[thelist] What prog. language to focus on???

Ray Hill lists at prydain.com
Thu Feb 8 02:47:31 CST 2001


> The question is...which language or languages should I
> focus on for long term use in things web-related?
>
> PHP? ASP? PERL? MySQL? JAVA? AppML? Other???

Assuming you've already got the "fundamentals of programming first" bit drilled into you bu the other posts...  ;)

PHP/MySQL is the best to start with, I'd say.  It's simple, fast, and easy to use, but still pack quite a punch.  Even though I know several languages by now, PHP is my natural choice for building small tools or prototyping large ones.

A great book on the subject (which also helps out a bit with those important "fundamentals of programming" skills), is Professional PHP Programming.

Professional PHP Programming
http://www.half.com/products/books/detail.cfm?item=292181



After you've got a solid understanding of server-side scripting from PHP, you'll want to move on to something more powerful.  Java would be the best choice these days.  JSP is a bit more strict than PHP, but most of what you learned with PHP carries over, and the bits that are different really aren't that hard to figure out.  Plus, once you've got Java under your belt, you'll no longer be tied to just simple server-side scripts.

For learning the basics of Java, I suggest Beginning Java 2.  For digging further into JSP, Servlets, and the other wacky aspects of J2EE (which I'm just starting to get into), I've been using the J2EE edition of Professional Java Server Programming.


Beginning Java 2
http://www.half.com/products/books/detail.cfm?item=566211

Beginning Java 2 - JDK 1.3 Version
http://www.half.com/products/books/detail.cfm?item=5051328

Professional Java Server Programming - J2EE Edition
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1861004656/o/qid=981616350/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_1/102-7868340-6254515
(sorry, it's not in Half.com's db yet)



I see a lot of job postings asking for Perl, but the problem with Perl is that there's more than one way to do everything, so inheriting an existing Perl script from someone else is a nightmare (often poorly commented, hard to follow their version of how to do it, and often easier to rewrite the script from scratch).  At least, that's been my experience...


--ray





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