F34rTheV3n0m Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 So, who can explain the purpose of XML and MySQL and can I make a website using only Javascript with little HTML? Anyone know a good Adobe Dreamweaver Tutorial/Reference? Anyone know a good CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) Tutorial/Reference? Little off topic: What is the purpose of Python (programming language)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCrzy Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 w3schools.com. Use this, the tutorials are excellent and will provide you with a great lesson in anything from html to javascript to php/mysql and more. In short, XML is a way to store data without using databases, MySQL is a way to store data using databases and PHP, and the minimum you need to make a website is html. CSS styles for html, javascript provides functionality, php/mysql provide data storage/retrieval. I used to use Dreamweaver but I never quite used it the way it was meant. I personally don't like it since it is a lot of bells and whistles for something that doesn't require much. I'd suggest downloading a good text editing program that allows for highlighted markup. That being said, Dreamweaver does have a very useful highlighting and tagging system that helps out with hand coding, I'd suggest only using the "code" tab of dreamweaver and hand code everything. Use an ftp (you can use dreamweaver for this too) with your host and check your work according to what shows up in your browser rather than what dreamweaver provides as a preview (the preview system is generally poor). Python is a programming language in the sense that Java is a programming language. It isn't really meant for web programming but more for software programming. Sorry if this had a very periodic tone, super tired, feel free to ask for more help! I am a self-taught web developer myself and used w3schools along with playing around on my own to learn a lot of what I know. I am pretty well-versed in html, css, javascript, php, mysql, and sql. Here are some examples of sites I have developed/designed if you're interested (for proof I guess): http://hartjournalism.com (WIP), http://troxellophilus.com (needs to be updated), http://xizn.net (mostly a test site, constantly changing). I also used to run a mybb based gaming community. Btw, I'm personally a fan of minimalist design so you won't see too much frontend stuff on anything I build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 As Gocrzy said, w3schools.com. If you want to learn bare coding, you shouldn't use dreamweaver. If you are interested at looking at some videos http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston has made an awesome xHTML/CSS series. He is brilliant. He also uses the text editor i use, so it was easy to follow along. (The text editor being notepad++) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F34rTheV3n0m Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 w3schools.com. Use this, the tutorials are excellent and will provide you with a great lesson in anything from html to javascript to php/mysql and more. In short, XML is a way to store data without using databases, MySQL is a way to store data using databases and PHP, and the minimum you need to make a website is html. CSS styles for html, javascript provides functionality, php/mysql provide data storage/retrieval. I used to use Dreamweaver but I never quite used it the way it was meant. I personally don't like it since it is a lot of bells and whistles for something that doesn't require much. I'd suggest downloading a good text editing program that allows for highlighted markup. That being said, Dreamweaver does have a very useful highlighting and tagging system that helps out with hand coding, I'd suggest only using the "code" tab of dreamweaver and hand code everything. Use an ftp (you can use dreamweaver for this too) with your host and check your work according to what shows up in your browser rather than what dreamweaver provides as a preview (the preview system is generally poor). Python is a programming language in the sense that Java is a programming language. It isn't really meant for web programming but more for software programming. Sorry if this had a very periodic tone, super tired, feel free to ask for more help! I am a self-taught web developer myself and used w3schools along with playing around on my own to learn a lot of what I know. I am pretty well-versed in html, css, javascript, php, mysql, and sql. Here are some examples of sites I have developed/designed if you're interested (for proof I guess): http://hartjournalism.com (WIP), http://troxellophilus.com (needs to be updated), http://xizn.net (mostly a test site, constantly changing). I also used to run a mybb based gaming community. Btw, I'm personally a fan of minimalist design so you won't see too much frontend stuff on anything I build. I have used w3schools in the past I personally hate it. I don't see how people call it a tutorial website or anything. It doesn't teach you what you are doing it just shows you how to do it. As for your explanation of XML, MySQL, and Python, I have read those exact definitions and I was hoping someone could go more in depth with it. Such as, real life examples of XML and MySQL and what kind of programs are created from Python, real life examples, etc etc. When I took a web design class in high school, we used Microsoft front page. They were too cheap for Dreamweaver. In front page, I liked the fact of inserting tables, input components, and other useful time saving commands. I am going to be getting a free copy of DreamWeaver and from what I have read, it is similar to front page except better. More features to implement into my web page. I have a basic understanding of HTML and pretty fluent in Java, I'm looking to learn Javascript, which is basically like regular Java from what I've seen, and extend my knowledge of HTML and later PHP. I'm probably gonna go to Barnes and Noble to buy some books, but any additional sources (other than w3schools) would be awesome. I'm not making my career web designing, but my career is going to be programming and being able to make excellent websites is just a plus. My ultimate goal is to learn all programming languages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma# Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 http://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/ Something to halp with Javascript http://www.dannyg.com/ref/javavsjavascript.html <-- understanding the nature Javascript and java ------------------------------------------------ In regards to your original question, mySQL is used as a connection point for database information. You can use mySQL to draw information and display it when it is updated. For instance, HG's forums uses a similar system to mySQL + php, both of them are written together to interact and display dynamic data. If you change your password on this website, it writes a change into a database entry so next time you attempt to authenticate, it will ask for the new password instead old one. This is a whole lot simpler when it comes to managing content that is changing (like this thread). For XML, i'm not 100% sure. My understanding is that it's just another way to code a webpage (with probably a lot of advantages). However I read that it requires translation (using XLST) in order for most modern browsers to understand the code. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLST#Example_2_.28transforming_XML_to_XHTML.29) --------------------------------------------------- Second question: it is possible to write your website in mostly javascript/html however depending on who you ask, you may want to work with a Server-side technology if you're looking to serve dynamic content. I don't personally code for the web myself but I think Monkey would know what would be the best --------------------------------------------------- Third: Tommo is making sense here, you might want to skip any WYSIWYGs if you want to write in raw code (raw being manually written). ------------------------------------------------- Fourth: here are a couple of resources I've worked with Killer sites before (as my brother bought a book and I took it upon myself to read it) http://www.richdavies.com/cascading-style-sheets-css.htm http://www.killersites.com/Tutorials/CSS_tutorial/index.php http://www.w3c.rl.ac.uk/primers/css/css.htm Depending on your reading/learning style, you might find some more interesting xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCrzy Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 XML is used extensively with RSS feeds and blogs that use RSS. An RSS feed can parse an XML page with all of the information and allow a user to retrieve that information at any time while allowing it to be constantly updated. This allows you to have an XML page that you can update without having to update the webpage itself if you have a feed. Idk if that helps, I'm not the best at describing how RSS/XML works. Typically you won't be using XML unless you absolutely need a feed of some sort. And as far as Dreamweaver is that by using a program that inserts code for you then you don't learn coding at all, you just let the program do it for you. Typically programs like that (and especially Dreamweaver from what I have used) clutter code and include far more than is usually needed. The code can become very disorganized and will typically break since the program is simply generating code rather than the programming designing/developing. I'd highly suggest learning how to hand-code using a text editor such as notepad++ as was mentioned earlier, it will pay off immensely later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F34rTheV3n0m Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 Thank you enigma for the references and descriptions of MySQL and thank you GoCrzy for the information you have given about XML. Dreamweaver: I read/heard about "sprying" in dreamweaver, which allows you to add "wdigets" or sections of code to create objects and stuff. In other words, hand-code inside dreamweaver? Correct me if I am wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCrzy Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 You can hand code in dreamweaver and it does work nicely since it will auto-close tags for you and provide a list of known tags for you to choose from if you are unsure of what to use. The highlighting system is also nice as well as the ability to ftp directly from dreamweaver, although this isn't sprying. Spry in dreamweaver is a system designed to create nice navigation without having to know complex ajax. Here is a link with information http://layersmagazine.com/spry-navigation-dreamweaver.html . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F34rTheV3n0m Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks for all the information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoCrzy Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 No problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.