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Web Development: How to?

6 points by ankit_1990 ↗ HN
Hello,

I am a Hobby programmer. I am using Ubuntu since 2 years. I am quite good at C programming. I have written C programs & objdump'ed them to study how the internal works (This is just to let you know that I work hard, though programming is not the thing that I love the most. Its among those things that i hate the least & I wish to make a career out of it).

Recently, I have started learning Web Development & wish to make a career out of it. I studied HTML/CSS & learning Javascript now. I think I will do PHP once I am done with Javascript. There are a lot of brilliant Web Dev's out here, so I would like to take your advice, as in am I going the right way. Is there any other technology/language that I should learn? am I on a correct path to learn Web Development?

Thank You very much in advance.

7 comments

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jameswyse
Sounds like you're on the right track! I've found the best way to learn something new is to just dive right in, Do you have a personal project to start off with?

Just a suggestion but you might want to look in to Node.js (a server-side JS environment) instead of PHP, at least at first. That way you can avoid learning PHP and focus on getting those essential JavaScript skills.

ankit_1990
Thanks a lot. I have heard about the server side JS. I will definitely think about NodeJS when I switch over to server side scripting. Yes, I do have many pet projects in my mind(though as of now I am avoiding them due to my lack of knowledge).
qompiler
PHP might not be a good language to use, but it will learn you a about the "low" level stuff. Web frameworks tend to hide many details for you, which might be a disadvantage when you are learning.
zachlatta
Everything you're doing so far is right. The most important thing is to think of something you've always wanted and make it. As mentioned by jameswyse, you might want to check out Node.js so you can use the same language on the front and backend.

I'm not really a fan of PHP, so I'm quite biased on the subject, but I think learning a different web framework (rails, etc) over PHP would be in your best interest.

ankit_1990
Thank you for you time. I will surely give Node.js a try.
MildlySerious
I recently switched to node.js after working with PHP for years. I did learn to appreciate a few things the apache+php combination does by itself.. but there is no way I would go back to PHP.
LarryMade2
My approach was to take something I already made or knew well how to do and apply it to the web. That way you aren't struggling with solving an unfamiliar problem but mainly concentrating on how to best implement it with your new tools. For me it was creating an event calendar I had done previously in xBase. I know the logic and it was suitably complex enough to be a good programming exercise as well as a good workout for the layout aspects of web development.

So find something in C that you know well than you can develop on the web, start with that.