What to learn next?

[arnoc]

So for past couple of years, I've been dabbling around in HTML and CSS. I've gotten decently proficient in it, to the point where I can make something that I can make a page look almost 100% identical to the photoshop file I base it off of.

I work at my local community college in their Graphic Design department, and from time to time, I get job offers from the head for web design work. Some of them can be a bit more advanced than your basic static website, so I've been looking to expand my abilities to be able to create more dynamic websites. Problem is, I don't really know what I should learn exactly, or where to begin.

I was thinking perhaps PHP? Maybe take a few Computer Science classes? Any suggestions would be quite helpful.

 

[N4g4rok]

PHP is a good language to have in your arsenal. By combining it with HTML and CSS, you can create the kind of dynamic web pages most major sites have up today. If you ever get into automated server scripting, it can handle that pretty well.

There are some other languages that are in the same vein, PERL is another scripting language that has a pretty solid user base, but it has some quirks. I haven't used it myself, and haven't really wanted to after learning PHP. ASP.NET is Microsoft's answer to PHP, and it works well if you end up doing a lot in a Microsoft ecosystem.

As far as classes go, general Computer Science courses are usually in the other direction. Unless the particular program your looking at has a strong Information Systems/ Technology background, you would end up with courses in Java, C++, and C, along with things like computability theory and discrete mathematics. Those won't really help you when it comes to web design.

I was recommended to read this book just before starting work as a web programmer. The author does a good job of making it easy to read through, along with being a good reference tool.

 

[degibson]

MySQL. PHP as a gateway to that, perhaps.

 

[Ken g6]

PHP's an OK sort of language, but it's kind of ugly. It has loads of global, non-object-oriented functions, along with a variable prefix that serves no purpose other than to identify a variable - not even its type. That said, I'd guess PHP is the second-most-used server-side scripting language out there. (Most used probably being ASP.NET, but I could be wrong.)

If you want to learn a nice, cool language, if slightly less used than PHP, try Ruby on Rails. I've been working and playing with it lately and the language is great, and there are nice shortcuts to common things, although the database interface is a little obfuscated for someone who's used SQL before.

One thing no one's asked yet: How are your JavaScript skills? If you've programmed before it's pretty easy to pick up the basics. I suggest using Firefox, Firebug, and Greasemonkey, and with a basic tutorial you'll soon be writing user scripts to tweak pages. If you make a really useful change you can post it to userscripts.org.

 

[arnoc]

I've flirted with JavaScript a time or two. I've read some o the w3 schools stuff on it, and can identify a few things to edit minor things, but never really written anything on my own.

 

[BrightCandle]

I wouldn't choose PHP given the choice. Either Ruby and Rails or Python and Django. Both will be a good introduction to working on dynamic websites fairly well but you'll find there are a lot of technologies you need to learn together unfortunately. The language, the API and a database will all come in as a minimum.

Modern web programming covers quite a large list of languages.

 

[beginner99]

So OP, you basically don't know any programming language?

If yes then I suggest you first learn some Object-Oriented Programming (Java, C#) and afterwards JavaScript. Since they can be combined for dynamic pages.

I see why certain people don't like PHP. I thinks it's ok for certain purposes but I would not suggest to learn it as your first language. IMHO it can lead to bad habits much more easily than with other language and if you already know another language you better understand phps limitations.

 

[ringtail]

This,


plus anything else the programming genius Paul Lutus says.

I AM A FAN!!!

 

[arnoc]

I've done some work with Actionscript for a class before, and messed around with a little PHP since I picked up a book on Wordpress, but that was mostly just regurgitating code than anything else.

 

[N4g4rok]

If yes then I suggest you first learn some Object-Oriented Programming (Java, C#) and afterwards JavaScript. Since they can be combined for dynamic pages.

Getting a strong handle on object oriented programming would be great, but could be overkill when it comes to web design. Scripting languages don't necessarily utilize objects in the same way compiled languages do, because the overhead for objects can drastically reduce page response times.

arnoc, take a look at some of the differences between the languages mentioned here, and see how you like working with them. There are a lot of differences in the way they behave in the client/server relationship model. For example, Javascript is tough to rely on for consistency because users can turn Javascript on their browsers off, or may not have the same version your site is built to handle. PHP, Perl, and ASP are mostly processed server-side, so you won't run into those same problems. you will, however, find yourself buried in configuration files from time to time.

It all really comes down to what the system would be used for. if it's mainly visual, using basic HTML, CSS, javascript and actionscript could work well. But if you end up dealing with a database, fro example, you'll need to use something that works well with your system's database. i know that PHP and MySQL work well together, but i can't say much for other combinations.

 

[patticrook33]

MySQL. PHP as a gateway to that, perhaps.

A programing language like C should be learn first.

 

[degibson]

A programing language like C should be learn first.

I was assuming the OP was mostly interested in web development. That's just an assumption though.

 

[cytg111]

A programing language like C should be learn first.

YES!

Learn C, then Assembly, then expertize your self on the windows kernel, driver development and hooking.. Now develop rootkit, install on ie driveby on your site, dynamicly on the fly, from your rootkit, insert dynamic content from your site into the browser. Wupti, done.

Or do PHP / Whatever.

If you need some backend processing on the server, PHP / Java / ASP.net is your friends.. if you just want nifty stuff happening in the browser, javascript it is. I hate javascript, but it IS quite powerfull.

 

[arnoc]

I should clarify on some of the things I need done. Basically I need a simple way for people to update their websites without having to touch any code, as all they really need to do is add events or news and such.

Another such feature that has cropped up is a calendar. Basically a way to show any events that come up for that month.

For the most part, any Javascript I've had need for is basically image sliders or modal boxes, and Nivo Slider and Lightbox cover both of those for me, for the most part.

 

[arnoc]

For the most part now, my greatest challenge is figuring out how to install PHP on my machine to play around with it (Running Windows 7).

 

[Leros]

I should clarify on some of the things I need done. Basically I need a simple way for people to update their websites without having to touch any code, as all they really need to do is add events or news and such.

Another such feature that has cropped up is a calendar. Basically a way to show any events that come up for that month.

For the most part, any Javascript I've had need for is basically image sliders or modal boxes, and Nivo Slider and Lightbox cover both of those for me, for the most part.

There are tons of existing packages out there. Why reinvent the wheel? I understand doing it for fun, but I doesn't make sense to do it for clients unless you need specialty features.

 

[cdr]

I would really suggest starting with Ruby or Python for learning backend web development. PHP is an easy language to get started with, but one which makes doing stuff right difficult - you'll learn a lot better habits working in Ruby or Python plus a good framework like Rails or Django.

Learning javascript and javascript frameworks is also something you will inevitably want to do eventually, but you can certainly get away without it.

I've heard very good things about Learn Python the Hard Way ( http://learnpythonthehardway.org/ ) which is completely free. I can also recommend Python For Software Design as a book that introduces basic programming concepts alongside python.