I have learnt HTML5 and CSS3 and I now want to take things further to higher my chances of getting a job.

 

What would you say is essential to learn out if the below and in your opinion which order would you do them in?

XHTML, PHP, JavaScript, AJAX, Jquery or other? What is best to for what function?

 

Or would you say learn responsive web development next before any of the above? After than then which?

Ajax and jQuery are both JavaScript, the former being a way of dynamically loading content, the latter being a framework to make coding JavaScript faster and easier, jQuery also makes Ajax much easier to code (without cross browser ajax can be a nightmare).

 

If you have learnt html5 in any real depth then you should already know that xhtml is what html was prior to the release of html5 and there is no point in learning something that has been replaced.

 

PHP is a great thing to learn but it does sound like you're headed more down the front end developer route, so while it is useful to know some of the basics I wouldn't go much further if this is your intention. If you do wish to become employed as a developer then absolutely learn php, along with one of the many CMS systems that are built on it like WordPress.

 

If you want to get employed as a front-end dev then learn JavaScript. Once you have a good solid grasp of this then move onto the frameworks, jQuery being the most widely used and you should certainly study that. JavaScript takes a long time to get competent at and an even longer time to get good at it, but being able to build custom plugins rather than relying on pre-existing ones will make you much more employable.

 

Responsive development comes under html5 and css so continue to study those in greater depth also. Being able to code a responsive site now will be required at almost all agencies.

Edited April 14, 201412 yr by rbrtsmith

You say you have learned HTML5 does that include canvas? Cause that's a great tool for creating animations and what not. It's the new flash on steroids.

 

Also, there's never been a better time for frontend developers because there's NodeJS.

 

Instead of learning php, learn NodeJS. You can even start a http server and server html, css files in no time.

 

The beautiful thing is that NodeJS is, more or less, Javascript... on steroids .

If you're asking this question you have not learnt HTML5/CSS. It's more complex than learning a few tags, selectors and properties. Just had to get that in.

 

The fundamentals of js/php are the same, so once you learn one of those it'll help with the other. jQuery is a library for js, like Codeigniter is for php. Ajax is a thing you can do with javascript, like responsive development is a thing you can do with css(see, you no knowy all cssy ).

 

Otherwise, just create something. You'll learn what you need to learn as you go. That will also dictate what route(front/back) you go down(most enjoy) too most likely. Don't just go off and start learning what someone has told you to learn next, it's inefficient. If you want to build a Notepad app, then sure, take suggestions based on functionality you need.

 

As you build something, you'll Google things like "how to make a slider", or "how to do two loops in Wordpress", then you'll develop a better understanding of what you need to learn vs. what you really need to learn. You'll also have things to put in a portfolio, something you'll without a doubt need to land a job in this industry.

 

You'll learn nothing but things you'll forget without practise. So just BuildSomething™.

Edited April 14, 201412 yr by evu

I feel that rbrtsmith has answered this pretty well for you, the only point I would add is learning JavaScript may take some doing but from personal experience I would say to learn that before any other 'object orientated' code or language as the way it uses objects is more advanced than the way most other languages do. Once you have the object stuff learnt in JavaScript then, and only then should you start to look at other languages. Why? I hear you ask. Well basically although most languages have the ability to use objects to some extent, JavaScript being an object orientated language requires you to understand what objects are and how to make the best use of them, whereas other languages like PHP for instance can use objects but are not as object orientated as they proclaim to be and thus learning any other language and then trying to learn JavaScript is getting things backwards and makes JavaScript much harder to learn.

 

Before you get into learning any other languages though I would delve much deeper into HTML5 and CSS3; Experiment with the canvas element using svg images; Study media queries and go responsive; Get yourself proficient with z-index and stack contexts; Make sure you know when and where to use fall backs. That sort of thing will make a huge difference to any project you tackle. Then learn how to use Test Driven Development as you learn your chosen languages, (Which as I said should really be JavaScript first), this will also make your development projects run much smoother.

As an aside, I don't know all that much about the canvas element, as far as i know it's for enhancing JavaScript animation within the element. But It's now considered best practice to use css for animation if at all possible. We know that you are more limited as to what animations you can do with css but the 3d transitions make use of the GPU which means smoother animations.

 

My question is, is the canvas element now becoming somewhat obsolete or does it still have purpose?

 

I might add to the post above concerning Node.js - this is server side javascript so it's not really something that would be of huge benefit to a front end developer. It is a very exciting thing for the back-end devs to be getting stuck into though

Edited April 15, 201412 yr by rbrtsmith

As an aside, I don't know all that much about the canvas element, as far as i know it's for enhancing JavaScript animation within the element. But It's now considered best practice to use css for animation if at all possible. We know that you are more limited as to what animations you can do with css but the 3d transitions make use of the GPU which means smoother animations.

 

My question is, is the canvas element now becoming somewhat obsolete or does it still have purpose?

 

I might add to the post above concerning Node.js - this is server side javascript so it's not really something that would be of huge benefit to a front end developer. It is a very exciting thing for the back-end devs to be getting stuck into though

Yes it uses JavaScript, passing in svg content takes a 'little practice' as does addressing elements of the svg but once you get the hang of it you will find live automated or animated reactions quite easy.

 

Here is a good place to start with the basics on MDN, from working through that just a couple of times I have been able to do some basic manipulations so for a pro it should be relatively easy to advance this to some really nice content.

 

Here is a thread in David Walsh's blog, (Moo tools core dev), where he shows a few examples he's found out there.

Upon reading a few articles (including what Weedy put up) the canvas element seems pretty similar to the svg element, it appears as though the svg is better for more static images that can have basic css manipulation as it requires no js and is seo friendly.

The canvas being for more complex things such as animation and so on. I'll have to have a play with them but as it stands I see it unlikely I use them too much until IE8 support is dropped.

Edited April 16, 201412 yr by rbrtsmith

Upon reading a few articles (including what Weedy put up) the canvas element seems pretty similar to the svg element, it appears as though the svg is better for more static images that can have basic css manipulation as it requires no js and is seo friendly.

The canvas being for more complex things such as animation and so on. I'll have to have a play with them but as it stands I see it unlikely I use them too much until IE8 support is dropped.

 

It was a moment of boredom that led me to discover canvas when I found this site - http://www.canvasdemos.com/type/games/

I did notice yesterday you can render basic 3d games in the canvas. And it seems with webGL you can create some really quite powerful games.

 

But with all that said I don't see learning the canvas tag as something hugely important for creating websites for clients, still one of those nice to know things that could become useful once in a while.