Web programming languages

[Guest maantecaaa!!!]

So I made up my mind to go to NYU in the fall and want to get a headstart on the stuff i'll be learning. The program is here: Interactive Telecommunications graduate program @ NYU

 

I'm interested in web programming languages for some applications and am wondering where to start. I took a C++ class way back in the day so i'm not too intimidated about learning new languages. My interest with this is web applications, especially the ones that help the user interact with the real world, ie web databases that connect to gps units for example.

 

In what order should I learn the following languages and how much focus should I put on each one?:

Javascript(and Actionscript 2 & 3)

Python

Perl

Ruby

PHP

ASP

Java.

Any other ones you can think of...

 

If you can suggest a good website for these topics, that would be great too. Thanks homeboys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sneaksta303]

NYU? damn boy, u rich?

 

sorry i can't help. i am wondering the same shit... i'm looking at Missouri tech though myself...

[Guest joshier]

I see everything going towards a slick, real-time updating web.

 

Just a random example www.slashdot.org, if you go there - scroll to the bottom and more articles load up! Genius. They weren't the first ones, but it's a great idea and if you imagine that the internet is going this way then research into what technologies (or coding base) is enabling this. From what I know it's javascript/ajax (ajax being a javascript platform thing).

 

Some people hate javascript and I have read some expert coders opinions on this and they say it's good for certain things (mainly web stuff and not so much for program apps) but overall it's still being used day to day.

 

Personally, I would suggest for your needs (web stuff) Javascript, PHP, XHTML.

 

You'll notice that by learning proprietary code like ASP, they require the windows web servers which inturn cost a lot more to run (e.g. buying one for yourself or renting one from a standard hosting provider).

[Guest maantecaaa!!!]

NYU? damn boy, u rich?

 

sorry i can't help. i am wondering the same shit... i'm looking at Missouri tech though myself...

 

LOL, not rich, I have some decent savings and i'm gonna take out a hellacious(90k+... :sick: ) loan. From what i've seen at my job, interactive designers are still doing great, employment-wise (and pay-wise), so it doesn't seem *super* risky. And i'm not big on a big money lifestyle so I think i'll be able to pay everything after (at least) several years. But for the money i'll be paying i'll be getting access to: all of the program's alumni, the network of students I'll be in class with, corporate sponsors, companies that like to get students from the program, etc. It seems like it would be hard to be out of work ever with that kind of personal network. After working in the corporate world for several years i've learned that your personal network is much more important than your raw skills (though skills are important obviously). So the cost is worth it to me.

 

If you're looking into a similar program, I recently found that Ohio State has something pretty similar but I think their students get a free ride in the program if they work as research assistants and such.

 

 

 

 

[Ego]

Javascript(and Actionscript 2 & 3)

Python

Perl

Ruby

PHP

ASP

Java.

 

That's a diverse list. :)

 

First off, there's a big difference in server-side code and client-side code.

 

On the server side, I'm a PHP user. I've churned out full OO sites in PHP 5 but I'd have to admit, it's not a nice language. It's very inconsistent and everyone is using it differently. It is very web-oriented though. Perl is hard to learn to be honest because it's weirdish as well. Wanted to try Ruby for ages, looks sweet. Python is very, very easy and clean but it's not that common on most hosts. Wouldn't go for ASP, just because it's Microsoft.

 

On the client side, there's Javascript and Actionscript 3. Actionscript 3 is probably one of my favourite languages right now. I hate the Flash virtual machine and the authoring tools, but I love Actionscript 3. Great fun to work in.

And Javascript, well. I don't really know core javascript stuff but libraries like jquery let you do complex stuff with a few lines of nice code. So yeah, learn how to work with a good library.

 

I'd rather write a web application in Actionscript 3 with a PHP back-end and AMFPHP then using javascript and tons of pages to offer real-time interaction. But it all comes down to what kind of an app you want to develop off course.

 

If you specify a bit about what you want to learn, I can probably link you to some good information and books.

[sneaksta303]

If you're looking into a similar program, I recently found that Ohio State has something pretty similar but I think their students get a free ride in the program if they work as research assistants and such.

 

innnnnteresting....

[Earth]

If you plan on doing any semi-serious internet stuff as a career -- you definitely want to be able to build every facet of a site from start to finish. Distinguishing design versus development is very important. Personally I'm great at coding a website, but I'm weak in design. Before I got into web stuff I had a solid background in applications programming (c++, etc, like you mentioned), but my artsy skills are poor. I tend to lean to web applications involving user input & databases. You should pick a route to go based on your own innate skills, although being good at both is not difficult as there is a lot of overlap.

 

If you want to work in a corporate sort of setting, web .net apps is the way to go. This allows you to combine ASP on a webpage with a traditional applications language like c# or vb to run things in the background. Awesome stuff if you want to create applications that run in a web setting (content management systems come to mind).

 

Things to learn if you want to create web applications:

 

1) asp

2) javascript

3) php

4) c#

5) vb

6) ajax

7) sql/oracle

8) standard all around web stuff; html, css, xml/xslt

 

If you want to be more freelance and run your own show, you can definitely still make decent dough doing traditional web design (don't let people tell you otherwise). I've set up sites for a few small businesses and people are still willing to pay a lot of money for a nice, functional website -- especially now that everyone and their uncle wants to sell things online.

 

1) flash

2) javascript

3) css

4) photoshop/whatever

5) php

6) xml

 

 

As for your list;

Python -- too niche to focus on early on

Perl -- outdated and niche

Ruby -- cant really comment on this one, although its an up and comer!

PHP -- bread and butter right here, get on this!

ASP -- fairly important stuff

Java -- not so big in terms of web stuff, but definitely useful

 

 

I hope this helps in some way / makes sense. There's a ton of great resources online to help you. If you start taking classes and get serious than read "saving the pixel". Fantastic book. Don't be intimidated/overwhelmed early on. There's some much overlap in everything, combined with a huge knowledge base online you can basically learn anything once you have a good grasp of the fundamentals.

[Guest inteeliguntdesign]

forget java imo. i've seen a few banking jobs which require it. but for anything else it's not used that much, from what i can tell. asp(x) only if you intend to use ms technology, which as a web dev you won't be quite a lot of the time. some companies deal exclusively in ms tech though.

 

don't bother with perl - old and rarely used in web dev these days. ruby only if you're going to use ruby on the rails, which is quite popular these days. i don't see why you'd learn python for web dev, although it is a great language.

 

php is standard and essential, as is javascript. actionscript is a slightly altered javascript with a bigger, and more confusing, library. only learnt actionscript (and flex) if you intend to use flash in your websites.

[kaen]

90k WHAT THE FUCK

[Guest Benedict Cumberbatch]

yeah for me its ASP.NET, PHP and Javascript.

 

Javascript is fun. its like a childs language but it can be pretty powerful.

ASP.net is what i'm using mostly recently and its powerful but not much fun.

 

my problem is that i learn bits of everything and master nothing. which i think is useful whilst job hunting but you gotta focus at some point. some days i have no idea what syntax i'm trying to write in.

 

at uni they taught us JSP for 3 years. i haven't use it since so what they want you to learn isnt always right

[pera]

nowadays you also need to learn some framework, because you need develop a lot of things really fast (read about RAD in wikipedia):

Python + Django (google loves python, its "the future")

Ruby + ROR (ruby on rails is The framework)

PHP + CakePHP or Symphony or Zend or CodeIgniter lol

 

plus xhtml,css,xml,xsl (what Earth said)

plus Javascript + jQuery

..learn about Ajax

 

(and erase asp.. =P)

[pera]

forget java imo. i've seen a few banking jobs which require it. but for anything else it's not used that much, from what i can tell.

 

sorry but, actually that is not true: Java is the most popular language (http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/pap...tpci/index.html)... but don't ask me why :undecided:

[Guest Great Maker ShaiHulud]

Just learn to program and get familiar with scripting.

 

Learning languages after that is a minor thing.