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marcvi
07-27-2002, 08:47 PM
Hey there,
I want to first become a very up to date web devolper, that soon incorporates databases in my websign and eventually devolpe the full front and back end of databases mixed within the web. I probably explained this really badly but if I wanted to learn HTML, DHTML, XHTML, CSS, Perl, JavaScript, Java, ASP, XML, C++, SQL.

I'm currently know C++, HTML, CSS and starting on JavaScript but I'm wondering if any of these languages build off another such as Java does on C++ or just a good order to take period. Tell me what your path was or would take. Thank you.

Marc Kellison
DocEvi1
07-28-2002, 07:40 AM
to be fair,
HTML is the most important to learn to start with as this binds everything together.
DHTML is very similar to HTML from what I have seen, not hard to use at all.
javascript works well within HTML and is relatively easy to work with, similar to PHP is format although not function usage.
Perl is now out of date and I wouldn't really take the time to learn it.
ASP is very similar to VB, easy, logical and quite quick to learn and use.
You missed out PHP (www.php.net)
qball
07-30-2002, 03:54 PM
if any of these languages build off another such as Java does on C++


This is a very bad misconception. Though syntactically similar, they are two different languages. Some C++ developers in the java class I took, thought this and got killed. But I diverge...

Now, does your C++ include any DB access? Because if you know HTML, then all you need is how to connect and interact with a DB from the server side. Which means you'll need:

client/browser
web server (Apache, IIS...)
App server (ASP, PHP...)
DBMS server (Oracle$$$, SQLServer$$$, mySQL, Access$(yuck)...)

DocEvi1 gave a great link:

www.php.net

I'll add:

http://www.mysql.com
http://httpd.apache.org/
AltatemTC
07-30-2002, 06:23 PM
If you already know HTML C++, CSS and are working on JavaScript, then I think the next logical step is either ASP or XML and then SQL.

ASP as DocEvi1 stated uses VB syntax, actually a slimmed down version called VBScript. ASP has other components that are not a part of VB or VBScript although they have interfaces for VB and VBScript such as Server, Response, Session, etc. To make a long story short, ASP would be my next choice.

Now things get kind of entangled. Most ASP applications utilize databases in some fashion which means you need ADO (ActiveX Data Objects), this is what you use to make calls to your SQL server where you need SQL.

Wanna get entangled even more. XML allows you to represent those database "objects" in a format that is used for data interchange. XML in its simplest form, is really HTML. By that I mean it has a start tag <head> and an end tag </head> except it will have variable names <firstname>marcvi</firstname>. By the way you can use this to pass back SQL data from an ASP application.

Let me take you to the pinnacle of entanglement. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). This is used to exchange data between different entities. This exchange may be from one tier of your N-tier application or maybe another company or website. SOAP is a package utilizing XML and may be used by your ASP application to request or pass data from your SQL server.

I didn't realize how entangled it really was until I wrote this. Seriously, the choice is really yours because these technologies are so intertwined that it is difficult sometimes to tell where one starts and another ends.

My recommended order:
ASP - gets you to dynamic content
ADO - gets you access to the SQL server
SQL - gets you data for your dynamic content
XML - realize you need a better way to represent data than <td>, <tr>, etc.
SOAP - cool wrapper to pass data and make remote procedure calls among other things

I am not really trying to confuse you but wanted to explain why it is difficult to give a straight path to your goal. Also, I wanted to provide an explanation for my recommended order.