devdave Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hi Dave here. I have some basic skills at HTML and CSS. I spent some time trying to learn Dreamweaver. I hade a few things on this package, unfortunatly i was told that i would never get to learn how to make a website from code using this program. I knew the program generated behind the scenes code, but i never learnt much this way. I know the web is in an ever changing place,what i'm looking for is some advice on what books to buy: Do i carry on with html4 or do i wait until html5 is fully developed. Should i be learning CSS3 or CSS2? Do i need to learn javascript or will CSS3 cover this. Can i get some advice on the best technology to use. Thanks Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Welcome, Dave. You'll definitely need to learn HTML. You probably should learn HTML4 first, in order to know what to use or not to use in HTML5. You'll want to learn some CSS1, 2, and 3, although how much depends upon what your focus will be (design or develop). JavaScript and CSS are different things used for different purposes. Again, which you'll need to learn (first, at least) depends upon what your focus will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devdave Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hi Larry...many thanks for the reply. I have learnt the use an old book by Elizabeth Gasrol: HTML4I also have DHTML Advanced & CSS book (visual guide books) 2005PHP & MYSQL second edition 2005last book..SQL 2002 Do i need to upgrade the books i have or should I learn the older stuff, then update myself when i'm more capable. All the best Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Of those books, the only one that may not be too outdated by now is the SQL book. A lot has changed in 7 years on the Web! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devdave Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Ok what do you recommend. Im not a graphics designer...i will prob use CSS for the design, poss abit of PS. I read that some of the graphics that make up menus can be done with CSS3 THUS speeding up http requests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 What is it that you want to do/learn? What is it you're hoping to do with the knowledge? What are your goals here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devdave Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Im looking to make static & dynamic web pages, also wish to learn how to put in the backend an SQL database. It's more a hobby for me, I just wish to pick up what knowledge i can and see where it takes me. I also understand PHP is used in web pages too, that is something i have a looked at also, had a few days making forms with this. Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Okay, then I'd recommend you first get comfortable with HTML. From there, start in with PHP & MySQL. CSS can wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bituser Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Hey Dave, I'm a newbie to the web development world as well. I've been working with HTML and CSS for about 2 years now, and have just picked up PHP thanks to Larry's book. I wouldn't have a clue how to use Adobe Dreamweaver as I don't really like the idea of WYSIWYG editors for HTML. I would recommend learning HTML 4 first before moving onto HTML 5. I'm still trying to wrap my head around HTML 5 and CSS3.I will be sticking with CSS2 and HTML 4 until I find a better resource for learning the new technologies. I'm purely explaining how I have learnt HTML and CSS, I'm not a professional. There are some cool resources which I found (unfortunately) after I had completed learning the HTML and CSS essentials: HTML Dog - Follow through the HTML and CSS tutorials CSS Tricks - Great articles on some of the cool tricks available Smashing Magazine - More web development in general than actual coding Also, instead of Adobe Dreamweaver give Notepad++ or Sublime Text (tad more advanced) a shot. When I started out I set myself a goal and stuck to it. That goal was to never use a WYSIWYG editor until I knew what I'm doing. I still use a text editor as I like the feeling of control and freedom. Work hard on following a standard such as HTML 4 Transitional or HTML 4 Strict so you can get the hang of writing correct markup. If you get stuck on creating something, search it in google and read some example markup. Don't just copy it into your project though, understand it. You may have to pull individual tags out of that markup and search them to see what they mean. I used this technique to give me a deeper understanding into how the different elements interact and how different developers come to their solutions. Designing for IE 6 and IE 7 is always fun... ~Sam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HartleySan Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Good points, Sam. While perhaps not as interesting or innovative as using JavaScript and new HTML5 technologies, the core of the Web really is HTML(4) and CSS. Learn those two well, and try making some Web pages with only those technologies before moving on to other things. After you're confident with those two, I recommend learning PHP and MySQL (or whatever RDBMS application you prefer), and then cover JavaScript and new HTML5 technologies last. Along the natural course of things, you will probably run along instances where you have to or want to use JavaScript or a new HTML5 feature (which is totally fine), but I'd try to focus on HTML and CSS for now. There's a lot more complexity and potential in those two languages that most people acknowledge. Also, I agree with Sam that using a basic text editor to start out is better. Notepad++ is really good, but I prefer Notepad2, another free text editor for Windows. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abigail Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I know this is a little off your subject but seems like the best place for my question. I've been using this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abigail Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Sorry the editor won't let me update previous post. I know this is a little off your subject but seems like the best place for my question. I've been using this: [!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"] But I want to move forward to html 4 strict. That's what I've been thinking. One book I'm reading recommends XHTML 4 strict.But one website said XHTML has been abandoned by the W3C and won’t be updated. So what do you (experts) recommend and would you post it so I know the syntax is correct. One thing though, I want my code to validate. Maybe I have to stay with transitional then. I did a little testing and changed by transitional to strict. There are a few cosmetic things which can be fixed. But also I have some external links that use target attribute which doesn't validate.Also there is javascript to focus the cursor on the form. That doesn't validate either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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