Hi all, I am basically a programmer worked for last 1.5 yrs in legacy(AS400) systems. I would like to learn one of the new gen web technologies. I have some basic knowledge of html(maybe nil). Please suggest the topics which i should start learning. I prefer learning PHP, but before that what are the key concepts like html that one should be aware of? I am struggling to hit a flow of topics so that i need not go back and learn html in the middle of php. Also please share some useful online resources.. Thank you all in advance
Try looking around at http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp. A lot of guides for whichever language you need, including (X)HTML. Start with HTML, XHTML (latest version of HTML), CSS.
If you want to be able to craft web applications, or even dynamic web pages, then you definitely should start with a good understanding of (X)HTML and CSS. After that, make sure you understand the DOM (Document Object Model, not really a technology, but you will want to have a good understanding of it). After that, it's kind of up to you. I would recommend moving to javascript first, then php. But you could do them in reverse, or work on both together. It's my opinion that javascript can really enhance your use of php and vice versa. Once you get through javascript and php, then you could get really funky and work on Java, Ruby, perl, and python.
Ah, I want to counter the suggestion of w3schools. It's not from the W3C, it's way out of date, and really I suggest avoiding any sites which teach how to use <font> tags and the such, even as an example of what's old school. You'll spend at least a good year on HTML and CSS if you want to do anything well (although some clever individuals have done well within some months). I dunno why you want to use PHP. As a programmer, wouldn't you want something with enough rules to keep your code in line? Something like Perl, Python, or even molassesw Ruby? Something with... namespaces? Also, you may want to read Jukka Korpela's page about the "problem" with XHTML vs HTML. After reading it, I'm still willing to write in XHTML but I'm much more aware of the possible pitfalls, so I've been writing my XHTML as IF it were ever going to be parsed by an actual XML parser-- it won't, but I figure it can't hurt to be vigilant. Hixie's page: http://www.hixie.ch/advocacy/xhtml Jukka's page: http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/html/empty.html
Agreed, w3schools is generally out of date, and I don't think that they are actually affiliated with the W3C. However, for an absolute beginner, it can be a handy reference.