Long story turned to short version.
- Learned dbase 3 long ago in the Air Force
- Later programmed tube bender and CNC (autolisp, basic)
- Learned viaual foxpro, hardly used it
- Started learning java and visual basic
- Did some MS Access apps with VBA
- Went on and learned jsp, servlets, beans
What made me want to go forward is it's a challenge.
Got job as database manager at a mid sized trucking company, wrote all logistics software and Accounting software customized for then. (Was still learning as I went).
Had driver settlements, A/R, A/P, etc. Dispatch for hopper and vans, In vans it included multi pick and multi drop loads. Used java.
Later, started learning php also, at first no framework or mvc. A non profit got me into php, that's what they had.
Later found SMVC framework, a real simple php framework. That got me used of basic mvc.
Later found laravel 4.2, mostly use laravel ever since, but also I use a custom framework of mine.
Along the way I have used cake and yii.
I am old school and write my own css still. I like programming, the challenge.
Also I like eloquent for some simple relations, but complex queries I like regular sql or eloquent with query builder code.