Where to begin?

[Stomme poes]

I always wondered where back-end people get their kicks.

Writing programs in cool languages like Perl.
After all, Perl has stuff like The Joy Of MooseX:: —doesn't that sound exciting? : )

[rick yentzer]

I'm sorry to say this, and I'd be glad if I were wrong in your case - just by reading the books you won't get to the advanced level you want.

I completely agree, and I would hope that no one reads a book and thinks their an expert. Unfortunately, as a trained artist turned graphic/ui designer, it's common for someone to think that because they have photoshop and can add a drop shadow that makes them a designer.

When I "read", I read to understand and code alongside the examples. I also reverse engineer others code to learn what works, why it works and how to break it. I also don't refer to one resource but as many as I can get my hands on. This is how I became proficient in HTML and CSS. I simply—pun intended—wanted to take the next step in my web development which is why I posted the question here because I was unsure what that next step might be. And thankfully, I have received a lot of very informative and helpful advice here that has helped me clarify and focus on my next step. I also checked into everyone's suggestions and the stickys in the Sitepoint Javascript forum. Good stuff!

[bulevardi]

Indeed, reading a book is one thing... you learn the theory and syntax etc, and it's good to have a reference to fall back on. If you don't practice, you forget all this again.

But to really get it, you should test excercises yourself, from scratch, fall and start over again. And with this forum your learn a lot.

[kevinvs]

i feel similar, but I'm primarily Front End Web these days.

[pageupseo]

I truly appreciate your responses as they have helped me to clarify some things. It look like jQuery/Javascript is my next goal.

Any recommendations for accessible Javascript sources or reading material?

Thanks again.

For basic learning go with w3schools.com tutorial.

[AlexDawson]

I'm curious, what are the qualifications for advanced developer? In all the job listings I have seen not once have I seen that combination of terms. Titles are more less a derivative of expertise and experience, not what you think you know or how many books you have read. Stop focusing on the title and learn what you want to achieve the position you would like. Titles are pretty much worthless. You can either do the job or you can't – its really that simple.

There are no qualifications for web design and development. At least none that are endorsed by a standards body or are considered of any real world value by the industry as a whole. In fact, stuff like the CIW qualifications are pretty much considered a big joke. I agree with you however that titles in our industry are one huge mess, you've got no barriers to entry, people calling themselves stuff because it sounds "cool" and large numbers of people unable to backup their experience level.

[Stomme poes]

My job title: Markup Monkey and Occasional Ad Banner Maker

[ralph.m]

Off Topic:

Stomme poes: "My job title: Markup Monkey..."

What a shame it's not Markup Cat.

[Stomme poes]

Off Topic:

Markup Cat would get paid more due to the slightly higher awesomeness inherent in the name...

[BLZ]

I completely agree, and I would hope that no one reads a book and thinks their an expert. Unfortunately, as a trained artist turned graphic/ui designer, it's common for someone to think that because they have photoshop and can add a drop shadow that makes them a designer...

W00t! I can do a drop shadow, a glow and bevel and emboss. Hang on while I register my web design company...

[Stomme poes]

W00t! I can do a drop shadow, a glow and bevel and emboss. Hang on while I register my web design company...

Uh, where's your lens flare? That is absolutely a requirement in modern web design.

[Tayrice]

The very tiny, tiny experience I've had of it makes it easy to understand. You want to create some kind of complex functionality, and it's very exciting/satisfying when you've got it working.

I have no idea on web design.I have an expert who designs my website. Sometimes i pay quite a lot of money to get this done.I will soon learn how to do it on my own.