I want to start developing web applications, how to start?

Hello,
For the last few years, I have been using HTML/CSS to build simple sites, dabbling with various CMS's. But, I am tired of just writing content, and I would like to become a developer, specifically for web applications, since they don't discriminate across operating systems. How should I get started?

Are most web apps built with HTML/AJAX/CSS as the "design" and PHP/MYSQL as the "background"?

Also, I just bought a netbook; is there any software that can emulate a server with PHP/MySQL? Usually, I will have to use my web hosting server to work with PHP and MySQL.

 

XAMPP is a pretty good application that emulates a server on localhost with MySQL and PHP. As for web applications, Javascript or XML can also be used for web applications. You can usually make certain elements with different venues, depending on whichever is most convenient.

 

I have been using xampp for a few years as well on my local machine. It is very simple to install and quite reliable. If you use Vista just make sure you instal it in a directory outsite of Program Files since Vistas permission issue will otherwise prevent you from viewing any of the pages once it is installed.

You are referring to client-side and server-side programming.

Client side would be the JavaScript that runs on the client server and it is definitely a good thing to know and know well. AJAX is just a way of using JavaScript to communicate with the server without reloading the page.

Server-side options are more numerous and include asp, ruby, java, and others. Your database options are plentiful as well. Which you choose really depends on what you plan to do. Many large corporations still love asp and oracle and pay well for it, mysql and php are used by all levels and sizes of companies and the the most popular option to date but the market is crowded so unless you learn it well you will always have people that are better than you and cheaper.

Java is in a class of it's own since it is a true programming language (which none of these others technically are) and it can do things the others cannot both server, and client side. However, it is more of a learning curve and while the market pays better it is smaller too.

 

You can easily install MySQL and PHP (for example in combination with Apache) on your own PC. XAMPP is one way to do it, there are others (e.g. wampserver) that are a bit simpler.

There is no single best way to develop web applications. If you want something more modern than PHP I can recommend having a look at Ruby on Rails. It makes it really easy to create web front ends for databases.

 

1. Install WampServer or XAMPP Server on your system (Apache, PHP, MYSQL)
2. Take references from w3schools for programming help

Start development !!

 

Ive also used XAMPP before (XAMPP Lite) and found it straight forward to install.