Besides HTML, CSS and some Javascript.. what other languages would comprise a solid, basic toolset? What's the most employable and what's the most popular (in your opinion)? ASP, MySQL, Coldfusion??
In other words, which languages would be the meat and potatoes of development?
Web development toolset? What is a good, complete set to know?
HTML is the most universal language for a development toolset. Unfortunately, CSS comes in many versions and is not always readable on a number of browers. As for ASP, MySQL, they suffer from excessive GUI frames and Coldfusion uses too many libraries to be of any effect over the Internet except for IntraNet use - inhouse configurations.
Reply:PHP would be a good addition to yer set there. Handy "wrench".
Reply:I strongly recommend learning ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails or PHP (personally I like ASP.NET better but all are good). I also recommend learning a more low-level language like c++. It is very important to have a deeper understanding of what is going on "under the hood" - languages and platforms like those mentioned above often hide the "dirty details" in lieu of faster web development. This is helpful, but if you don't know what it's doing for you automatically, it can be dangerous, and you will be helpless when a more complex problem comes along.
You should also learn SQL. Focus on database best practices and the SQL language, rather than a specific implementation of SQL like MySQL or SQL Server. That way, you will have little trouble adapting to any of the major platforms. You can install a free version of SQL Server (just search Google for SQL Server Express) and you can get MySQL and PostgreSQL for free - I recommend playing around with all three, just to get a basic comfort level with them.
Get stronger with JavaScript, and learn to apply real OO principles. I strongly recommend watching Douglas Crockford's video series on JavaScript - very informative of the true power of the language (just search Yahoo! Videos for crockford).
Get familiar with XML. "Learning" XML takes about 5 minutes, but learning how to use it well and recognize situations where XML can be applied practically to solve problems effectively takes more practice. Familiarize yourself with web services as well - the fundamental core of multiplatform interop is web services.
Finally, learn design. A good web developer has a strong grasp of solid UI principles and what makes good design. You don't have to be a designer, and no one expects you to be, but it's important to be able to dialog with designers, and understanding design and UI will lead to a better understanding of your end-users, which will help you create better solutions overall.
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