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Advice for a beginner


turjohn

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So I the other day I had a good idea for a website that I would like to try to make a reality in my spare time. Problem is, I have no clue how to create a website. I am an electrical engineer, and have done a decent amount of coding in assembly, Visual Basic, C and C++, so I would think I could pick up the coding aspect relatively quickly. What I am hoping to get is some direction on where to focus my efforts and how different tools come together.The site I have in mind (hope this doesn't just turn into a pipe dream) will ultimately have user accounts, incorporate google maps to show locations, have the ability for users to upload/download thier own files, etc. Given what I have in mind, it would be awesome if I could get some input on what I should be looking to learn. This site looks like a great resource, but does anyone have suggestions for a good book that might help me out with where I am trying to go?Thanks in advance!!!

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Visual Basic Script is unfortunately only compatible with Internet Explorer. All other browsers require a plugin to run it, so frankly, I don't see a point to using it. But your experience with VB and C/C++ are a boost to learning web programming languages. A dynamic web page usually consists of basically 4 parts:1. Structure2. Styles3. Client-side scripting4. Server-side scripting (including databases)Structure is defined using HTML or XHTML (strict HTML, basically). While HTML says what to put on the page, CSS (styling) specifies where to put it, and what to make it look like. Client-side scripting is capable of changing both the structure and the styles of a web page on the fly. Javascript is the scripting language of choice for web developers, and there are many frameworks out there that simplify JS coding. JS is also responsible for exchanging data asynchronously with the server (without reloading the page). This is how Google maps function so smoothly. Of course, since JS is client-side, it can be disabled. Because of this, login systems and things like that are done on the server-side. PHP, powering millions of websites, is popular because of its gentle learning curve. It allows people possessing all levels of knowledge to incorporate it to some extent. Unlike C, its parent, it is loosely typed, meaning the type of objects does not need to be declared. However, certain concepts from C will carry over and aid you with learning PHP. In learning PHP, you'll also learn how to interact with MySQL databases using SQL (structured query language). When you combine PHP and SQL, you'll be able to do an incredible number of things, including login systems, uploading/downloading. I'd recommend that you hop over to w3schools and take a look at their HTML/CSS/JS/PHP tutorials. Once you read those, you'll get a better understanding where to head next. Don't forget the power of a web search engine!

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Fmdpa pretty much nailed down everything you'll need to learn. The only thing I can add is this:Start small. I don't recommend starting on your project until you have a decent understanding of how things work together. Start with a simple HTML page, add some CSS, and start increasing the complexity of the page a bit. Make sure you always use a doctype, preferably a strict one, (you'll learn what a doctype is when you start the tutorials, basically it tells the browser how to render your page), and validate your code (using the W3 Validator: validator.w3.org). Also, avoid the use of tables to layout your page.When you're comfortable with that, start adding some JavaScript to the mix and try changing an element's text or style and then adding and removing elements from the page.When you get comfortable with JavaScript, start looking at PHP and do some simple scripts and gradually increase the complexity until you're comfortable and then start adding database interaction.Since you are already experienced with programming in general, most of this should come pretty easily. Just remember, if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask us! :)

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Also read as many topics as you can in this forum! I have learned so much from reading about and even trying to solve other peoples problems on here. Also if the tutorial on this site doesnt help you, you can always Google search some of the tutorials available there, they are of big help too.EDIT: I do try and research the problem 1st and use the forum is i dont understand something or i cant figure it out after i researched it because a lot of problems can be solved quick with a little research rather then waiting hours for a reply, thought usually the guys here are super fast.

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