Matthew Mascioni

What drew you to the web industry, in particular front end-design and iOS development?

I always had an interest in how the internet worked. Typing words and having them translate into things on my screen was a big deal for me. I started slapping together really basic HTML and CSS code in the 7th grade. The output looked terrible, but at the time, it felt magical. I kept researching new things I could do with the languages; it gave me a great rush. I got into iOS development through Treehouse, and some experimenting on the side. What truly drew me to both was the community. The design and development community is one of the greatest I've ever experienced. I've met some amazing people through it, both online and off. It's filled with some of the most humble, passionate and knowledgeable people I know, and trying to surround myself with people like that was a great decision.

What were you doing when you first joined Treehouse a year ago?

When I first joined Treehouse a year ago, I had been doing freelance front-end development for about two years. I joined as a way to motivate myself to get out of my comfort zone a little and start dabbling in programming languages, which I had previously been kinda scared of up until that point (maybe kinda is an understatement).

I really feel like Treehouse is revolutionizing the way people learn languages and concepts. Without it, I don't know where I'd be today.

Tell us a little about the project you’re working on now.

Recently, I released my first iPhone app that I've been working on for a few months, Sayings. It's an app to store and share little bits of text that mean something to you, like inspirational quotes. I want to spend some more time on pushing open source stuff, likely going to be pushing some Objective-C API wrappers for services I use frequently that don't have one already, as well as writing a few more iPhone app tutorials. Those are really fun.

What has the value of a Treehouse education meant to you?

Treehouse education has meant (and continues to mean) the world to me. It has helped open a lot of new doors for me that never existed before, mainly by providing incredible content for me to learn from and get started, coupled with an awesome community. I really feel like Treehouse is revolutionizing the way people learn languages and concepts. Without it, I don't know where I'd be today.

What are your plans for the future?

Not totally sure! Design and development are things I like doing as a hobby. I'm going to keep focused on learning new things and continuing to challenge myself as best I can.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with new students just starting out?

With Treehouse, you get a really solid foundation to learn practically anything tech-related, with an awesome community (no, I'm not biased at all!) to help you along the way. That's awesome, but another big part of learning anything is going out and exploring things on your own. Don't be afraid to break stuff, because it's one of the best ways to get to know a language a little better. If you ever find yourself getting caught up in your comfort zone, kick yourself right out. It's the most rewarding thing. A year ago, I told myself it would just be too beyond me to build an iOS app, and proving myself wrong was the best experience ever. The best advice I can give is to have fun, and a lot of it. Make lots of friends, and build lots of cool stuff. Learning is a really fun ride, and it never stops!