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Web development
Topic Started: Jul 21 2010, 07:33 AM (324 Views)
Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
Any suggestions for teaching my self Web development?
I have a couple projects I'm thinking of starting, and thought I would like to learn how.
Since I'm starting from scratch, could anyone suggest any good tutorials, not too expensive software, etc.?

Sorry if this seems like an open-ended questions.

Thanks.
Edited by Phlebas, Jul 22 2010, 02:28 AM.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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The 89th Key
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Hi Phlebas - there are some decent options (programs, 3rd-party applications) online where they give you the tools and make it pretty easy to put together a basic website. If, as you said, you're looking to learn it for yourself, which gives you much more flexibility, you want to start with the basics.

(And of course, one thing to remember, whether you're learning the basics, trying to figure out a code, or want a tutorial...appropriately enough the internet is full of videos, tutorials, codes, and other resources made available from the vast community of web developers.)

As far as the basics, again you can look online for articles, videos, and summaries, or you can pick up an "Idiot's Guide" book from the library, to learn the fundamentals of HTML and CSS. Those two languages, for lack of a better word, are the building blocks of nearly every website out there. If you want to a more dynamic site, you can venture into the world of dynamic code such as PHP, ASP, etc.

Of course, you'll also want to be comfortable creating web graphics, preparing imagery and photos for the web, and other graphics-related items that will enrich your website. These can be created in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, etc. Another ball of wax.

But again, it really just comes down to what you want. Then just practice, practice, practice (I prefer Adobe Dreamweaver to build and edit my sites)... You'll quickly learn what works and what doesn't. For example, mastering the positioning of divs (sections of a layout) will ease many headaches as you build the website, add content, and tweak the layout.

I believe KB is well versed in web development, especially with dynamic code. And feel free to PM me with any questions. I've built at least a dozen full websites and am often updating them, and I also learned web development on my own. So if I can do it, you can easily do it. :)
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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
Thank you. So, it helps to have a good basic knowledge of html, and CSS.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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Copper
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Shortstop

Free software, with simple templates and some advanced features

http://netobjects.com/html/essentials.html

The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
Thank you, Copper - I'll take a look at that.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Phlebas: Sorry ahead of time if I get carried away and give you more than your'e really looking for.

Perfect that you're starting from scratch!
Programs I think are worth while to start:
a simple text editor is the best place to start writing code. Preferably something with color coding like TextWrangler on a Mac.
I use Eclipse which is free/open source - it allows lots of different platforms, so you can develop in java, php, HTML, whatever you want. It's got some features like code completion, and definitely helps you work faster, but still is basically a text editor, without "preview" of what your'e doing.
DreamWeaver by Adobe is really a pretty good program. It allows both display and design views which allow you to see code, or the page itself as you develop. Very useful for HTML/CSS development, less so for PHP and more dynamic development where you can't just see what the program does with a preview pane.

As far as fundamentals go, I would start by getting a grasp on HTML and CSS. Learn some basic "standards compliant" design first, and then you'll have a lot of what you need to begin.
W3Schools is an awesome resource, as they're the consortium who decide what the Internet is, and isn't (and what HTML is and isn't). They have tons of tutorials, documentation, etc. They're still a regular stop for me when I forget what attributes a <select> tag can have or some other syntax.
CSS Zen Garden is a great place to get standards compliant design ideas, but more importantly is a great demonstration of how versatile good CSS design can be without using HTML to layout a page. The biggest pitfall in web design is utilizing the <table> tag to layout a page, when tables are really only designed for laying out tabular data (rows/columns). At CSS Zen Garden you'll see a column on the right that says "select a design" - clicking one will apply that "stylesheet" (CSS) to the web page, and reload it. You'll see first hand how drastically you can alter the look of a page without changing the page's code one bit.
If you're ready to jump into some HTML/CSS I'd download a template or two from freecsstemplates.org.
They'll contain all of the source code and artwork allowing you to begin playing around with something already built to see how it works.

If you're relatively familiar with HTML and CSS, and really want to dig into development a little bit, I'd get yourself a copy of MAMP or WAMP (depending on whether you're on a Mac or Windows machine respectively) and set yourself up a web server on your personal computer. This will allow you to begin developing applications, maintaining databases, etc. just for yourself, such that you can enter into your browser the address "phlebas.siteinprogress.com" and be taken to the site you're working on for yourself as though you're accessing it across the Internet. This is way faster than saving, uploading and reloading pages. It's also much safer, as you won't have to push data into "production" until you're ready and it's well tested.
So, if you've got WAMP/MAMP running you will have Apache, MySQL, and PHP all running - perfect time to pick up PHP.
If you already have some programming experience you'll find PHP to be pretty easy. If you don't - you'll still find it to be pretty easy.
php.net is the best and most thorough resource for PHP documentation I've seen, thoroughly going through each function native to PHP, and giving firm examples on how to use each one. I use it daily, because who can really remember hundreds of functions and what they do? I learned PHP in the beginning from a book I found at Sitepoint called: Build Your Own Databse Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL by Kevin Yank. It really was a great book (and I hate technical books) and had lots of code examples. Sitepoint also has lots of tutorials and articles to help you out a bit.
If you're looking for more a scripting language to start off, then I'd read up on javascript. There are a few javascript libraries that are really hot right now, adding tons of functionality to your work and slick effects, without you having to write all of the code to do them. Dojo, jQuery, and MooTools are the most popular - I use jQuery every day and love it. Their documentation is second to none. You can roll out a theme and have a jQuery site up and running very quickly using their "theme roller" - and add click UI elements such as datepickers, accordians and the like. Get jQuery here

If you're more curious about development than design, I can get some more resources and information together for you - I'm happy to pass on anything I know if it will help you. I currently work developing applications in PHP, Flex, and jQuery so I'm very familiar with those languages/frameworks and their variants. There's a ton to latch onto in development, but thankfully most of it is stuff you sort of pick up along the way. If you want to begin developing applications, you're going to want to use CVS or SVN or some sort of versioning system to keep track of your code and its changes (so you never lose anything, and can easily revert back to earlier versions). Eclipse (which I mentioned earlier) has plugins for most of these, and makes it very easy to update/commit changes you make to your code.
As Design and Development are really two entirely separate worlds I'm trying to keep the development stuff light here, assuming you'll want to start with basic design and X/HTML and CSS. Let me know though if your'e really leaning towards software design, and RIA (Rich Internet Application) development, as I'd be happy (again) to share whatever I can.


Edited by KlavierBauer, Jul 21 2010, 01:53 PM.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
Wow. I knew I asked at the right place.
Thanks KB - and Copper again, and 89th.

This gives me a lot of resources to start with.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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garrett2
Junior Carp
Here's an intro to HTML from w3.org:
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Guide/

There are also a couple links at the top for more advanced HTML and an intro to CSS.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, you may want to consider learning a little bit of JavaScript.

Edit: KB's link to w3schools is a great resource as KB said. There is some great info there on outdated code (to help prevent you from using old methods).
Edited by garrett2, Jul 21 2010, 08:50 AM.
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musicasacra
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HOLY CARP!!!
I started out with Dreamweaver, but it's $$$. You can code a site, but there are also sleek looking easy drag and drop site builders that require no code. Depends on site needs, how much you want to get into writing code, and who is going to maintain the site. HTML is a basic good thing to know though.
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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
Thanks MS and Garrett.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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musicasacra
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HOLY CARP!!!
BTW, are you on PC or Mac?
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
What exactly is wed development? Is it that inexplicable gain in weight that seems to occur once somebody else is cooking your meals for you? Or maybe it's the equally inexplicable onset of headaches that seem to occur every night around 9.30pm?

Obviously, I know nothing of either phenomena. If I did, I'd do my best to help.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
John: I think it's the progression through the wedding day.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Axtremus
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HOLY CARP!!!
John D'Oh
Jul 21 2010, 02:25 PM
What exactly is wed development?
My first thought was Phlebas was getting into the wedding planning business.
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Phlebas
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Bull-Carp
John D'Oh
Jul 21 2010, 02:25 PM
What exactly is wed development? Is it that inexplicable gain in weight that seems to occur once somebody else is cooking your meals for you? Or maybe it's the equally inexplicable onset of headaches that seem to occur every night around 9.30pm?

Obviously, I know nothing of either phenomena. If I did, I'd do my best to help.
:mad2:

Damn typos!

Fixed it.

MS, I'm on a PC.
Random FML: Today, I was fired by my boss in front of my coworkers. It would have been nice if I could have left the building before they started celebrating. FML

The founding of the bulk of the world's nation states post 1914 is based on self-defined nationalisms. The bulk of those national movements involve territory that was ethnically mixed. The foundation of many of those nation states involved population movements in the aftermath. When the only one that is repeatedly held up as unjust and unjustifiable is the Zionist project, the term anti-semitism may very well be appropriate. - P*D


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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Phlebas: As you get more into the software development side (web development in the purest sense) you'll run into continuous problems for which you have no solution. One great resource is stackoverflow.com (or similar sites). I can't tell you how often in my work I simply find a solution to my problem already built by someone else, and simply re-factor it to be applicable in my program. Very seldom do developers begin with an empty page and design from scratch.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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