If HTML is the flesh and bones and CSS is the make-up then Javascript is like plastic surgery. Use it wisely and it becomes a powerful tool but don't be too greedy or your website ends up looking like the mother of Silvester Stallone (google her, she really looks scary!)

Just like plastic surgery (so they say) Javascript is addictive. I like to manipulate the DOM in an object oriented way and have written code from scratch but have also used libraries such as Prototype, Scriptaculous and my favourite jQuery.

I would describe myself as a pro who has total control over the holy trinity HTML/CSS/Javascript!

My first encounter with PHP was when I developed extensions for Typo3. In 2008 I discovered Zend Framework with its MVC-based approach and ever since I am completely hooked.

Right now I feel a bit like Anakin Skywalker as I am torn between frontend development ("the light side") and backend development (the "dark side") which is the real geeky stuff.

I like the fact that backend coding is all about logic and therefore more demanding but also more straightforward than frontend development which can be quite quirky. Think about IE 6 and you know what I mean.

Just like in the Star Wars saga the most interesting things happen though when both sides meet. That's why I like AJAX and all the nifty things that can be done with it!

Both Zend Framework and Typo3 have build-in abstract layers to write database queries so there is hardly any need for me to write native MySQL. Plus I use helpful tools like PHPMyAdmin that give me full control over databases without the need to create some lunatic MySQL-queries.

Some purists might get cramps now and claim "True beauty lies only in the command line!!!" I say: Get a life.

So, I know how to handle MySQL and build a database but I don't go crazy over it.

Typo3 is a popular PHP-based Open Source CMS I frequently use for my freelance projects. Typoscript is a strange little hybrid language that helps you to configure this beast which means: You have to understand Typoscript, you cannot get away even if its syntax as well as its documentation gives you the creeps.

Full of good hope I jumped into the abyss and discovered a quirky tool that is 33% logic, 33% something like a programming language, 33% what-the-**** and 1% why didn't I become a hairdresser.

The good thing is that Typo3 comes with a strong community so if you got a problem with Typoscript (or Typo3 in general) there is always some über-geek out there who holds the piece of the puzzle you are after.