Dreamweaver Program...For the Beginner?

[Barnum]

I am very, very new to all this, and want to learn more. A friend of mine has told me to learn Dreamweaver, and that it would be the way to go. He also assured me it was an easy program to learn.

What are your opinions? I have taken a few basic classes in html, and enjoy the entire process, but still very much in the learning phase.

[Ed Seedhouse]

I am very, very new to all this, and want to learn more. A friend of mine has told me to learn Dreamweaver, and that it would be the way to go. He also assured me it was an easy program to learn.

Why spend all that money? A text editor is a lot cheaper and will give better results. Learn html and CSS yourself.


Folks who use "WYSIWYG" editors to produce web pages invariably produce terrible web pages. There is no one "what you get" on the web, so "what you see" will hardly ever be "what you get", and virtually never what someone else gets.

Your friend, respectfully, doesn't know what he is talking about.

[Blake Tallos]

Dreamweaver is a good program if you Already know HTML and CSS.I have dreamweaver myself.I choose not to use it.I use the Crimson editor.I only use a Text-editor to speed stuff up a bit for post's in the forums.Relying on a text editor to do all the work for you is a complete? /Fail/ Theres no Program out there thats going to teach you HTML & CSS.(Period) You can argue with me all you want.Barnum you have to learn these languages.It's like studying for a test.It also doesnt help for programs to teach you the wrong way on how to develop websites.

[bals28mjk]

I own a copy of dreamweaver 8 and use it mainly as a syntax highlighter along with a few other features. I haven't used any of the built in code since I like coding things myself, but I've heard bad things. I can speak for dreamweaver's 'design view' myself though, which is unreliable.

I tend to agree with the above posts, but if money isn't an issue for you and you plan on coding mostly yourself, I'd go for it. Just remember to focus on the languages instead of the programs that use them like dreamweaver.

[Ed Seedhouse]

Dreamweaver is a decent text editor and I use it myself, since I was given it for free. It is an absurd waste of money if you want to learn web design.

[Tailslide]

I agree with the others - it's too expensive, complex and may well deter you from actually learning the code properly.

Just stick with one of the many excellent freebie HTML editors like PSPad, Crimson Editor, HTML-kit, Notepad ++ etc etc.

[Barnum]

Thanks guys. I am learning html and CSS, and will hold off on Dreamweaver. You convinced me. Incidentally I am using a text editor called Scite.

[SilentBobSC]

Absolutely NOT the program for beginners, it's more important you focus on learning the code, start with HTML, then CSS, then Javascript and XML. Dreamweaver and other IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) are great toolboxes but they're not neccessary. I use Dreamweaver 2k3 at work, and more often than not, I actually wind up editing most my files in Notepad++.

[dc dalton]

Get a good book that covers HTML and CSS, something like editplus or ultra edit and learn from scratch. As I told my students for many years if you don't know the basics how are you going to fix a mistake some WYSIWYG makes?

Trust me when YOU know how to do it and do it properly you will laugh at those stupid programs

[JsD2K]

There are too many browsers on the web for there possibly be a phrase "What you see is what you get". Also you won't learn anything from a WYSIWYG editor eg. Dreamweaver. Hand coding is the best way, especially in the beginning. Notepad is a perfectly fine editor for me.

[r937]

it's WYGIWYD

(what you get is what you deserve)

[JsD2K]

WYSIWYNGAE

What You See Is What You Never Get Anywhere Else

Just like food magazines.

[JeffWalden]

Dreamweaver is great if you use it to write code. That being said, it's a crazy expensive text editor. I've had mixed results with Aptana Studio but at least it's free. I'd give that a whirl before investing with Dreamweaver.

www.Aptana.com (The community edition is free)

[SoulScratch]

That being said, it's a crazy expensive text editor.

Honestly, the web development community is of the demographic 15-30, male, computer addicts - please don't tell me you haven't heard of piracy (Usenet, Torrenting, HTTP/FTPing)? Not that I'm endorsing it or anything, but I doubt anyone except a corporation would be willing to spend the moolah for such an application.

[JsD2K]

Uh.. I have a friend who uses dreamweaver and I go over his house when he first bought it? I'll stick to that story..

But someone in this thread brought up an interesting point. If you have to work on 50 sites a day (dang I never want to do that) then dreamweaver is faster then notepad. It's really the coders decision though.

[JeffWalden]

Honestly, the web development community is of the demographic 15-30, male, computer addicts - please don't tell me you haven't heard of piracy (Usenet, Torrenting, HTTP/FTPing)? Not that I'm endorsing it or anything, but I doubt anyone except a corporation would be willing to spend the moolah for such an application.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. Even the academic version (which is what I have) was $250 for the Creative Suite. That's a HUGE discount from the sticker price for all that software but it's still more than a pirated version would cost.

Then again, every time someone pirates a piece of software it's the paying customers that end up taking the hit on the price tag. I'm not casting stones here but merely pointing out a fact. I'm certainly not innocent...

[cyjetsu]

If you want to be a web designer then use text files, I recommend EM editor. Best text/coding editor I have used. Even notepad will do though.

If you want bad code then use dreamweaver, dreamweaver is really simple to use apparently, but only if you are not interested in being a proffessional designer.... ok for your blog or something I suppose.

[funktifyknow]

Still a fan of wysiwtf --What You See Is What The F***

But seriously, I own DW and don't ever really use it any more. I got turned on to PSPad and want to look more into vim. I agree with all above posts that the most important part of learning web design and development is to learn the code and then use you TOOLS to HELP if necessary. Never rely on a program to do something that you should know how to do in the first place.

[digitaldesperad]

take a look here::
http://webdesign.about.com/od/dreamw..._tutorials.htm
u'll find some tutorials which may help you in learning
best of luck!

[JsD2K]

take a look here::
http://webdesign.about.com/od/dreamw..._tutorials.htm
u'll find some tutorials which may help you in learning
best of luck!

I dont believe someone was asking how to do dreamweaver, rather discussing whether to use it or not.

[arihantjain]

better start with NOTEPAD

[JsD2K]

Not true at all. There are many better and quicker editors that can help beginners.