What programming language to start learning for webpages?

Question

I've recently started learning some html from a site in order to start developing an idea on a web page. It is going to be a fairly simple web that is going to ask the visitor to input some information and that would determine what page to open up for the user. I know that there are a few different possible programming languages to expand from html. I've looked into PHP, JavaScript, and Python and am trying to decide which to start learning. I am hearing a ton of different opinions on the web about these three languages. I just need some more opinions about which is the best to start learning and why. I will also be looking towards a career in programming and am trying to get a head start on learning before I enter college. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

For websites?



HTML, CSS, (Little) bit of Javascript, PHP, SQL - in that order...



Python is more client side application oriented, PHP is the ultimate web/programming language



"There is no PHP without MySQL, there is no MySQL without PHP"



@Ben: Python may be easier to learn (IDTS but I prefer a bit more control) but it's definitely not for web design, besides, most CMS are built on PHP.



PHP was designed to replace perl scripts, but it was built from C, it has some noticeable similarities, but it's simpler, more powerfull, and doesn't go overboard with the variable declarations :D

Answer 2

Javascript serves a different purpose than PHP and Python. You'll almost certainly need to know Javascript because that is the one language that gets executed on the client side, while PHP and Python are used to generate web pages on the server side. PHP is more popular among web devs, but Python is easier to learn and also has a lot of use outside of web development. PHP on the other hand is a stripped-down version of the Perl programming language (which is also rather difficult to learn) designed almost exclusively for writing web pages.

Answer 3

I completely agree with J, but I wanted to add that you can also develop desktop applications with PHP, not just web applications.



Also, I would emphasize that it is smart to learn Programming Methodologies and not necessarily focus on specific language syntax. Learn structured programming and object oriented programming. Learn about variable types and declarations, functions, classes, methods, properties, etc...



Once you understand the programming methodologies, it will be MUCH easier for you to learn the specific syntax of various languages. You will learn that languages like PHP, Perl, Python, Java, C++, etc are not all that different after all - they just have syntactical differences that you need to learn.