General Education of Web Design

[jlloydw]

I have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS however I can't figure out PHP, ASP, JAVA, XHTML, PERL etc and how it all fits together with HTML. Ultimately, I would like to design dynamic webpages with databases and secure logins. Is there anywhere I can see a outline of how all works together and maybe a single source from A to Z so I can learn all the inner workings?

[Fang]

Try this: http://www.sitepoint.com/recentarticles/
"dynamic webpages with databases and secure logins" is basically server side scripting, choose a language. PHP with MySQL is the most popular.

[Mr. E. Cryptic]

and how it all fits together with HTML.

This is vastly over-simplified, but your sever-side scripting language (as mentioned by fang, PHP would be the most popular choice) works with your database to create your HTML, or decide what HTML to display. For instance, PHP could be used to query a MySQL Database to see if a User named 'Me' exists in the database with the password '1234' - and if that entry does exist could create a HTML page that simply says 'You are a valid user', if it doesn't exist it creates a page saying 'You Lied!'.

By the same token, PHP could be used to create an entry in the database for a new user who wished to add themselves, or 'sign up'.

[jlloydw]

Is there anywhere to obtain this information such as a book or a website? So I can research it further.

[toicontien]

There are tons of books. You might try "PHP and MySQL 5, 2nd Ed." published by Apress. Then also "PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice, 2nd." published by the same company. I have both books and really like them.

[Mr. E. Cryptic]

As a starting point, you could try w3schools.com (http://www.w3schools.com), just keep in mind that it is just a starting point, only the basics.