What's the next step to take??

Notorious Lee

Notorious Lee

Notorious Lee

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1 Jan 2007
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Hi guys,

I just need a little advice from an experienced web designer.

I have just started studying HTML, XHTML & CSS & have already put a basic Intranet site in place for my workplace & I want to learn & get more into the world of web developing.

Now, there are so many different books & literature on web developing covering a whole host of programming languages that I am a little confused as to what the next step should be & what I should be studying next.

Am I correct in saying that HTML, XHTML & CSS are the basics of web design & should be studied first before moving onto anything else?

If so what would you recommend be the next step for me with regards to studying a particular subject?

Thanks in advance.
 
A case could be made for those three being the basics; they are definitely worth knowing before moving onto anything else.

I think a server side language is probably the best thing to look at next, I'd suggest PHP because of its simplicity & versatility. When combined with MySQL you have an extremely powerful backend solution that is used a massive amount in web design.

For expanding on HTML a bit more, JavaScript is probably something you should look at. DHTML makes use of it a lot, and many websites use it. My favourite aspect (and arguably the most useful) is AJAX - the ability for a client side script (JS) to communicate with the server (PHP) without a change of page - ie. "on the fly" as it were.

I'm sure others will have differing views, and fair enough, this is simply the route I would take :)
 
Thanks for the reply Geforce.

So would you recommend studying PHP before anything else?

Also, what's the difference between Ajax & Javascript & where does XML play a part?
 
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I recommend PHP simply because you will find it so useful: a server side language is very important for web design - some things have to be processed before they are sent to the client.

JavaScript is the language the script is written in - AJAX is a collection of techniques and routines either built into JavaScript or that are written in JavaScript enabling the JavaScript to communicate with a PHP script located on the server on the fly (by use of the XMLHTTPRequest object). It is important to note that AJAX is not a language.

XML is, in short, a specification allowing a user to determine a format in which to store or transmit data. It is an "extensible language" - basically meaning you can define your own elements. It was designed (and is used) only to carry data, never to actually display it. That's what HTML is for.

I think JavaScript and PHP (with MySQL) are the ones you should be looking at.
 
I'd say PHP. I'm no professional web designer by any stretch of the imagination, but as a keen amateur who simply wants to produce websites for himself and his businesses then PHP is extremely easy and logical to learn as well as being extremely powerful.

Also, one point I would use to back this up is that any and all JavaScript I've ever used has been downloaded as already-made and free-to-use scripts (such as maybe a flash player or an onClick popup window), because they fulfill exactly what I need. My needs of PHP on the other hand are much more specific to me, and so they're usually always self-coded or at the least customised from examples.

Hope this makes sense and helps :)
 
Personally, I'd definitely look at a server-side language next because it's inevitable that you'll want to retrieve information from a database at some point :)

I would suggest either PHP or ASP.NET as they are both very powerful and easy to learn the basics in both and there's a large market for both technologies. I'd go and have a look on http://www.w3schools.com/ and read the basics on both and see which you feel suits you your situation best :)
 
Thanks for the reply guys.

I think there is a book on both PHP & Javascript in the Sams teach yourself series which I have found very helpful which I may give a try.

Geforce, so are you saying that XML is a waste of time learning or does it play a big part in coding?

Sorry but i'm still trying to get my head around the purpose of XML.
 
Notorious Lee said:
Geforce, so are you saying that XML is a waste of time learning or does it play a big part in coding?

Sorry but i'm still trying to get my head around the purpose of XML.
Click to expand...

Not at all, XML is definitely worth learning. However, because there are no set "tags", like in HTML, there is actually not much to learn. The only thing you have to know is know to structure the document, and then you can build it however you like. In any case, you don't need to learn it before PHP or JavaScript - I learnt both of these before playing with XML at all.

It's a slightly weird concept to try and understand, I know. Take an RSS feed for example. The page is rss.php. Here, the PHP script on the server retrieves its data from the relevant database and puts it together in an XML format that the reader understands (like this).

Hope thatr helps you to understand that a bit! Anyway don't worry about XML just yet, you'll find you won't require it for learning the other languages.

Jon
 
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