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@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #If you want to do web development, PHP is the most widely used server-side language out there, so it's definitely a skill to have. Ruby (with its Rails framework) is still a comparatively niche market, though it definitely has its fan-boys. Java (not JavaScript) and the various .NET stuff is mainly used by big corporate shops, and as such not ideal for the hobbyist (but if you want to work on Fortune 500 sites some day, who knows?). Don't bother with C for web development, as nobody uses it for that (though C# is used within the aforementioned .NET shops). Python is a nice scripting language with a lot of good uses, but again, it's not used nearly as much as PHP (or even Ruby or Java) for actual web site server-side processing.
Whichever server-side language you go with, though, you won't get far without some decent database skills, so don't forget that.
JavaScript (not Java) is mainly for client-side (browser) functionality and is something a well-rounded web developer needs to know (though I specialize these days on server-side stuff and my JS skills are rather atrophied right now ? ). There is some movement toward using JS on the server side (see Node JS), but that's still a pretty small niche market.
So I guess in summary, for someone who wants to jump feet-first into server-side web development, PHP is probably as good a place as any to start, and better than many. Caveat: there are a lot of crappy and/or outdated PHP tutorials and applications out there that can teach you bad habits, so start your researching by finding the best-reviewed and most up-to-date books and/or tutorials before you end up with a bunch of bad habits we'll have to break you of.@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #As far as database vs. programming language, it's sort of a chicken-or-the-egg thing, as it's tough to build any "interesting" web app without both. That being said, you can't really build [i]anything[/i] interesting without the programming skills, and the greatest database skills in the world won't amount to anything if you can't read/write from/to the database via your application code; so I guess I'd probably start with the basics of PHP, but as early as possible also start looking at database concepts (DB design and normalization plus SQL -- essentially another programming language to learn), so that as early as possible you start integrating the two together. Where I'm at now, I probably spend around the same amount of time dealing with database issues (if not more?) than I do with code issues, and I'm not even in the data engineering group. Of course, I'm not working on a "typical" web app -- but then, I'm not sure what a typical web app is these days, or if I'd want to work on one anyway. ?@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #PS: I highly recommend learning object-oriented PHP as soon as possible, as opposed to putting it off until later as some sort of advanced subject (as many books/tutorials seem to do). If you want to learn Java or Ruby, you [i]have[/i] to learn OOP, and 99%* of the "good" PHP code being written now is object-oriented, so I'm a fan of learning OO-PHP as soon as possible, as opposed to learning purely procedural programming, and then suddenly trying to change your style and technique to accommodate classes and objects. Here's a concise little tutorial on it you might want to peruse, to see if it scares you away or catches your fancy: http://www.opensourcetutorials.com/tutorials/Server-Side-Coding/PHP/getting-started-with-objects-with-php-v5/page1.html . ?
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Advice on starting PHP with no experience
Howdy everyone,
I am kinda living hard days in the past couple weeks deciding on which language I should start learning programming with. I tried PHP and the syntax is really confusing for me. I never had any experience in any other programming languages except that I played few times with Ruby on Codeacademy and it was not so bad.
My current experience only involves good knowledge about how to put up a static webpage with HTML and CSS (Not an experienced one) but I definitely have a good background about HTML and CSS. However, I am not into design or creating static stuff, I always had the passion to create web applications and start from the bottom up. I researched a lot on this topic but I didn’t get a satisfying answer that gets me decisive about which language I should start.
Is PHP really that daunting for a complete beginner in the server-side scripting world? Do you think I should learn other programming language that might be easier then move on to PHP? Some said learn Javascript then you will find PHP quite easy. To what extent do I need to develop my javascript skills if I need to be able to understand PHP? Do you think I should really go with JS or start learning C or Ruby or Python, etc?
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@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #If you want to do web development, PHP is the most widely used server-side language out there, so it's definitely a skill to have. Ruby (with its Rails framework) is still a comparatively niche market, though it definitely has its fan-boys. Java (not JavaScript) and the various .NET stuff is mainly used by big corporate shops, and as such not ideal for the hobbyist (but if you want to work on Fortune 500 sites some day, who knows?). Don't bother with C for web development, as nobody uses it for that (though C# is used within the aforementioned .NET shops). Python is a nice scripting language with a lot of good uses, but again, it's not used nearly as much as PHP (or even Ruby or Java) for actual web site server-side processing.Whichever server-side language you go with, though, you won't get far without some decent database skills, so don't forget that.
JavaScript (not Java) is mainly for client-side (browser) functionality and is something a well-rounded web developer needs to know (though I specialize these days on server-side stuff and my JS skills are rather atrophied right now ? ). There is some movement toward using JS on the server side (see Node JS), but that's still a pretty small niche market.
So I guess in summary, for someone who wants to jump feet-first into server-side web development, PHP is probably as good a place as any to start, and better than many. Caveat: there are a lot of crappy and/or outdated PHP tutorials and applications out there that can teach you bad habits, so start your researching by finding the best-reviewed and most up-to-date books and/or tutorials before you end up with a bunch of bad habits we'll have to break you of.
0
@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #As far as database vs. programming language, it's sort of a chicken-or-the-egg thing, as it's tough to build any "interesting" web app without both. That being said, you can't really build [i]anything[/i] interesting without the programming skills, and the greatest database skills in the world won't amount to anything if you can't read/write from/to the database via your application code; so I guess I'd probably start with the basics of PHP, but as early as possible also start looking at database concepts (DB design and normalization plus SQL -- essentially another programming language to learn), so that as early as possible you start integrating the two together. Where I'm at now, I probably spend around the same amount of time dealing with database issues (if not more?) than I do with code issues, and I'm not even in the data engineering group. Of course, I'm not working on a "typical" web app -- but then, I'm not sure what a typical web app is these days, or if I'd want to work on one anyway. ?0
@NogDogFeb 08.2015 — #PS: I highly recommend learning object-oriented PHP as soon as possible, as opposed to putting it off until later as some sort of advanced subject (as many books/tutorials seem to do). If you want to learn Java or Ruby, you [i]have[/i] to learn OOP, and 99%* of the "good" PHP code being written now is object-oriented, so I'm a fan of learning OO-PHP as soon as possible, as opposed to learning purely procedural programming, and then suddenly trying to change your style and technique to accommodate classes and objects. Here's a concise little tutorial on it you might want to peruse, to see if it scares you away or catches your fancy: _____________