Expanding Knowledge

I currently do software design and was thinking of expanding my knowledge into web design and coding what should i learn first i know basic html:

tables
formatting
images
links

i was thinking xhtml, xml, and php

I think you should learn (x)html and CSS first. Creating a tableless site seems to be (if not, is) the new standard of doing things, they are like a web-developers must have. Don't know about what you should learn after that, never had much experience with xml.

...

xhtml is only requires a tiny amount of learning if you already know html. There are only a couple of differences between the two languages.

CSS is also the next "must learn" language for you. Forget the tables and go for tableless css/xhtml

thanks in terms of coding what should i learn php or asp

PHP is more widely used but ASP.NET seems like the pro thing. I would say go with php because there are more resources avaliable to you on the web.

PHP is more widely used but ASP.NET seems like the pro thing. I would say go with php because there are more resources avaliable to you on the web.

Not sure that is true, ASP.NET is much more in demand than PHP in terms of what companies are looking for, Java is also very popular. PHP seems to be the language that kids use and then they try and apply for a job and realise they should have spent their summer holiday learning c++ or java.

Originally Posted by Robson Not sure that is true, ASP.NET is much more in demand than PHP in terms of what companies are looking for, Java is also very popular. PHP seems to be the language that kids use and then they try and apply for a job and realise they should have spent their summer holiday learning c++ or java.

Thats kinda what I meant

If your messing around on the web for a hobby etc then take PHP.
If your taking this seriously and thinking of web-design as a career then yes take ASP.NET

I have been reading "PHP 5 For Dummies" By Janet Valade and it is a really good book, i didnt know anything at all about PHP when i first got it, i didnt even know what PHP stood for, lol, but im starting to get to grips with it.

It takes you through the basics and nearer the end i think it shows you a few common things with PHP (Image Gallerys etc) So i think its a good book for the asbsolute newbie at php.


I also bought "CSS Web Design for Dummies" By Richard Mansfield, which is also a good book for beginners, i havent got too far throguh it yet but from what i've seen its a good introduction to it and good examples.

does anyone know some good asp.net books.