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Want to Learn Web Programming, Where to Start?
The questions above are very often asked by beginner programmers or lay people who want to start learning web programming. I am also often asked about this problem either through the inbox on facebook or from the group in Candil code. This is very understandable, because there are so many different materials related to web programming, many beginner programmers are confused about where to start.
Therefore I decided to make a special article about this, and hopefully it can be a basic guide for all of you.
“Want to learn web programming, where to start?” This question was also in my mind when I started learning web programming, do I have to learn algorithms first? HTML? PHP? or what? Also how long does it take to become an expert web programmer?
I will try to answer all these questions based on personal experience. For colleagues who have long 'eat sour salt' web programming.
I want to learn web programming, where to start?
The short answer: start from HTML.
HTML is the core of all web pages. It is impossible to create a website without having basic knowledge of HTML. Fortunately, HTML is also very easy to learn. You don't need to have basic programming or knowledge of any algorithm. The only skill required is that you are quite familiar with how to use a web browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
After HTML, where do you go? After HTML, where do you go?
If you have mastered HTML (at least the basics of HTML), you can choose between CSS or PHP. If you are interested in web design, please continue to study CSS. If you want to create web applications such as processing forms, saving data to a database, making reports, etc., you can go to PHP.
I personally prefer to go to CSS. Thus, you will have the right base and be able to understand how to make a website look and beautify the design of web pages.
Just like HTML, CSS also does not require any programming knowledge. Neither CSS nor HTML is actually a 'programming language'. Both are structural languages consisting of simple commands (although CSS may be 'a little' more complicated than HTML).
Web Programming with PHP
Next, after learning HTML and CSS, you can move on to PHP. Unlike HTML and CSS, PHP is 'pure' a computer programming language. HTML and CSS itself cannot be said to be a programming language, but rather a code language. In PHP this is the real web programming.
PHP is used to create 'programs' from a website. Starting from managing logic flows, processing HTML form results, to communicating with databases such as MySQL. If you create a modern website, 80% of your time will be spent coding PHP programs, especially feature-rich websites such as information systems, online exams, news portals, etc.
Storing Data in MySQL Database
When creating a website with PHP, sometimes we need to store data such as user registration, sales reports, calculation results, etc. This storage medium is known as a database.
There are various database applications that can be used, currently the most popular database application for web programming is MySQL. You can learn MySQL at the same time as PHP or focus on PHP and then move on to MySQL.
If you keep up with the latest developments in web programming, now there is also a new database application: MariaDB. MariaDB is actually a 'clone' of MySQL. All commands in MySQL continue to run in MariaDB. Therefore you don't have to worry about starting to learn MySQL (although later you will use MariaDB).
Animation with JavaScript
The last material that needs to be mastered is JavaScript. Just like PHP, JavaScript is a pure programming language.
JavaScript is needed to create interactive web pages, such as what happens when a button is clicked, displays an error message if you fill out a form incorrectly, creates animations to web-based online games.
Actually, you can learn JavaScript right away after learning HTML, but I recommend getting into JavaScript once you understand PHP, especially if you've never studied a computer programming language before.
JavaScript uses the concept of object-oriented programming (Object Oriented Programming). The concept of OOP is quite difficult for beginners (especially if you have never learned OOP). However, with the right materials and guides, learning JavaScript is a lot of fun. The features and end results that can be obtained with JavaScript are very interesting, such as animations, interactive content, etc.
HTML + CSS + PHP + MySQL + JavaScript, how long does it take to master all this?
The answer: it depends
There are several factors to consider. First, the word 'master' here is very relative.
To simply 'know' about the functions of each of these 'languages', you can spend about 1 week (first day learning HTML, second day learning CSS, etc.). But again, this is just to 'know', that's if you don't bother with the discussion of each.
There are many languages for each of these 'languages'. If you look at books published outside like on amazon.com, some books even have up to 1000 pages, and it only deals with one kind of material such as HTML only, PHP only, or JavaScript only. The official PHP and MySQL manuals can even reach 2000 pages.
So maybe the question can be reversed, namely how much do you want to understand? Assuming every day you spend 4-5 hours to learn, in 1 month you can be considered to have mastered 1 material (+ a few weeks for program code practice), so that in total in 5 months you can master HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and so on. JavaScript. This is provided you already have easy-to-understand reading sources such as books, ebooks, or online tutorials.
already know enough about HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript, so are you done? Again, this depends on various factors. If you intend to learn web programming as a 'hobby' or just fill your spare time, understanding the five web programming languages above is enough. But for those of you who intend to seriously dive into the world of web programming, or even want to have a career as a web programmer, this is just the "starting gate".
The world of computer science, especially web programming, is developing very quickly. Every month (if not every day) a new technology is born that can be used to create a website that is more “wow” than before. This technology comes in the form of libraries, plugins, frameworks, CMS or even a new programming language.
A library, plugin, framework or CMS is a collection of program code that can be used to generate a website in no time, or provide a variety of 'ready-to-use' functions. Almost all modern websites use it.
For example, in the PHP programming language, you will also be required to understand the framework. Framework is a collection of program code with certain rules that can be used to generate websites quickly. Some well-known PHP frameworks are Laravel, Code Igniter, Yii Framework, and Zend Framework.
In terms of web design (CSS), there are frameworks such as Bootstrap and Zurb Foundation. In addition there are also CSS preprocessor technologies such as Less and Sass.
For JavaScript, there are various library technologies such as jQuery, the Node.js platform, the Angular framework, Express, Vue and others.
Seeing the many technologies that must be mastered, at this point you generally have to choose where to focus. If you focus on web designers (also known as front-end developers), master HTML+CSS+JavaScript and its framework in depth. If you want to focus on web programmers (also known as back-end developers), focus on exploring PHP, MySQL and their various frameworks.
As proof of the need for a framework, please see the web programmer job vacancies. Almost all of them require mastery of several frameworks such as CodeIgniter, Laravel, or jQuery.
If you need it for educational purposes such as school assignments / writing a thesis, please focus on completing it, use web programming as a 'media' to achieve this goal.
But if you are serious about a career as a programmer, learning each of these technologies will be a lot of fun. In other words, there is no day without coding
Hopefully this short article can give you an idea of what you will face and what you must master to become a web programmer. Hopefully it's useful, and if you have any ideas/suggestions/questions/sharing experiences, please leave a few words in the comments column
