What to start with...?

[jonathan.gardner.58]

I'm interested in learning html,css, flash, java anything to do with web design and so forth. Just wondering if anyone out there has a really good starting point for me. Are there any books i should read or should i just go straight off the web. anything will help. thanks guys.

[LastMitch]

@jonathan.gardner.58

I'm interested in learning html,css, flash, java anything to do with web design and so forth.

I would just learn the basic first:

http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/

Regarding about images for editing.

Adobe Suites are very expensive.

Instead of using Photoshop.

Try to used Gimp http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

Regarding about action script in Flash. I would take time to learn that.

[<M/>]

Try reading the Head First Series, they are very nicely written and are very interactive plus they provide notes on which each line of code does. So follow their books :)

[avckpn]

start with HTML it is pretty easy understand inline styling.
Then go for css.
Then javascript.

Some Server Side PHP,PERL,ASP.NET or anything else. for dynamic pages generation.
I am PHP lover.

css3
HTML5..

Now when you start with html dont aim at learning it completely.it will take time mastering everything.
start using css early.
Make some pages try linking them using link tags
keep using css for styling and check out some tutorials .
css will help make your page look pretty
css and javascript make your pages interactive i.e the page will respond to hovering clicking etc.

Here is what i suggest for learning

depending upon what kind of learner you are :
use 1.video tutorials of lynda.com they are great,they guide you step by step and they have some sample exercises too.follow them and u will be doing just fine.
if you can buy them it is great else if YOU CAN NOT AFFORD then try piratesbay.se

use if you like reading and learning 2.w3school.com is a great place for learning anything about web dev. they have this great feature of try it your self which like fiddler.

for learning javascript use learnstreet.com

you can learn using a combination of above also.

Have a great time learning.

[mattster]

When I started out, I used NVU. Its a good suite but a pain for coders.

You really need the HTML and CSS first. You can do this with a text editor to really practice this the hard way if you want (but I would recomend and IDE). Try downloading a free HTML template and editing it (I personally find altering someone elses work helps me learn best).

Following that, get in there with GIMP and PHP/MySQL. For PHP/MySQL I cannot reccomend XAMPP more!

As i say, if you edit a pre-built template (add bits and change stuff) and just google any problems as normally there is a solution, w3-schools are really good as well, but feel free to PM me if you need help ;)

[drjohn]

The html editor NVU is dead and has been for about four years, and was replaced with Kompozer which has a help forum (http://wysifauthoring.informe.com/forum/index.php) but that editor too hasn't been updated for a while, although the forum is active and helpful for beginners and occasional users.

The author of NVU and Kompozer is now working on BlueGriffin which I came across recently and that's quite a reasonable free wysiwyg html editor. So try that or kompozer to work with. I use Notepad++ a great deal as I prefer to write the code, but bluegriffon does look interesting.

You MUST start with html and css, and try really really hard to avoid inline styling.
www.htmldog.com is good for intro tutorials, as is www.tizag.com , mentioned above

Avoid using inline styling, just thought it worth mentioning again.

Java is NOT for web design, it's a heavyweight programming language for building applications, I think you are confusing it with javascript, which changed its name to sound like java, about 1996 to fool people into thinking they were related (it has successfully fooled generations of beginners ever since) But you should not play with javascript until you can actually write html and css. Javascript manipulates the html and css that your write, so you need these skills first, and can even not learn javascript for quite some time with no ill effect. Flash - ignore that.

[stultuske]

especially when starting new, you shouldn't use an IDE. first learn the basics (the what, how, syntax of the language, ... ) and only then start exploring with an IDE. a lot of people that just start with IDE's tend to forget to learn about the stuff that the IDE does/generates for them.

[diafol]

OK - Front-end stuff to start:
HTML, CSS to begin

Then - some JS in today's environment is probably a 'must', although you could dive straight into something like jQuery, but it's always good to know the nuts and bolts.
I'd forget Flash.

Then for back-end stuff
PHP or ASP.NET or Java as main options - there are others too
SQL - the version of which will depend on the DB that you end up using, e.g. MySQL, SQL Server...

Get some RECENT books on these - IMO, books are far superior to online texts as they are peer-reviewed. Any idiot can write a tutorial. Even W3Schools is littered with mistakes, outdated practices and bad advice. I tend to avoid it.

[<M/>]

Diafol is right, books are the best approach towards learning but its advised you buy popular books that are new, nothing outdated or any book that is full of mistakes. So buy the Head First Books (if you want an easy approach) or go to a university site and see books they use for their courses. Or just buy a book you like.

Diafol is right about the front and back end stuff. It may take a little bit of time to master all of them, but it'll be worth it at the end!

[mattster]

drjohn has nicely just proved how long ago i started haha, thankfully I now use Dreamweaver CS5, but thats far too expensive for begineers and alot of pro's

[kyupa.suria]

http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/

And, of course, many of us <3 "thenewboston" (youtube)

[<M/>]

mattster, you don't have to just use dreamweaver... you can use Coda 2, notepad, text mate, and so much more!

[diafol]

OK, if we're on to IDEs:

Notepad++, Sublime Text2, Bluefish, Netbeans, Aptana, Eclipse, yada yada yada. They're all free to use. I tend to use Bluefish at the moment. But this will change when something even better comes along. All have pros and cons. Some even have FTP plugins - very handy.