Web Development

[MrMiniBeast]

Hello

 

I began learning how to make a website a while ago. I completed codeacademy.com all the way through python about 2 months ago (including html, css, jquery, and javascript). However, when I look back on these lessons, I remember very little. I also found that codeacademy and other tutorials seemed incomplete and only went over the basics.

 

So, I would like something, preferably a book, that can teach me how to make a complete website. I would like the book to include html5, css, php, and jquery. I would like it to start off at the basics, but still be able to teach me more advanced features of web development.

 

Thanks for the help

[wolfsinner]

If you want to become a good web developer, you need to learn things one at a time.

 

The first thing I'll tell you to do is drop PHP. At least for now. PHP, while widely used, isn't really a good language (and so isn't JavaScript). Unfortunately we have no other option than to use JS, but we can get better than PHP.

 

First, work on producing the web design. Learn XHTML and CSS. But learn proper CSS. This book is good to understand how CSS works and renders, and is also a good reference.

As for XHTML, you only need to know how and when to use the most basic tags in conjunction with CSS. Forget about tables, for example. It's all about divs. I find that whatever you'll be needing to use can be easily looked up.

 

As for actual programming, this JavaScript book is probably the best book I've read on the language.

Also, like I said, drop PHP for now. Ruby and Python, for example, are much better languages. I'd also recommend you to understand MVC, and use some framework (like Rails, or Django). But if you insist on using PHP, CodeIgniter or CakePHP are good PHP MVC frameworks.

The language documentations should be enough for you to become proficient in the language's syntax.

Finally, learn how to actually write good code. There is a plethora of material you can read on this. Usually language-specific books aren't the greatest thing. This is a general book on good programming. Code Complete, in my opinion, should be read by every developer.

 

By the way, I just realized I sent you links from Amazon UK and you're probably from the US. Sorry about that.

 

EDIT: Oh, and, most dynamic web pages need some sort of data storage. Usually databases are used, and a good (free) DBMS is MySQL. You should learn some SQL, at some point.

[MrMiniBeast]

First, work on producing the web design. Learn XHTML and CSS. But learn proper CSS. This book is good to understand how CSS works and renders, and is also a good reference.

As for XHTML, you only need to know how and when to use the most basic tags in conjunction with CSS. Forget about tables, for example. It's all about divs. I find that whatever you'll be needing to use can be easily looked up.

So the css book will be good even with a limited knowledge of html?

[wolfsinner]

So the css book will be good even with a limited knowledge of html?

 

The thing is, there's hardly anything to learn about HTML. HTML is a markup language, there is no logic to it.

What you'll be doing with HTML is creating a skeleton, and then using CSS to make that skeleton pretty.

 

I wouldn't spend money in a HTML book, that's what I mean. That CSS book will help you understand how web pages are rendered. This is very important to make a good design.

Of course, it also teaches you actual CSS. And CSS is worthless without HTML. So naturally, you'll get a better grasp of HTML in the process.

 

The actual making of a webpage isn't in that book (in the sense that there aren't any step-by-step tutorials to make a website). The best way to become good is putting your knowledge to use and learning from experience.

[MrMiniBeast]

Awesome. As for the other books, would you recommend buying them All at the same time or waiting until I have a better understanding of HTML and CSS

[wolfsinner]

Awesome. As for the other books, would you recommend buying them All at the same time or waiting until I have a better understanding of HTML and CSS

 

It depends on how sure you are that you want to invest time in this. First I think you should understand how to use HTML and CSS to shape your page. 

Then you could choose to go the server-side or client-side coding path. In most cases, they serve different purposes.

Server side is the code that runs on your server, so think Python, PHP, Ruby. With these you can make dynamic web pages (think authentication systems, interacting with your database, etc).

Client-side code runs in the browser (so it runs on your user's computer, not the server's). Client-side code is JavaScript. You can make a lot of things with JavaScript, such as games, interacting with your server services without reloading the page, alter page elements in real time, etc.

While taking my first steps in web development, I first learned HTML/CSS, then PHP, then JavaScript.

Once you become proficient, there is a very nice framework (which I'm sure you've heard about) that saves you a lot of JavaScript work, it's called jQuery. Check it out.

 

Anyway, if you're sure you'll go through all of these steps, then get the JavaScript book at least (Code Complete is optional, unless you really want to write good code, but it's time consuming at 950 pages and not directly related to web development).

 

Most importantly, be patient. Don't try to rush your learning. Take your time to understand how things work, research things you're not sure about, etc.

Once you decide to make a product, make sure you know how to write safe code. There are a lot of possible vulnerabilities in web code, and you should aim to minimize them.

[MrMiniBeast]

Thanks for all the help