I am trying to learn web development and programming. Unfortunately, i am in university for social science, so im sure you can tell that i have no knowledge what-so-ever in this field. However, i can say i am a fairly quick learner when i am interested in the subject. So i am on sitepoint now to see if tehre is anyway i can start learning on my own. If you guys have any really good tutorials or beginner guides, please share them with me. I downloaded dreamweaver, but i have absolutely no idea what any of it does lol. I would really appreciate all the help guys.
Does anyone have any tutorials or guides that i can use to learn how to code in html? I am fairly new at this so my knowledge is extremely limited. but luckily i am a quick learner so im sure ill manage with the resources. Thank you in advance, i appreciate the help.
Dreamweaver is an excellent tool and I use it every day in my work. I suggest that you get a book called “Dreamweaver CS6 Classroom in a Book”. It will help you with layout, design, and basic coding (HTML, CSS, and some JavaScript). In addition, it will encourage you by enabling you to rapidly produce a nice website. Once you have finished this book, you should learn HTML(5) & CSS in depth. A great book is “Head First HTML”. From there, I would learn JavaScript. The absolute best beginning JavaScript book I have seen (and own) is the “JavaScript 24 Hour Trainer” by Jeremy McPeak. Yes, I own about 12 JavaScript books, from beginning to advanced. But I promise you, in your case, you’d be much better off with the 24 Hour trainer. Hope this gets you off to a good start. Let me know what you think.
Any time, dude. Keep going. Few pieces of advice. First, stay on Site Point. It’s probably the best run forum on the web today. Next, read the threads. Even if they don’t make sense, read them anyway. What you’re looking for are terms, phrases, and ideas that you are going to hear and see over and over again. When you do this, you are storing things in your head that you will connect logically as you get better at what you do. Along the way, start your own threads, adhering to the rules of the forums. Ask intelligent questions, and make sure that before you do that you have tried to do something on your own. And if you do attempt things on your own, make sure you “show your work” and give these ladies and gentlemen something to respond to other than just “your question”. Also (and I can’t stress this enough), this has to be a way of life. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Water is wet, fire is hot; and Joe writes code every day. It’s a fact of life. Just live with it. Furthermore, keep in mind that if you get to the place where you want to throw your computer against the wall (and almost end up doing it), that’s a good thing. That means you’re vested in the whole process. And believe me, change rarely takes place until it hits your emotions. So, in many respects, the madder you get, the better you get (this isn’t always true, but a lot of the time it is).
Last, for the next week, just get a pad and draw boxes next to each other, on top of each other, inside one another, etc. Do this over and over again. It’s a good exercise for new web designers (just take my word for it). Some people here may think this is ridiculous. But don’t worry about them (eff’em).
I think there is a misunderstanding here. HTML and CSS are not programming. They are a far far cry from real world programming. That does not necessarily mean they are less but they are much different. If you want to become a programmer than you need to study programming. The traditional way to do so is to pick-up some good books on fundamentals using c or java. Books that will teach you to think like a programmer and solve problems independent of the programming language involved. Programming is much much more than learning a single language and more about problem solving that can be applied to any technology. That is if you would like to build software within the context of programming. If you merely want to design or handle only front-end development than you don’t necessarily need to have much knowledge when it comes to programming. When it comes to web design and/or font-end development HTML, CSS and JavaScript will get you a far way. Though expect to be responsible for learning some programming in the front-end role considering it is difficult to completely decouple mark-up (HTML) from the server-side language/logic responsible for output. At least when it comes to building anything other than small little sites.
I think there is a misunderstanding here. HTML and CSS are not programming. They are a far far cry from real world programming. That does not necessarily mean they are less but they are much different. If you want to become a programmer than you need to study programming.
More clearly, programming is determined by what it is you are programming. If you are programming a desktop application or device, then, no, you can’t do it with HTML or CSS. But if you are giving instructions to a browser, then, yes, you are programming. And the same is true with JavaScript (with the exception of node.js, PHP, ColdFusion, or something like that–in which case you are programming or “scripting” the server). This assertion, however, is almost diametrically opposed to popular thinking among “programmers” who have paid their dues and are loathe to share their coveted space with “lesser disciplines”. I’m not saying that applies to oddz, but if you don’t think there is a very healthy population of elitists and separatists in the world of programming, you have a far more benign view of the world and human nature than I do.
But here’s a working definition of programming: creating a sequence of instructions to enable the computer to do something. If you can’t use your voice or telepathy (i.e. human commands) to give instructions to the browser or device, and must use “text and code” to deliver that sequence of instructions, it’s programming (like it or not); though not in the strictest use of the word.
The bottom line is “getting it done” and that is what programming is about. If anybody else says anything different, they are full of chocolate mousse. My opinion? Yes, it is. But we all have our right to be wrong like anyone else.
Just do your thing and work hard. You will come to your own conclusions concerning all of this by comparing what you read and what you experience.
