to 6 years to get where I am now and it has required countless hours of research and programming. The way I learned was to find a feature of a website I liked and try to recreate it myself.

3. What server-side language do you work with most and why?

In my work for the University we primarily work in PHP. There has recently been a push to use the Symfony framework. We also do quite a bit of work with Wordpress. In my personal projects I stick to Ruby on Rails for any applications I am working on. I enjoy writing code in Ruby on Rails because it allows me to quickly go from nothing to a functioning application with very rapid iterations. I particulary enjoy the community that exists around Ruby on Rails as well, no other framework is quite as mature or active in my opinion.

4. Are there any languages you would like to learn or wish you had learnt sooner?

With the blossoming ecosystem that is the Apple App store I would really like to get into Objective-C and cocoa programming. I have dabbed a little in the language, but have yet to find time to really delve into the language.

5. Is there something you would do different if you were just starting out today?

I am not sure if there is something I would do differently, but I do wish there were more video tutorials. Websites like Peepcode and Railscasts are invaluable resources for me when I want to learn a new technique or delve into something with a great amount of detail. For instance I am watching the latest series from Peepcode to familiarize myself with iPhone programming.

6. Do you enjoy what you do? What is it you like about web development.

Web development is a great pleasure for me because I enjoy creating something that will help someone else increase their workflow and become more productive. I see facets of all work environments moving towards digital record keeping, and I enjoy being a part of this transition.

7. What tools do you use on a daily basis and couldn't live without?

I am on a Mac so my text editor of choice for writing code is Textmate. It is highly tuned for Rails development and is ridiculously fast. When working with clients I use to quickly create invoices. I recently found the application ExpanDrive which makes working with remote servers amazing simple, it mounts the server like a hard drive on the computer. There is lots of other software I use such as Photoshop and Safari, but they tend to be old hat so not really a lot of explanations required there.

8. Do you have any advice for our readers just starting out in the industry?

My advice is to get out there and become actively involved in the community. Create a twitter account, in fact create an account for any sort of new service. See how other companies are innovating and do your best to mimic them until you get your own unique style. I am constantly spending 5 or 10 minutes just playing with a web application to see how the user interface works or how certain problems are solved. Every URL you visit should be like a piece of study it, critique it, and try to improve upon it.

9. Finally, where can we see your work and get in touch?

The best way to see what I am up to is follow me on Twitter or Facebook. You can also contact me through my personal website noahhendrix.com where I also have a list of some projects I have been involved with.