If I already know HTML, what programming languages should I learn to become an elite Web 2.0 programmer?

Question

At this point, HTML is the only programming language I know. I'm very interested in programming in general, but I'd especially like to make cool apps/visuals for the web.

Answer 1

JavaScript.



A server side script, like PHP or ASP.NET.



Database knowlege like MySQL, PostgreSQL or Microsoft SQL Server.



CSS 2.0 and 3.0.

Answer 2

Front end developers need to know the different HTML and XHTML standards, including HTML5. They should also know CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 as well as how different browsers deal with different style attributes and properties. Furthermore, fluency in JavaScript and a JavaScript Framework such as jQuery is always good. If you plan on developing dynamic or content management systems, you should also learn a server-side language such as PHP, ASP, or similar. Lastly, dynamic systems need a place to store date so you'd have to familiarize yourself with a database system such as MySQL... Things that aren't often taken into consideration when beginning which should be: As a front end developer, semantics, speed optimization by choosing the proper image format and compression for each image, image sprites to reduce the number of HTTP requests per pageload, ect... As a back end developer, system resource consumption, memory leaks, server/script security. Keep the number of database queries to a minimum and cache frequently accessed data. Be sure to research how to secure your database queries so they can't be manipulated and how to safely upload files.

Answer 3

HTML is a markup language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markup_language) not a programming language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_language).



If you want to be an elite web designer, you should first understand that great things happen in teams. Usually, the programming aspect and the design aspect of a website are done by different (but cooperating) people or teams.



That said, you have one aspect of the puzzle if you know HTML and CSS.

Learn those two things well, and you should be able to make things display any way you want them to.



The next piece of the puzzle is storing and retrieving data in an efficient, secure, and reusable way. This is where a database comes in (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDBMS).



Check out sqlite, MySQL and Postgres (which are all free). I recommend reading the Wikipedia entries for each of those products before you do anything else.



Now that you know how to present data, and where to store it, the remaining question is how to you transfer data back and forth between the database and the "view" (webpage). This is where a programming language comes in. There are allot of free languages to choose from, and there are also some non-free languages (some of the popular .NET languages by Microsoft, ColdFusion, et al.). I suggest you start with a free, fun language to learn without focusing on "programming for the web" but more on "learning the fundamentals of programming".



PHP, Python, and Ruby are all great choices in learning your first language. I would recommend Python out of the three because it is easy to install, and forces you to use proper indenting as part of the language itself, instilling good habbits from the start.



I would get started here: http://www.python.org/



Now, to point out how Web 2.0 works...

Most of the fancy UI (user interface) effects are handled by javascript. That is a programming language that runs in a user's browser and interacts with your HTML (by changing classes, monitoring clicks and moving objects around, hiding them, etc.).



I wouldn't worry about learning javascript until after you've become familiar with designing a database-driven website without it first. Then, you can make solid Web 2.0 websites that include fancy effects. If you're still curious check out the following javascript related websites:

http://jquery.com/

http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/

http://www.prototypejs.org/ & http://script.aculo.us/

http://mootools.net/



Good Luck on your Journey!

Answer 4

Choose the Platform :::



1. Java (JSP+ORACLE)

2. Windows (ASP.NET+SQL Server)

3. Linux (PHP+MYSQL) including Joomla, Drupal, phpBB etc



Start any of the programming 1 or 2 or 3 and learn these 4 also.

1. Flash/Flex

2. XHTML/CSS/JavaScript

3. Photoshop (some other graphic software)

4. Ajax/jQuery etc



Now you become Web 2.0 Programmer.

Xicroz Xadanz

Answer 5

HTML isn't a programming language.



I suggest you start by installing XAMPP.



http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html



This is a package that'll install Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl. Plenty of stuff to experiment with. Install Firefox



http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html



together with the Add-ons Firebug, Web Developer and YSlow.



https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/



These add ons will really help you in creating pretty good and efficient web sites.



Then you buy a book on PHP/MySQL programming. I'm partial to this book:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/1590598628/



Work your way through it. The first part will teach you PHP, the second MySQL. Bookmark these sites: php.net and http://dev.mysql.com/doc/ for up-to-date documentation. When you learn MySQL, try to not use too many MySQL-specific extension to SQL; that way, you learn SQL at the same time.



The programs that you create will typically generate (X)HTML. (Make sure you use templates, and don't mix your HTML with PHP or vice versa... Look into smarty.net if you don't know what I mean, and then think of a way to do it better. I think Smarty stinks, but you'll get the idea from the site.) I have yet to find an (X)HTML book that I like, but you can get quite far learning HTML through this site:



http://www.w3schools.com/html/



Make sure that this (X)HTML adheres to the stricktest of standards by having your (X)HTML code checked by this W3C site:



http://validator.w3.org/



Note the tabs at the top: when your server can't be reached from the outside, you can cut & paste your (X)HTML and have it validated through 'Direct input'. If you take pride in what you do --and what true developer doesn't?-- you should always work toward 'zero warnings and zero errors.' While you learn XHTML (and later, jQuery), you'll find that you learn the basics of XML for free.



At some point, to relieve your server, you'll probably find yourself wanting user input validation on the browser: you'll need to learn JavaScript. Again, I've not run into any books that I like on this topic, but David Flanagan's book does probably cover everything you'll ever need to know:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/0596101996/



It's quite boring though.



At some point you'll probably want to tidy up the presentation of your website. Enter jQuery and CSS. As an introduction to jQuery, you may wish to buy



http://www.amazon.com/dp/1933988355/



and to be completely up-to-date, you could bookmark



http://www.visualjquery.com/



At this point, you already know way more than you need to make a pretty good living. You may want to spend some of your income to get (PHP, MySQL) certified! Potential employers like that and you can find out how good you are...



If you ever feel the need to do something different, look into Ruby (on Rails). Knowing what you've already learned, it should come relatively easily. I don't know how long it'll take you to get here -it of course depends on many things, like how eager you are- but you should now also have better insight in what your next goal should be. Being an 'elite' Web 2.0 programmer probably won't be it.



Good luck!

Answer 6

For web, first you are supposed to know server side scripting. That is the main requirement for creating web pages.



Server Side:



PHP

C#

Ruby on Rails

ASP

ASP.NET

VB.NET

Visual Basic



Client Side:



XHTML

JavaScript

Flex

Flash

Microsoft SilverLight

Ajax

XML



In addition to this server side scripting, u need to know about database server like MS SQL server, SQL plus or Oracle 9i,10g,etc.... I think these are the basic requirements to create a web page.



And also, take a look at the link given below:



http://www.getafreelancer.com/affiliates/nanolab/



This site is actually a marketplace where u can get and post works. I hope this will be more helpful.

Make the best use of it...!!!

Answer 7

ActionScript 2/3, PHP, JavaScript for starters. If you THINK you know HTML, then learn CSS to go with it.



Ron