[web] What are some good ways to get started with web development?
Author
Hi,
I'm hoping to get a start with web development, I've looked at PHP, and SQL and they look simple enough (I'm majoring in CS, so programmming isn't difficult for me), but finding a place that tells me what I should know is difficult. Many pages I've found have amateurish tutorials. At the moment all I'm focusing on doing is having a new feed, with a menu at the side, and just a graphic at the top (like most professional websites). I just want a place to showcase my resume and different projects. Anyways, do you guys have any recommendations on where I can get started? I know the basic stuff like html, and how to use dreamweaver, but am really looking to learn some advanced stuff.
Thanks
By advanced stuff what do you mean, even direct us to sites with features you'd like to accomplish. If you don't find the tutorials on the web helpful possibly consider buying a book Tim Converse PHP Bible is a good starting point for PHP but might not be as indepth as you're looking for.
First of all, I think you should distinguish yourself from "normal" HTML hackers, by following the World Wide Web Consortium standards. Separating content (XHTML) from design (CSS) I think is also of the highest priority.
As a basic rule, always make sure your pages are valid using the W3C Validator. There is also a corresponding validator for CSS. (Dreamweaver is not very good at following standards.)
On the subject of books, for CSS I highly recomend CSS Pocket Reference. Along with webresources and the two validators, this will probably be enough for the XHTML/CSS part.
As far as scripting/database languages goes, I am not an advanced user of those, so have no valuble tips there.
However, be sure to know how to create XHTML/CSS first.
As a basic rule, always make sure your pages are valid using the W3C Validator. There is also a corresponding validator for CSS. (Dreamweaver is not very good at following standards.)
On the subject of books, for CSS I highly recomend CSS Pocket Reference. Along with webresources and the two validators, this will probably be enough for the XHTML/CSS part.
As far as scripting/database languages goes, I am not an advanced user of those, so have no valuble tips there.
However, be sure to know how to create XHTML/CSS first.
Author
I was hoping for something like this. Albeit mabye a little simpler and cleaner, but with the news feed in the middle, and the menu on the side. I just found it googling for random websites. Do you know what I'd need to know to accompish that?
Thanks
edit: typo in markup
[Edited by - Vasant56 on April 24, 2006 7:16:52 PM]
Thanks
edit: typo in markup
[Edited by - Vasant56 on April 24, 2006 7:16:52 PM]
Well the best way I think is to
1) Find a website that you really want your resume website to look like.
2) Use that site as a template
3) start from there.
Web designing is more of the feel for the art. That's what makes a good site vs. a bad site. gamedev.net is organized very well. codeproject.com is not. it's very messy. ads in the wrong place etc.
It's better off you copy a very good site as a template. Trust me, these people think for hours and days to get their layout organized in the best way so that visitors can navigate fairly easily.
1) Find a website that you really want your resume website to look like.
2) Use that site as a template
3) start from there.
Web designing is more of the feel for the art. That's what makes a good site vs. a bad site. gamedev.net is organized very well. codeproject.com is not. it's very messy. ads in the wrong place etc.
It's better off you copy a very good site as a template. Trust me, these people think for hours and days to get their layout organized in the best way so that visitors can navigate fairly easily.
Take a look at the Resources sticky in this forum. There's lots of great stuff in there. Also, do your (future) self a favour and use a templating engine for your site. There are many around, but I like Smarty for PHP powered sites. Pick one of the standard CSS designs from one of the many CSS layout sites and build a clean HTML front page from it (no need for interactivity. It's just a mockup). Tweak it untill you're happy with the look. Write the backend, slice the HTML up into template parts, substitute the mock-up text with template variables and you're pretty much done.
Author
Is a template engine similar to one of those webwizards? I'm trying to hardcode everything if I can.
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