HELP! I'm in a rut and can't get out!

[Kasdraven]

So i'm in kind of a rut. I know HTML, XHTML, and CSS (for design, not page layout). I know the basics of JS (Variables, Booleans and such) and I know how to make alert boxes and that sissy mostly useless stuff. But I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO GO FROM HERE! I'm in a rut. I've learned flash and know how to put it into pages. And I want to learn more JavaScript but I wouldn't know what to use it for. Could someone give me some advice? Any ideas of where I should go from here? COuld someone tell me where to go with JS aswell? Thanks alot for any help.

[vchris]

I don't work a lot with JS but I've used it sometimes on sites where I wanted the navigation to drop down once clicked, change cursors, calculators... I know you can do a lot of cool stuff with it. Just search google and you'll find something.

[Jonas]

Sounds like you're ready to move on to a serverside programming language. Try PHP, ASP(.net), ColdFusion or JSP.

[Kasdraven]

Sounds like you're ready to move on to a serverside programming language. Try PHP, ASP(.net), ColdFusion or JSP.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Witch one would you think I should start with? I'm only going to work on one at a time, so witch do you think? Ican start with moderatly hard langauges though, as long as there are tutorials for help, witch i'm sure there are.

[vchris]

ColdFusion is the easiest! It's based on tags just like HTML. That's what I would suggest so you learn how server scripting works and then move on to PHP, ASP...

[aspnetguy]

ColdFusion is the easiest! It's based on tags just like HTML. That's what I would suggest so you learn how server scripting works and then move on to PHP, ASP...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But you need to keep in mind that Cold Fusion hosting is less common (few choices) and may cost more. There are plenty of Free hosting plans out there for PHP and ASP but I do not know of any for CF.You should decide which one will suit your needs best and focus on that one...no need to learn 3 languages that will just do the same thing.

[vchris]

Yeah I know it's less common but I saw 1 or 2 hosters who supported it. It was a bit more expensive than anything else. But if you're looking to learn server side scripting with ease well coldfusion is good. I didn't start with CF, I started with Java and was kinda hard at first but then got the hang of it and I understood all the rest...You can always start with php or asp and then once you know them well you'll understand all of them. It's all the same, just the syntax changes

[mpoer]

I went from HTML to CSS + XHTML, a little javascript, and then to PHP.PHP is open-source and free, so lots of hosts have it available on the *nix pacakges (some on windows packages, perhaps). It is also developed to be easy for anyone with experance in other programming languages, meaning it has a syntax that will look familier to you if you've ever done anything in C++, and functions are a lot like javascript, since you do know a bit of that That means that not only will it be easy to pick up on, but if it is your first language, it is a decent gateway to other languagesAbout javascript, the most practical and commonly used javascript actions are form validations (like making sure a user fills out all their information when signing up for a web site), and checking/unchecking all checkboxs, stuff like that. I don't think a lot of javascript knowledge is necessary to be a good designer or developer, because 1) not all browsers support it2) many browsers do it differnatly3) your code is open to anyone that views your code (security alert, anyone?)4) can you say 'most annoying flying adverts, ever'?Well, that is sort of my views on javascript. I can use it a bit if I need it for something, but I don't need it often.