Comments on: Web Design Curriculum http://www.sillybean.net/2004/08/web-design-curriculum/ reading, writing, web design, and the intersections thereof Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:51:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: sillybean » How much does a website cost? http://www.sillybean.net/2004/08/web-design-curriculum/#comment-235 sillybean » How much does a website cost? Tue, 22 Feb 2005 14:49:22 +0000 http://www.sillybean.net/archives/626/#comment-235 [...] 7;t be missing too much. Other costs time & training time away from writing books hosting montly: no more than $10/month setup: no more than $25, one time Don’ [...] [...] 7;t be missing too much. Other costs time & training time away from writing books hosting montly: no more than $10/month setup: no more than $25, one time Don’ [...]

]]> By: Jeff http://www.sillybean.net/2004/08/web-design-curriculum/#comment-212 Jeff Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sillybean.net/archives/626/#comment-212 Under coding topics, the best book I’ve found for giving someone a solid grounding in SQL and database design is “The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language” by Bowman, et al. The ISBN is 0-201-44787-8 on the copy I have.<br /> <br /> This book won’t make you an expert, but if you read it through then you won’t be creating tables and queries that make baby Jesus cry. Unfortunately, it is strongly oriented towards full-featured SQL implementations, so you will find useful query types that you simply can’t do in various MySQL version.<br /> <br /> For PHP, if someone knows how to program I recommend they just go to http://www.php.net/manual/ and read through the language reference and glancing through the security/feature sections. Then, while you’re coding leave php.net up, and when you think you need a function for something, use the search function. Also, of course, be sure to read the user comments and examples. This is how the pros I know do it. I understand the desire of absolute beginners to get their hands on a book… however, PHP is such a dynamic language that even after reading a book, you’ll probably still end up using php.net as your quick reference guide. Another suggestion I give to people who need to do Serious Projects in PHP (besides giving up ;) ) is to download the free source for some large, well-maintained PHP project (phpgroupware, for instance) and to investigate the source. This will give them something of a grounding in how to create maintainable code in a language which doesn’t exactly encourage it.<br /> <br /> Whew… sorry for the long comment :) Under coding topics, the best book I’ve found for giving someone a solid grounding in SQL and database design is “The Practical SQL Handbook: Using Structured Query Language” by Bowman, et al. The ISBN is 0-201-44787-8 on the copy I have.

This book won’t make you an expert, but if you read it through then you won’t be creating tables and queries that make baby Jesus cry. Unfortunately, it is strongly oriented towards full-featured SQL implementations, so you will find useful query types that you simply can’t do in various MySQL version.

For PHP, if someone knows how to program I recommend they just go to http://www.php.net/manual/ and read through the language reference and glancing through the security/feature sections. Then, while you’re coding leave php.net up, and when you think you need a function for something, use the search function. Also, of course, be sure to read the user comments and examples. This is how the pros I know do it. I understand the desire of absolute beginners to get their hands on a book… however, PHP is such a dynamic language that even after reading a book, you’ll probably still end up using php.net as your quick reference guide. Another suggestion I give to people who need to do Serious Projects in PHP (besides giving up ;) ) is to download the free source for some large, well-maintained PHP project (phpgroupware, for instance) and to investigate the source. This will give them something of a grounding in how to create maintainable code in a language which doesn’t exactly encourage it.

Whew… sorry for the long comment :)

]]> By: Stephanie http://www.sillybean.net/2004/08/web-design-curriculum/#comment-213 Stephanie Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sillybean.net/archives/626/#comment-213 The key there is “if someone knows how to program.” If not, the manual won’t give them a clue as to how to put the functions together to form anything meaningful. Hell, I knew how to program, but I hadn’t done it in several years, and I needed more than the manual. The key there is “if someone knows how to program.” If not, the manual won’t give them a clue as to how to put the functions together to form anything meaningful. Hell, I knew how to program, but I hadn’t done it in several years, and I needed more than the manual.

]]> By: Jeff http://www.sillybean.net/2004/08/web-design-curriculum/#comment-214 Jeff Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.sillybean.net/archives/626/#comment-214 If you don’t know how to program at all, the books you listed might work, but it would be better to get a solid programming grounding first. There’s a lot of theory behind flow control and data structures that you can learn from an introductory CS text that is likely to be glossed over in a book on how to program PHP and MySQL.<br /> <br /> I’m not against programming books in general… I have an assload on my bookshelf here at work… but they can be of very limited continued use if the language is dynamic (which PHP currently is). If you don’t know how to program at all, the books you listed might work, but it would be better to get a solid programming grounding first. There’s a lot of theory behind flow control and data structures that you can learn from an introductory CS text that is likely to be glossed over in a book on how to program PHP and MySQL.

I’m not against programming books in general… I have an assload on my bookshelf here at work… but they can be of very limited continued use if the language is dynamic (which PHP currently is).

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