what web design should i be learning

[BKLounger]

I am getting back into web design just creating sites for myself and friends. The last time i dealt with web design i was coding in html and playing around with this "new thing" called css. So fast forward 6 or 7 years. Should i be looking at ruby on rails, ajax, xml, php, html w/javascript, html w/csss. What would be the most useful language to get back into web design.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX.

 

[clamum]

X/HTML, CSS, JavaScript, a server-side scripting language (ASP, PHP, etc), and an RDMS like MySQL.

 

[Jaxidian]

Depends on what your goals are. If you're looking to get an IT job, then right now the market would probably favor the following skills:

- ASP.NET/C# 2.0
- SQL Server 2005 (yeah, should have db skills too)
- HTML, JavaScript, CSS
- AJAX (ASP.NET AJAX is an easyish framework to use with .NET but there are other options too - many of which make simple AJAX stuff pretty easy without you knowing the nitty gritty details)

Now, before you say, "OMG, Microsoft software is soooo expensive!!", note that there are free versions of these tools that you can use. Check out these sites to learn more about (and download) the free versions:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/default.mspx
http://ajax.asp.net/


Now if you just want to do an intelligent site for yourself, there are many other options to consider that you can learn faster than the above frameworks, and I'm sure they'll be the more popular suggestions on these boards.

-Jax

 

[AmigaMan]

Or you can go the free route and look at Java or PHP or RubyOnRails. Hook that up to a MySQL or Postgresql db and you're set with minimal (if any) money out of your pockets. The market is gaga over Java and PHP, while RoR is starting to pick up steam. Of course .Net is still a viable alternative and you can most definitely do well with it. Job market wise, I'd say that Java is still first with .net is a very close second. Not sure about PHP and how it rates with Java and .net related to pay and available jobs. RoR is the "next big thing" I believe and have already started to chip away at .net and Java.

 

[Ken g6]

If you want a quick, easy start, Instant Rails seems to work well.

I haven't delved deeply into RoR, but if you're not going to exclusively specialize in RoR, I would suggest you beware of relying too much on easy templates. For learning web design in general, PHP might be a better place to start; it forces you to do more than token programming.

 

[LeetestUnleet]

In contrast to what Jaxidian said above, the other common alternative is to work within a LAMP environment (Linux, Apache, mySQL, PHP). It depends on the context of where you'll be working. In my experience, larger organizations/corporations lean the MS way, whereas smaller organizations or web-centric companies lean LAMP.

Either way though, there's plenty of market for both and you wouldn't really lose anything choosing one over the other.

:edit:
Oh, and technically, you're speaking of Web *DEVELOPMENT*. Web *DESIGN* is usually more the (X)HTML and graphics sides of things. Can't really have one without the other, but they're two different skillsets entirely. I can code pretty well, but I can't design my way out of a paper bag.

 

[aceO07]

Web design or web development? I'm not in either fields, but I think of them as being different.

I think of web design as the layout of the pages, graphics, colors, fonts, positioning, client user interface. HTML, CSS, Javascript, DOM, AJAX, Flash, Image creation + editing.. etc.

I think of web development as server side logic programming. This can also deal with databases. ASP.NET, JSP, PERL, PHP, Servlets, SQL databases.. etc.

You can and should probably explore both a bit. Decide which one you want to get good at and focus more on that while also having experience with the other parts. That would be the best way.

edit: I type slow. LeetestUnleet pretty much said it.

 

[Zugzwang152]

I would go with MS technologies or LAMP if you want marketable job skills.