Absolute beginner

Hi, I’m studying at university first year at the moment and I’ve decided to learn web design and programming in my free time. I wasted away my high school years on video games but now it’s time to catch up for lost time.

So basically I’ve set myself the goal of learning several languages over my university degree (commerce- possibly majoring information systems). I want to learn:

HTML
CSS
JavaScript or Java (is there a difference)
PHP
Python

So I have a few questions.

  1. Would these five be good choices (I plan on making a few websites, android apps and programs in my spare time)
  2. What other software skills should I acquire? (I know bit of image editing, 3d modeling…etc)
  3. Should I make a Ubuntu partition on my laptop? (I hear it’s useful for developing software)
  4. Is visual studio 2012 ultimate usefull? (my university provides use for free)
  5. Where do I start? What are the basic tools? Do I need a program for each language, or just a text editor?

Howdy,

JavaScript or Java (is there a difference)

YES! … the only similarity is J-A-V-A :slight_smile: … an unfortunate naming convention from “way back when”.

For the other items in your first list, may I suggest a great place to get your feet wet is http://www.w3schools.com/ , with the exception of Python (which I am sure the “Big G” can find for you).

As for 1 through 5:

1 - yes for websites, can’t say for the apps as I have not done so myself
2 - as many as possible, but your first list is a great start
3 - absolutely! … and the price is right :slight_smile:
4 - can’t say there as I have never used it, but again, take “free” when you can get it :slight_smile:
5 - W3Schools is a good starting point, IMHO, and for tools, may I suggest Notepad ++ for the text editor

All the best and a very good idea to enhance your future employment enjoyment! :slight_smile:

Cheers!
Lyle

hello

yes java is a programming language and java script is a scripting language …there is a lot difference in both of them and yeah you have chosen some great things for what you want to do…

Hey, if you want to start learning programming then first understand programming funda. There are several website on the web where you can find online tutorials and programming help. You can’t learn everything at a time hence first concentrate on one thing like either Java or PHP.