Hi everyone

 

Sorry if this has cropped up a million times since you all been on here but I was wondering with all your experience which software to learn first out of XML, PHP, JavaScript, as I wouldn't want to jump into something over my head without getting good grounds of something that I should know first especially if there is similarities between some software’s with their coding etc.

 

From what I have looked at am I correct in thinking the basic of software to the more complex goes from

• 
   
  
• XML
  
• JavaScript
  
• PHP
  

 

I take it that learning PHP is the most valued aspect within companies as that’s all I mainly see for job advertisement requirements would this be true?

 

Thank you for your time in reading this and to answer my silly questions.

Personally I would advise learning in the reverse of the order you listed them above, since as you rightly pointed out PHP is the most valued skill of the three to learn. XML isn't exactly a programming language either, it's just a storage method for content encapsulated in tags

Thank you for your quick reply jay much appreciated

 

I tried learning a bit of everything when I started out and it fried my mind not surprisingly so I backed off on those things until I completed my website because back then I bought some dvd's that taught you coldfusion, javascript, actionscript etc and now I want to concentrate on one thing and fully understand it well.

 

Not looking forward to learning PHP but seems like the road to go down and learn so looks like a few more grey hairs on the way hehe

 

Once again cheers for the replyand for the links on your website too for the video tutorials I shall be watching those later.

I would recommend http://www.phpvideotutorials.com for learning php. It's got some great free introductory videos there on how to get started with PHP, with very cheap paid tutorials for beginners to learn how to create database driven websites and so on (a subscription is extremely good value for money and you can download the videos and keep them forever without continuing the subscription)

Well, I'd go for:

 

XML

JavaScript/jQuery

PHP/MySQL

 

XML is a specification/markup language for creating custom markup languages which define complex data structures/formats.

My only question is why that order? It seems javascript is limited on it's functionality on anything but simple pages, and xml is even more limited than that

Just in terms of what is the easiest to learn.

 

With regards to limitations. Each of the above do completely different things and are designed to solve different problems.

 

With regards to JavaScript being limited on it's functionality, I'm afraid I completely disagree. You can achieve some pretty nifty things with JavaScript. Anyway, JavaScript is intended for frontend/UI user interaction while PHP is designed for developing database applications. All of the above technologies can be used in conjunction with each other to produce some pretty cool web applications and interfaces.

 

I understand that it's easier to learn, but XML on it's own is pretty useless unless you have something you can use it with. JavaScript is great for form validations and page transitions, but can't do anything really interactive without a server side language and AJAX. I understand that AJAX can use the XML but it won't be dynamic. PHP just stands out as something you can get and use from the outset, without relying on the other two. Sure it's got a whole bunch to learn to become very proficient in it, but it's something that will be of benefit when it comes to learning JavaScript since the basic principles of the syntax is similar

 

At the end of the day, we each take our own paths to learning these things, I just personally think learning the server side language will be of more use from the outset

Essentially, AJAX is performing dynamic functions. It dynamically pulls data from an XML file on the server using JavaScript interactions and the HTTPXMLRequest.

 

If you learn jQuery, combined with any current XHTML and CSS knowledge you have, you'll be able to create some cool websites. Then you can go on to learn PHP and MySQL, so you can build more dynamic and robust web applications.

I would tend to agree with learning php first.

 

Once you know that in depth and are an efficient programmer of php you can look at other languages. If I had time again I would learn php, javascript, xml. However as you progress your learning of php you will probably come up with projects that cannot be completed by using php alone, once you get to this stage you are starting to think beyone the boundaries of php and it may be a good time to bring Javascript in.

 

XML is as previously mentioned a storage facility more than anything, it doesn't take longer than a couple of days to grasp the basics. However as also previously stated it is much more powerful when you can use php.

I suppose it depends on what you want to do and were you want to progress with things really.

I think it depends what you want to do. As I have just got a job as a front-end developer I won't be doing any (or hardly any) backend work, so I have stopped learning PHP to focus on Javascript. If you want to be a back-end developer you would do the opposite. Haveing basic knowledge of both is an advantage of course

Sorry if this has cropped up a million times

 

You might find it helpful to use the search function to find similair topics - but since we're here:

 

HTML, CSS, PHP* , MySQL** JS - in that order

 

* or ASP

** or MsSQL, PostGres

 

See you in 12 months!

I suppose it depends on what you want to do and were you want to progress with things really.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. I don't know which you are more: a designer or a developer - but I would guess designer. Myself I am all about the developing, and leave design to others, mainly because there is far more money in developing than design if you do it right. That said, you can still make some awesome money from design work if you've got mad skills.

 

I guess I see javascript as "Icing on the cake" material rather than the cake itself, and ajax/xml just being a by-product of javascript