I want to become a Web Designer / Developer...

gord said:
No, bad Billy! Bad! DW is fine if you use it in code view. If you have access to it I would go for it, it's got plenty of functionality built in that are great for work flow.

True, but I think we assumed correctly he wants to be more of a developer than a designer. Otherwise, get your arty hat on and Photoshop/Illustrator/Fireworks out!
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Yes quite, I was responding to billysielu and his comment that you "need" to know javascript.
 
Yeah, web developers are quite prejudiced against certain things. Sweeping statements are usually just laziness on the part of the accuser.

I am guilty of slating dreamweaver but the truth is that its fine as a code editor if you use the code view. The other side of that is that you are paying a lot of money for a fancy code editor. I dont know anyone that uses dreamweaver as a code editor as its not the best and its bloody expensive and its much more resource hungry than something like notepad++.

You need to learn xhtml really, html 5 is still a little bit of a pipe dream at the moment. Some of it works but you will have to put things in place to handle older browsers.

IE6 and 7 have basically held CSS3 and HTML5 back years. In the next few years we should see almost complete support for most html5 and css3 tags.
 
Ok let me get this straight. I should primarily concentrate on learning XHTML and CSS3, yes? I do have access to Dreamweaver CS5 at work and at home, courtesy of work. :) So should I use that instead of notepad ++ if I just use the code view?

RoEy
 
XHTML (strict) and CSS2.1 are what you want to learn.

You'll want to be familiar with CSS3 but it's not been finalised yet and most of the usable goodies require browser specific CSS which you may or may not be able to use depending on client mostly.

There is nothing wrong with using DW as a text editor. I swear by it if only because of one feature. If you open up a file, DW will have little tabs underneath which open all the linked files from within the file you opened.

In my screenshot (made small so as not to break the forum), I only opened the default page, but all the css and js files underneath were put in automatically. It saves me so so much time.

dw.png
 
Thanks Tripnologist. I do like Dreamweaver and I have it so I may as well use it. Whenever I move files within Dreamweaver it automatically sorts and updates the paths for what I have moved. How would you do that in notepad? From now on though, I'll stay in Code view. :)

XHTML (Strict) and CSS 2.1, got it. :)

RoEy
 
NetBeans IDE is really good.
PSPad is good and simple (good for a beginner).
Notepad++ is recommended by everyone.

I note the three because they're free.
 
With Dreamweaver I usually have the design view open on the right and code inspector window open on the left so I can see both at the same time, rather than the split code/design view.

Other programs I've looked at are:

Webuilder 2010
http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder/

And a good all-in-one developer (and free) is Aptana Studio - cross-platform too.
http://aptana.com/products/studio3

By the way...your website looks really good. You're off to a great start!

And another recommendation for Lynda.com...invaluable!

And some inspiration towards coding by hand - it's great watching this guy at work. Looks nice in Textmate...must be the colour scheme!

http://vimeo.com/channels/csstipsandtricks

Textmate is Mac-only though but there is an equivalent for the PC:
http://www.e-texteditor.com/
 
Le Samourai said:
With Dreamweaver I usually have the design view open on the right and code inspector window open on the left so I can see both at the same time, rather than the split code/design view.

Other programs I've looked at are:

Webuilder 2010
http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder/

And a good all-in-one developer (and free) is Aptana Studio - cross-platform too.
http://aptana.com/products/studio3

By the way...your website looks really good. You're off to a great start!

And another recommendation for Lynda.com...invaluable!

And some inspiration towards coding by hand - it's great watching this guy at work. Looks nice in Textmate...must be the colour scheme!

http://vimeo.com/channels/csstipsandtricks

Textmate is Mac-only though but there is an equivalent for the PC:
http://www.e-texteditor.com/
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Thank you very much Le Samourai. Some great links for me to check out. This is all going into my resources bank. :D I'm glad you like the web site I built as I get no praise whatsoever from the school. I'm glad I'm moving on.

RoEy
 
Its already been mostly said, you need to be one or the other, lots of freelancers try and do everything and fail. Most companies take on one or the other, being honest your site in the first post doesnt come across as someone who would be good att he design side of it, thats just my opinion though, you can learn the code side of things, design you cant, you either have the ability or you dont.
 
schnipps said:
Its already been mostly said, you need to be one or the other, lots of freelancers try and do everything and fail. Most companies take on one or the other, being honest your site in the first post doesnt come across as someone who would be good att he design side of it, thats just my opinion though, you can learn the code side of things, design you cant, you either have the ability or you dont.
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Well thanks for your opinion schnipps. I don't proclaim to be a web designer but compared to a lot of school websites I've seen I'd say mine is a hell of a lot better. Not perfect but much better than loads I've seen. Yes I think you're right about the ability to design, to a certain degree. I think the more you do it though, the better you get, which is like anything else really. I do wish to take the development route though and I can always improve design later on.

RoEy
 
i'd learn asp.net c# over php if it was a career choice and not a hobby.

1) it pays more
2) its nicer to work with in professional fields (imo)
3) its better at forcing good practice. less easy to write spaghetti code.

i learnt php first, now use .net full time.

Like others have said learn html4/5 & css as a start though.

edit to specify c#
 
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Izi said:
i'd learn asp.net over php if it was a career choice and not a hobby.

1) it pays more
2) its nicer to work with in professional fields (imo)
3) its better at forcing good practice. less easy to write spaghetti code.

i learnt php first, now use .net full time.

Like others have said learn html4/5 & css as a start though.
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.NET is a platform not a language so to further this I would suggest you look into C#.

PHP might not be as well paid generally but that doesn't mean you cannot get a decent wage cutting it.

I've taken the liberty to search for jobs in your area but obviously you'll have to decide on your exact field and technology to get an idea of demand and if you are willing to relocate the options are more varied still.

http://www.theitjobboard.co.uk/IT-J...TINGHAMSHIRE-OR-MANSFIELD/all/0/relevance/en/

http://www.theitjobboard.co.uk/IT-J...TINGHAMSHIRE-OR-MANSFIELD/all/0/relevance/en/
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. Is it really possible for me to learn asp.net in my own time and apply for a job when I know it well enough though? Or will I have to go on courses?

I really have to take this one step at a time otherwise it will send me mad. I've just started to learn XHTML from the video tutorial I got at lynda.com Please see course outline - http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=47603

The guy is mainly talking about XHTML transitional and not strict. I'm hearing it's better to learn strict so do I ditch this video and find resources on strict or what?

I like the appeal of strict as I've read you have to rely on css for all positioning and layout etc..


RoEy

P.S. ASP.NET does look really good and I've just looked into WebMatrix. Looks great but oh so many decisions to make. One thing is clear, this is a career change for me so I really want to go for it.
 
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To be honest, as a developer, and someone who hires developers, courses / qualifications arent the first thing I look for in potential candidates. Especially for junior dev roles which I presume you will be going for.

First things I look for is good basic knowledge in front end / back end code (your portfolio of work, be it paid work, personal projects, whatever) depending on what we are after. Then a passion to learn and self improve. Then if they have specific development qualifications, all good, if not then its not the be all and end all.

Personally I would go the PHP route, theres a lot more out there in terms of free learning, because the language is heavily supported by the open source community. Also setting up LAMP / WAMP on your home PC is really simple, and the majority of web hosts out there are primarily PHP.

That said, if you are looking for a job in house at some company supporting an existing system, asp.net could be the way to go. If you want a job at an agency building various systems and working on lots of different stuff, I would definitely look at PHP.
 
RoEy said:
They guy is mainly talking about XHTML transitional and not strict. I'm hearing it's better to learn strict so do I ditch this video and find resources on strict or what?
I like the appeal of strict as I've read you have to rely on css for all positioning and layout etc..
Click to expand...

There is very little difference between XHTML transitional and strict. It's really just a few deprecated attributes/elements such as target="".
 
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