Programming and Web Development FAQ, v0.1

Contents:
1 Introduction
2 General Info
3 Tutorials and General Reference
4 Free Scripts
5 Official Documentation
6 Tools and Utilities
7 Misc Reference

1 Introduction

1.1 Identification
This is version 0.1 of the Programming and Web Development FAQ, dated 2005 Feb 18. See Appendix A for modification history.

1.2 Purpose
The following is an attempt to provide some basic guidance for the topics typically covered in the Programming and Web Development forum. While those who frequent this forum are always eager to help, sometimes they're busy and can't respond as quickly as you'd like. Also, often times your question can be answered with a quick internet search or search of this very forum. Anyway, please read through this quickly before you post --- maybe your question is answered here already.

1.3 Modifying This Document
1.3.1 General Instructions
Proposed modifications should be e-mailed or private-messaged (PM'd) to one of the "FAQ Managers" noted below. This will prevent everyone from adding a link and reposting, resulting in a million versions of the FAQ.

The FAQ Manager, in turn, has the responsibility of updating the document. This involves adding/correcting material, updating the revision history in Appendix A, reposting, and notifying a Moderator that the new version should be stickied.

At least, that's the plan. We'll see how it goes...

1.3.2 FAQ Managers
FAQ Managers must be current Forum members. At this particular version of the FAQ, the FAQ Managers are:
2 General Info
2.1 Search First!
Google is your best friend. More often than not a quick internet search regarding your question will turn up some useful info.

Also, searching Sysopt.com for your question is a good idea.

2.2 Posting Code
If you have a specific question regarding a snippet of code your wrote or found, please post the code along with your question. If you have a lengthy snippet of code, feel free to attach it as a text file. Otherwise include it in the post and use the PHP or Code vB tags to preserve code formatting. If your compiler generated an error, or you're asking about a run-time error, please provide the error code and description if possible.

3 Tutorials and General Reference

3.1 Programming

3.1.1 ASP
ASP Tutorials (Google Listing)
DevGuru

3.1.2 JavaScript
JavaScript Tutorials (Google Listing)
WebMonkey
DevGuru

3.1.3 Perl
Perl Tutorials (Google Listing)
WebMonkey

3.1.4 PHP
PHP Tutorials (Google Listing)
Official Tutorial (php.net)
W3Schools
WebMonkey

3.1.5 Java
Java Tutorials (Google Listing)
Official Tutorial
Official UI Swing Tutorial

3.1.6 VBScript
VBScript Tutorials (Google Listing)
DevGuru

3.2 Applications

3.2.1 Apache HTTP Server
Aapache Tutorials (Google Listing)

3.2.2 MySQL
MySQL Tutorials (Google Listing)
Official Tutorial (MySQL.com)

3.3 Web Standards

3.3.1 CSS
CSS Tutorials (Google Listing)
WebMonkey
DevGuru

3.3.2 HTML
HTML Tutorials (Google Listing)
WebMonkey
DevGuru

3.4 Misc Stuff

3.4.1 Regular Expressions
Regular Expression Tutorials (Google Listing)
Learning to use Regular Expressions
RegEx Tutorial, Examples, and Reference

4 Free Scripts

4.1 PHP
Free PHP Scripts (Google Listing)
Hotscripts

4.2 Perl
Free Perl Scripts (Google Listing)
Hotscripts

5 Official Documentation
For those who aren't afraid to crack open a manual, many programming languages make their documentation available online. This documentation usually provides details of built-in functions, and some provide examples and comments from other users.

Apache HTTP Server
Microsoft Developer Network (ASP, VB, etc.)
MySQL
PHP
Perl
CSS (W3C)
HTML (W3C)

6 Tools and Utilities

6.1 Editors and IDEs
TextPad - free text editor with syntax highlighting and many other features.
UltraEdit - not-free text editor with similar features to TextPad.
Eclipse IDE - free, great IDE for Java.
HTML-Kit - wicked tool for coding HTML with PHP, ASP, etc. Free.
NoteTab Light - free Notepad replacement and a capable HTML editor.

6.2 Code Validation
W3C Markup Validator - check your HTML/XHTML against the w3C standard.
W3C CSS Validator - check your CSS against the W3c standard.

7 Misc Reference
The ASCII Table - all your ASCII conversion needs!
HTML Colors (W3Schools) - RGB codes for standard colors.

Appendix A: Modification History

2005 Feb 18
by CompGeek01, ScaryBinary
Created. As this is the initial release, we expect a few comments and suggestions to quickly surface...