[willab]

I have learned HTML and I would like to learn another web programming language. Does anyone have suggestions for a language and how to learn it.

[redJag]

I would recommend PHP (assuming you are running apache on your computer, or don't mind working on a remote server). It is basically dynamically created HTML. I would do a search for PHP beginner's tutorials. Also, php.net has very good documentation on all the functions (and everything else). phpmac.com may be a good site to check out..

[philzilla]

i second php, as you can just drop it into your existing html documents

cold fusion is too specialised, when it comes to finding a server that runs it (which usually costs more than normal hosting)

perl is handy to know, and powerful, but it's going to be harder for you to get results quickly, compared to php

i could mention asp, but... i won't

[mzllr]

PHP tutorials

[willab]

Thanks for the suggestions, can anyone reccomend a book? I seem to learn better from them because I can have them both open at once.

[york28]

When you say HTML, does that include CSS too? That is something that is worth learning. I think it makes the designer's life a lot easier.

Count me as another vote for PHP. I've gone through a couple books, but I don't have the names.....I just go the library and get a couple, and look through them while I'm working. It's important to find one that functions the way you want it too; some are very project-oriented, some are more of a tutorial, etc.

The cool thing about PHP is that there is so much information in the online manual. I prefer books for learning for the same reason as you, but I found that I ended up just searching the PHP site for a function more often than I picked up a book to go through the index.

[theolein]

There are literally thousands of books and tutorials on the web covering PHP. http://www.phpbuilder.com was a great help to me in the beginning, but I've heard that it has dropped in quality somewhat. Do a google and find a forum somewhere that covers php. If you're really lost, you can PM me for help.

[schk]

As someone else mentioned, you vaguely said you learned HTML. If you are really interested in web development you should learn CSS and XHTML and try your hand at separating content vs. design in your HTML code and making sites usable and accessible. Learning that early on will make things much easier as that is where things are going in the future. Places you should check out are www.alistapart.com, www.zeldman.com, www.webstandards.org

Like the rest said, PHP is the way to go and so is mySQL (database) which goes hand in hand w/ PHP. You should probably just search the web for tutorials on sites like phpbuilder.com and devshed.com. Otherwise just read the reviews on amazon for the various PHP books and pick a book that gets good feedback for beginners. In the end, the best references you can get will be www.php.net and www.mysql.com and the best ways to learn are actually implementing PHP and mySQL in sites that you create. Reading books and tutorials won't let you retain much info until you start using it yourself.

[nutbits]

One more vote for PHP here.
I learned a lot from O'Reilly's "PHP Cookbook". But, you should probably do a few of the above mentioned beginner's tutorials first.

[flur]

The Developer's Cookbook isn't the best place to start, IMO. Check out Sam's Teach Yourself PHP 4 in 24 Hours. I know it sounds rushed, but if you ignore their 24 hour thing its a great intro.

[yeabil]

Hi

Here is a really good resource: WC3 Schools