Languages for website designing

[BenVitale]

I've taken (X)HTML/CSS and I'm almost done with JavaScript. Do you recommend that I should take PHP next? or some other language?

And, what do you, guys, think of the following books:

The NO B.S. Guide to Red Hat Linux 6.x
by Bob Rankin

Steal This Computer Book:
What They Won't Tell You About The Internet
By Wallace Wang

The Linux Problem Solver
By Brian Ward

[$eric=me]

Well, it depends on what you want to do and how much time you want to put in. I struggled with my choice of language for some time (php, coldfusion, asp) from a development standpoint. I ultimately decided on PHP for a couple reasons:

1. Tons of resources (message boards/books/developers)
2. Works great with MySQL
3. Has some great extensions (PEAR)
4. I think it's much easier to find documentation, sample scripts, and help with PHP.

Do you use Dreamweaver? If so pickup The Essential Guide to DWCS3 written by David Powers. If you don't use DW get his other book, PHP Solutions.

Also, PHP/MYSQL Web Development for Dummies is a nice starter book.

I dabble in Coldfusion a bit but there aren't as many books on that from authors other than Ben Forta or Adobe.

Good Luck,
Eric

[BenVitale]

Thanks. I am not using Dreamweaver. So, you're suggesting I'll learn it.
I'm almost done with JavaScript, I'm on chapter 12 (Cookies) in my book which has 14 chapters. It's the "Book of JavaScript - A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages" by Thau.

Does the books you're suggesting have CD-Roms included ?

And on a different topic, for my assignment I've build a web site which I use I/E and Mozilla Firefox to view my web pages, here's something annoying: Every time I open a web page, I get a message on top of a web page that reads:

To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this webpage
from running scripts or ActiveX controls that could access your computer.
Click for options ...

Allow Blocked Content
What's the risk?
_________________
More Information

I click "Allow Blocked Content" every time I open a web page. Why is that? Why do I have to do it manually every time I view a web page?

[BenVitale]

Would you recommend downloading Haverford's Dreamweaver ?

It can be found at http://www.haverford.edu/acc/docs/software/dreamweaver/welcome.htm

[$eric=me]

Thanks. I am not using Dreamweaver. So, you're suggesting I'll learn it.
I'm almost done with JavaScript, I'm on chapter 12 (Cookies) in my book which has 14 chapters. It's the "Book of JavaScript - A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages" by Thau.

Does the books you're suggesting have CD-Roms included ?

And on a different topic, for my assignment I've build a web site which I use I/E and Mozilla Firefox to view my web pages, here's something annoying: Every time I open a web page, I get a message on top of a web page that reads:

To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this webpage
from running scripts or ActiveX controls that could access your computer.
Click for options ...

Allow Blocked Content
What's the risk?
_________________
More Information

I click "Allow Blocked Content" every time I open a web page. Why is that? Why do I have to do it manually every time I view a web page?



Does the books you're suggesting have CD-Roms included ?
No, they are very well written though and have code examples available via download. If you are looking for online/cd type visual training check out www.lynda.com.


I click "Allow Blocked Content" every time I open a web page. Why is that? Why do I have to do it manually every time I view a web page?
It's a security setting "feature" in IE7, check out http://qualityfraserfir.com/iehelp.html. It should only do it when your testing locally though. Once you upload it to the server it typically works fine.

[$eric=me]

Would you recommend downloading Haverford's Dreamweaver ?

It can be found at http://www.haverford.edu/acc/docs/software/dreamweaver/welcome.htm

I would recommend downloading the dreamweaver cs3 free trial directly from Adobe.

[BenVitale]

Thanks.

I've been teaching myself (X)HTML/CSS/JavaScript, and I intent to become a web designer.

So my question is :

Do I then need to learn XML, Server Side Scripting, SQL after learning PHP and Dreamweaver?

I'm not sure of the proper order of things to study.

[$eric=me]

Thanks.

I've been teaching myself (X)HTML/CSS/JavaScript, and I intent to become a web designer.

So my question is :

Do I then need to learn XML, Server Side Scripting, SQL after learning PHP and Dreamweaver?

I'm not sure of the proper order of things to study.

The most important aspects are CSS/XHTML and if you're going to go into business for yourself you really need to know the business side of things (contracts, legal issues, marketing, etc.). I approach things on a per project basis. I've decided to use PHP/MYSQL so I spend time during the week browsing those sites for updates and what not. However, you're not going to learn everything right away. Learn the basics of the stuff you want to use, use it correctly, and know where to find answers when you need them.

[knowj]

You can know HTML/CSS etc... technically but web standards are just as important.

Look into:
Web Accessibility
Semantic HTML
Search Engine Optimization
Systems Analysis and Design
Information Architecture
and when you take up a language look into Object Oriented Programming

I personally use PHP because it's the first language I picked up. I am considering making the move to ASP.NET because there is more money involved working for large companies (Most large companies have Window Servers) It's not something I really want to do but I want it there as an option incase the industry takes a blow over the next 45 years.

[BenVitale]

Thanks for the feedback.

I realize that experience is a great teacher. I'm also trying to avoid as much as possible pitfalls, lots of trials and errors and whatnots. I can benefit greatly from you guys.Because I'm just a newbie. I'm new to this game. Besides I live in a small town in Canada, there'sa lot of stuff that I need to do and learn on my own, and gain know-how from you, guys.

Would you recommend that I get my own website at Yahoo!Geocities http://geocities.yahoo.com/ to experiment. I have built my own experimental website. It doen't look as good as many websites on the Net.

I used the "HTML - Your visual blueprint for designing Web pages with HTML, CSS, and XHTML" by Paul Whitehead and James H. Russell, and, I used the "Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0" book, and I used the "Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 in 24 Hours" book to teach myself.

Are you familiar with it ?

I heard that the "HTML 4 for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide" by ElizabethCastro (4th Edition, Peachpit Press, 2000) is a more popular book.

I haven't seen it. How do you, guys, rate it? How does it compare to the HTML book I used?

Are you familiar with the Web by Design: The Complete Guide, by Molly E. Holzschlag (Sybex) book?

[Joseph Witchard]

I'm still very new to web design, and I kind of know what you're going through; I live in a very small town in northern Mississippi. Picture Mayberry, then picture it on crack, and you'll have my town:rolleyes:

Some recommendations from me (even though I'm probably less experienced than you):

PHP Solutions by David Powers (friendsofED)

The Complete Reference HTML & XHTML Fourth Edition by Thomas A. Powell (McGrawHill Osborne)

PHP and MySQL are both completely free, and they're very powerful tools. If you're going into business for yourself, or you do some freelance web design on the side, these will probably be of great use to you. I've noticed a lot of the ads for computer jobs around here want you to know MsSQL, so it kind of depends on where you're going.

[BenVitale]

Hi Joseph,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm going into business for myself. I live in British Columbia in a artsy-fartsy little town. I will also need to learn graphics and fancy shmancy designs, because there are lots of artists, and people who appreciate the arts in my area.

[CoderGuru]

Ben:

There are lots of opportunities out there but as others said you sort of need to know what your goals are going to be long term and their are also a lot of things to consider.

First off, the business side of things is the biggest concern. If you don't know how to find clients, you could be the best coder in the world and it won't matter. You need to learn to find the clients, write quotes, and get the correct paper work. A great book for that is web redesign 2.0. It covers the basics of a a lot of these aspects. You may also want to read up on copyright laws and writing business contracts.

If you eventually plan to move on to working for someone, as sad as it is, a degree is the number one money maker.The pathetic thing is programming is 99% self taught. Weither its reading a book or learning by trial error, almost anything you learn in a class you could teach your self. None the less, that degree is a huge issue. (I am in USA though, might be different there).

Next is the consideration of a language. This again is where you need to know your goals and plans. A lot of different things can bring you a lot of different money depending on your clients and market. Python is an over looked language that is used by a lot of big sites for their backend work (Facebook being one of them). C/C++ are also two langauges ussualy overlooked when talking about web development, but are also greatly used by bigger companies.

If you just plan to develop small web sites, then I would suggest choosing between PHP and ASP.NET. My personal opinion on the two is to choose ASP.net just because how much quicker development is (in my own mind at least).

My first web programming lanuage was ASP, since I coded VB for about 6 years prior, but really hated it. Because of that I moved to PHP, which I programmed for about 4 years. One day someone suggested ASP.net and I quickly gave the common "I don't want to pay to use whats free" and many other comments people say when they think of a microsoft product, only to find out all the amazing features of ASP.net, especially for free.

I honestly can say, and I program day in and day out for a living, that picking up ASP.net was by far the best move I ever made. Things that took me days in PHP to code by hand, takes hours in ASP.net. A simple membership tool for PHP could take forever for all features such as registration, login, password lookup. It is as simple in ASP.net as a 20 minute video can show you.

The best part of ASP.net is all the free information you will find, produced by workers of microsoft. But lets be serious? Who want's to sit there and read a manual, assuming "hey this is what they mean?". I sure as heck don't. This is where ASP.net really goes over the bar. They offer hours of videos, for *FREE*, to learn everything from how to install ASP.net to advanced features such as Databasing. Just have a look for yourself here [http://www.asp.net/learn/]. Within a few days you could develop stuff that took me years to learn as a kid with PHP.

Best of all, if you use ASP.net, you can also use PHP with it and your host. PHP on the other hand is usually hosted of unix boxes, which currently does not support ASP.net.

As with everything, we all have our own taste, but I have programmed since the age of 9, which is almost 12 years now. I also have made a living running my own business computer programming since 15. That being said again, the smartest move I ever made was getting ASP.net.

If you choose to go that route a quick link to the VWD download (it's ASP.net's GUI, which in itself is one of the best site creators I ever found. I use it even for plain HTML and even sometimes PHP sites) is [http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/]

Hope I gave you some good insite and whatever you choose best of luck. If you ever need help feel free to hit me up on AIM [CoderGuruInc]