Re: Tools and Techniques

[Ken Keefe <kaje@digitalfamily.org>]

I have recently done this. Not to say that I am a know-it-all by any
means, but I think I have been where you want to go. Here is what I did
to get my feet drenched in web development...

Start with a good introduction to HTML / CSS. I highly recommend
Elizabeth Castro's XHTML book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0321130073/elizabethcastroA/ref
%3Dnosim/103-4664950-9147828

Next, I got really well introduced to Apache. This part is optional if
you have your own IT staff to manage your server (ie you have a third
party web host). For that, I read this SAMS book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0672323559/qid=1102719012/sr=2-2/103-4664950-9147828?v=glance&s=books

It is a useful reference and there is a lot of stuff you can skip, so
don't let the page count vex you.

To start doing the actual server side dynamic content, I learned PHP. I
read another SAMS book that was an Apache, PHP, and MySQL all in one. It
was very easy to read and taught you all the basics you need to know,
including interfacing with a MySQL server. Here it is: 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067232489X/qid=1102719012/sr=2-1/103-4664950-9147828?v=glance&s=books

Finally, I am currently working my way through an in-depth PHP book. It
has been good so far, but I haven't done too much with it as finals are
looming... It is going to be my project over the break though. Here it
is: 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130463469/qid=1102719242/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-4664950-9147828


Something that you want to be very clear that you understand is the
difference between client-side dynamic content (DHTML, Javascript) and
server-side dynamic content (PHP, Perl, Python, ASP, JSP, the list goes
on...). I really like PHP a lot. The only other server side language
that I have messed with on that little list is JSP. JSP is a good
language, but all the crap you have to do (getting Java application
server working) to use it makes it really suck badly. I like that all
you have to do for PHP is include the Apache module. I'd be happy to
talk more about my opinions on PHP vs. JSP, but my email looks really
freaking long and I don't want waste other people's eyeball energy.

I will eventually learn Javascript (by the way, Javascript is NOT JSP).
But, it is not a first priority for me now. Javascript is pretty much
the standard, I would say, and is implemented pretty well in the half
dozen browsers I have played with. The thing to know about all client
side scripting is that since it runs on the client, it can't be trusted
for security or validation. For example, you shouldn't use only
Javascript to check that a user is putting a 5 digit number into a
field. Again, I don't want to ramble, so I'd be happy to talk more if
you'd like.

Man this was a long email. Sorry everyone. It is not too often that a
question gets asked on this list that I can help with...

Ken

On Fri, 2004-12-10 at 13:39 -0600, Tim McDonough wrote:
> I'm looking for recommendations, tutorials, and tools/languages to use 
> for developing applications that are web based -- the user need only 
> have a browser and permissions to use the application.
> 
> Ideally I'd like to be able to have on screen forms with text boxes, 
> check boxes, and radio button type elements. Drop down lists would be 
> nice but not absolutely necessary. Any libraries or frameworks based 
> on Perl, PHP, Python, HTML, etc. available that you can recommend?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tim
> 
> 
> 
> 
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