How 2 start ...

... anything

...building webpages

Setting up the environment:

• setup a web-account
• install a (plain!)text-editor that can save into that webspace just like saving into ’My Documents’ and has HTML source highlighting.
• make the settings for saving that way
• save a minimal document as your main index.html on the server
• view that page in your browser to test it, and add it to your bookmarks/favorites

Now thank your friend extensively for his precious time by overwhelming him with gifts and release him, because from here on you can trial and error yourself into learning to build webpages.

Important notes:

• ’View Source’ in your webbrowser shows you how any webpage is built, too bad many are built at least inelegantly.
• You can still learn from this and from all the wrong tutorials out there too.
• separate style and content, meaning:
  • the content should represent the meaning of the document.
  • because it can be downloaded to very different browsers (old, new, text-only, speech-engine, limited screen, or processor)
  • Visitors to your page can be mobile, (color)blind, deaf, poor
  • It keeps your webpage and it's source more readable and manageable
  • preferably you keep the style (CSS) in an external style-sheet, otherwise in a <style> block and as a last resort right where it's used:‘in-line’.

More (for later?)...

• Let your webpages be standard compliant:W3c manages standards like (X)HTML and CSS and offers automatic validation against them.
• At W3c's site you can also find a link checker and a program called Tidy, that cleans up your code.
• One of my favorite web-developing references is W3 Schools
• Use HTML-entities, to decrease the chance a character shows up differently on somebody else's system.
• Server Side Include (SSI) is supported by almost all servers. It can save you from typing the same over and over again. Try some
• Often a website has a CMS. A content Management System, mostly a webbased system. Gladly systems arise that let you edit on the spot, where the result is shown. Mozile and Amaya do that.
• Too add some functionality client-side, use an implementation of the standard EcmaScript: JavaScript or JScript, but especially the last one isn't very standard compliant (so be careful). and look into the DOM
• For server-side functionality try PHP (easy to start with) or Java. And of course don't forget about databases (MySql)

...programming

first: JavaScript

• all you need is a JavaScript-enabled webbrowser; the popular browsers are.(look at bookmarklets too)
• you can learn all the basic programming structures with it and it has a quite readable syntax.
• you can't make everything with it, but it's difficult to break something with it as well.
• it's heavily used, also outside webpages. So it's useful to know (especially DOM-stuff) and it is widely documented.

then: Java

• It's a full-featured heavily-documented widely-used well-readable cross-platform object-oriënted programming language named after coffee
• Download the Java 2 Development Kit Standard Edition from java.sun.com and you can start, but despite what you might read elsewhere: don't set the classpath in your OS
• Use a text-editor, preferably one that has Java-highlighting and can make command-line system-calls, so you don't have to type the compile/run command with all it's parameters over and over again (don't use an IDE (yet), they are confusing)
• Documentation-hints: For learning Sun's tutorial and “Thinking in Java”, for reference: the JDK and API documentation
• Get acquainted to JAR's. They're handy for organizing all your source-, class- and other files and can be made executable. You might want help from ZipAnywhere.

then: XML

then: anything you like and can figure out yourself

...Linux

Only a few hints:

• Don't throw away your other OS yet. Preferably put Linux on your second computer, or else making your system dual-boot.
• Invite a computer-whizz friend over for diner and let him, while you watch, install Linux, preferably Debian
• Let him add at least 2 user accounts to it: 1 for you, and 1 for him (so he can help you from a distance).
• If you really want to learn about Linux, start without a graphical shell, you can always add that later.
• Only login as root when really necessary, else use your user account to protect you from making mistakes with a devestating effect
• start learning and free yourself.
• 'Or just get an Apple with OS X'