Web programming

[Gabbe]

Okay so i thought that this was just as good time as any to learn HTML/CSS or whatever is the easiest web-coding/programming language.

Any thoughts wich i might want to learn? I dont want to learn java just yet, im still working on the basic code java thing...not js..

[John.d.h]

XHTML and CSS are pretty easy to learn.  I got a pretty respectable website running in a one-semester class without much trouble.  I never really delved into Java or Javascript, but all that is extra fluff in my opinion.  It can be useful, but most websites don't need it.

[Gabbe]

What is it that js can do that XHTML and CSS can`t do? or is better at doing?

[Cygal]

Hi,

Looks like you are confusing a lot of things! Let's try to clarify things a bit...

HTML is a way to indicate the structure of your website. It tells you that the web site first starts with a header, then a menu, then content, etc. It contains the structure of your website, and the content. For example, the html of http://glest.org/en/index.php contains "Glest is a free 3D real-time strategy game", among other things (images, other text, etc.)

Next, we use CSS to say how the structure is going to be displayed: "the header is this long, contains this border, and ...". When you have HTML+CSS, you can display pages. Those pages won't change, though. This forum is not only html+css, it also contains code to translate the posts into actual HTML.

JavaScript is another thing: it lets you modify the page once it has been displayed, get new information without refreshing the whole page, put nice animations, etc. Don't try to learn this before understand the basics.

And finally, Java has nothing to do with the above! It's a programming language that has nothing to do with the web, except that you can put actual Java application in web pages. You should not learn Java if you're trying to do some web programming.

Web programming as a whole refers to the programs displaying web pages representing some kind of content. You need more than HTML/CSS/JS to do this: you need something like PHP, or JEE. It's nearly another topic, which you shouldn't try to cover before understanding the HTML and CSS.

[John.d.h]

To (over)simplify it, XHTML defines the content, CSS defines the styles, and JS creates dynamic actions.  They all work together to create a webpage.  You can create a page with just XHTML, but it will be very bland.  You cannot create anything with just CSS or JS.

For illustration, turn off your ad-blocker and open this link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/3d8kb2188nkkm87/interface_buttons.7z.  Then disable JS and open it again in a new tab, and compare the two.

[Gabbe]

I should learn html?

I wont be big on web design, i just want my own homepage

And im learning java on the side, not for web developing. Im probably the biggest noob on this ever SO i should learn HTML only at first?

[Omega]

HTML *has* to be learned first. All other web design is dependent upon it. CSS tells the HTML how it should look, but is optional. Start with HTML, then learn CSS to enhance that HTML. JS is last, as it can further add interactivity to a webpage. Finally, once skilled with the above, PHP allows efficient server side generation, and far better than the alternatives. Java, Flash, silverlight, etc are NOT recommended, as they tend to be more of an annoyance than a good thing...

[Conzar]

And finally, Java has nothing to do with the above! It's a programming language that has nothing to do with the web, except that you can put actual Java application in web pages. You should not learn Java if you're trying to do some web programming.

If you are already learning Java, then I would suggest trying out gwt

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a development toolkit for building and optimizing complex browser-based applications. Its goal is to enable productive development of high-performance web applications without the developer having to be an expert in browser quirks, XMLHttpRequest, and JavaScript. GWT is used by many products at Google, including Google Wave and the new version of AdWords. It's open source, completely free, and used by thousands of developers around the world.

Basically, gwt allows you to develop your web page in java like any other java project with a little bit of extra configuration.

[Omega]

I still wouldn't recommend Java for much on the web. While it might be good for a game, like Runescape, it's not very useful for much else at all. Video is best done in Flash, and most other things can be done in either Flash or Javascript, or perhaps are better off not doing at all. Plus, once you get really familiar with HTML, you'll appreciate the beauty and simplicity of it, and the superiority over Java in the web market.

[Conzar]

GWT allows Java devs to write code in java; however, the code is then automatically converted to html, css, and javascript.  The point of gwt is to allow java programmers to not have to learn more programming languages and to allow for cross-browser compatibility (its a nightmare to maintain js for mozilla, ie, chrome, etc). 

[Cygal]

GWT allows Java devs to write code in java; however, the code is then automatically converted to html, css, and javascript.  The point of gwt is to allow java programmers to not have to learn more programming languages and to allow for cross-browser compatibility (its a nightmare to maintain js for mozilla, ie, chrome, etc). 

GWT is just a framework, while it is a bit more high level that a lot of Java EE frameworks, you still need to know HTML if you want to use it.

[will]

You've narrowed it down by technology - "I want to learn web programming"

You could instead narrow it down by objective - "I want to make a scenario for xyz abc in Glest MG/GAE"

By focusing on the objective, and then identifying the tools you need to familiarise yourself with to get there, you are more likely to succeed, and enjoy doing so!

My advice is master Lua by way of making scenarios

[Gabbe]

I just want to create a home page with info and such stuff that interests me.

[Conzar]

Then I suggest a wysiwyg(what you see is what you get) like google sites