What skills do I need to become a web developer/ web designer?

Question

I know HTML, but what other languages and software do I need to know?

Answer 1

ColdFusion, PHP, Java, Javascript (please note that Java and Javascript are two entirely different things), JSP, ASP, and ASP .NET if you want to be a web developer. If you want to do web design too, you may want to learn Flash and Photoshop. For web development software, Dreamweaver and Eclipse are some good tools to know.

Answer 2

I am a professional Web Developer and Designer. I feel that it greatly depends on what company you are designing for. I am designing most commercial websites with ASP.NET, CSS and SQL (my specialty is MSSQL). I also use Dreamweaver, Visual Studio and Photoshop.

Answer 3

XML, and probably Java Script or ASP or PHP. For designing, you might learn Macromedia/Flash.

Answer 4

★★ Learn HTML/XHTML/CSS ★★

◙ Here are examples that you can experiment right on the web site. Even though you can experiment here you cannot save the results to your computer unless you copy and paste the code into windows notepad and save it that way.

◙ HTML Examples
☞ http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_examples.asp

◙ Cascading Style Sheets Examples
☞ http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_examples.asp

◙ These pages will help you understand what HTML tags(commands) and their attributes you can use in your pages.
☞ http://www.w3schools.com/tags/default.asp

◙ These pages will help you understand what Cascading Style Sheets Rules and their attributes you can use in your pages.
☞ http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_reference.asp

◙ Don't be surprised if you don't learn HTML/CSS very fast. Most of us took years to learn to use it proficiently. Even now after 10 years I still don't know it all since it keeps changing all the time.

◙ After you have experimented some on that site then do the following.

==============================================

◙ Learn HTML/XHTML & CSS - Learn to write your own pages by hand it's easy.

◙ FREE! HTML/XHTML/CSS Editor:
☞ http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

◙ FREE! Online Courses:
A) Webonkey HTML Tutorial http://www.webmonkey.com/
B) W3schools http://www.w3schools.com/
C) Watch it done in a flash movie http://visualtutorials.com/
D) Free Web Site Courses http://certification.about.com/cs/testingresources/a/tutorials.htm

◙ Reference:
A) The best HTML/XHTML reference http://www.w3schools.com/tags/
B) The best Style Sheet Reference http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_reference.asp
C) HTML Dom http://www.w3schools.com/htmldom/dom_reference.asp'

◙ Links:
A) HTML Links http://www.websitetips.com/html/
B) Style Sheet Links http://www.websitetips.com/css/

◙ ALWAYS CHECK THE REFERENCE PAGES TO MAKE CERTAIN YOU ARE WRITING YOUR SOURCE CODE THE CORRECT WAY! JUST BECAUSE YOU SAW SOME SOURCE CODE WRITTEN A PARTICULAR WAY IN SOMEONE ELSE'S PAGE DOESN'T MEAN THEY WROTE IT CORRECTLY. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT YOU'LL FIND THAT THEY DIDN'T WRITE IT CORRECTLY. BUT LOOKING AT OTHER PEOPLE'S SOURCE CODE IS STILL A GOOD WAY TO LEARN. IF SOURCE CODE ISN'T WRITTEN THE CORRECT WAY IT CAN CAUSE OBJECTS TO BE DISPLAYED IN PLACES YOU DON"T WANT THEM IN OR EVEN CRASH SOMEONE'S BROWSER. NETSCAPOE 4.X USERS ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE TO CRASHING. MOST OF THE TIME BROWSERS A VERY FORGIVING WHEN IT COMES TO BAD SOURCE CODE. BUT WHY TAKE CHANCES. THE MORE CORRECTLY YOU WRITE YOUR PAGES THE MOER BROWSERS THEY WILL WORK WITH.

◙ Paid Online Courses:
☞ http://www.hwg.org/

◙ FREE! HTML/XHTML Editor:
☞ http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

◙ FREE! FTP Clients (applications):
☞ http://www.trustmeher.net/freeware/cute.htm



◙ You'll find hundreds of free online web tools here http://dwight.clickthesky.com/webtools/ Use them to generate HTML/CSS/JavaScript source code for you then simply paste it into your pages. There are also Banner makers, site maintenance utilities and many many more.

◙ NOTE: Free web-based FTP for people that aren't using their own computer or don't want to install a ftp client on their computer. I use this wonderful utility nearly everyday. You can do everything with this client that you can do with an installed one. There are two modes, secure server and non-secure server. I prefer the secure server. This is a Java Applet so you'll need Java installed on your computer to use it. Most PCs come with it pre-installed.

☞ Unlimited FTP https://www.unlimitedftp.ca/myftp/

◙ When FTPing files from your computer to your online account send text files, HTML/XHTML files, CSS files in the ascii mode. Send image files, movie files, music files in the binary mode. There is an automatic mode that is supposed to detect the type of file you are sending. But it isn't always reliable.

*** HERE IS HOW I LEARNED HTML/XHTML/CSS ***

◙ When you come to a page on the web click "VIEW" at the top of your browser and click on "SOURCE". If you are using Internet Explorer browser the HTML source code will open up in Windows Notepad. In Notepad click on "FILE/SAVE AS" to save the page's source code to your hard drive. In Internet Explorer click on "FILE/OPEN" to open the source code in the browser. Go back to notepad and remove some of the code and click "SAVE". Then in Internet Explorer hold down the "SHIFT" key and click on the "REFRESH" button on the browser's toolbar to see what effect the removed source code had on the page. You will learn a hundred times faster this way.

◙ Something to think about later is.......After you have gotten a little experience with HTML try DOCTYPE, XHTML, and CSS. Then try to validate your pages. Validating checks your source code for coding errors. validating will not work unless you are using the correct doctype and the correct document encoding. Validating is not something a newcomer should bother with. Being new you will make lots of mistakes and won't know how to fix them yet. http://validator.w3.org/

◙ Many libraries world-wide have books related to the Internet, Web and computers in general. They also have CDs and DVDs. Go to your local public library and get the username and password for http://www.firstsearch.org/ You have to get them at your library because that is where you will pick up and return the books after reading them. You can look up the book yourself but they will have to order it for you. Sometimes this can take awhile if the book is checked out by someone else. After reading the books and making copies of certain pages with a photo copier simply return it to them.

◙ By using Firstsearch you can search for any book in the world. Some libraries might charge a small fee but most are free. Even if they charge a fee it will be less than the cost of the book or other item you are ordering. Every Web Design book I have read was acquired in this fashion. :)