Question

What languages should I know, to create an interactive web site, not along the same lines as OpenStudy but structured like it?

Answer 1

What does "not along the same lines as" but "structured like" something mean?

Answer 2

for web design, Javascript, php, ruby (ruby-on-rails is geared specifically for web-design), and you have to be comfortable with html5 and SQL of course. You'll also need to be good at ajax and styling with css.

Answer 3

My website should be interactive but would serve a different purpose.
But I do want it to be bright and colorful and structured as OS. :D

Answer 4

Learn the client side languages, which are HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Learn about AJAXX, it is what allows you update a site without having to click a link or refresh the page.
If you really want to be cutting edge, learn about Node.js and socket.io. It is new tech, but it allows even faster communication between client and server than AJAXX.

Then you would need to pick a framework, and the language associated with it. Learning the framework itself will be much harder than learning the actual language.

It will really help you a lot if you learn about sockets, and how the HTTP protocol is just a set of rules for how sockets communicate. Figure out what is the browser's responsibility and what is the server's responsibility when it comes to websites.

Answer 5

Wow. Thanks wio. Where should I start? How to get all that?

Answer 6

You can learn about most of this stuff at http://www.w3schools.com/
Otherwise, just use Google.

Answer 7

Has no one mentioned Perl?
Honestly, I have started to use Perl more often it is quite the alternative to JavaScript plus if you know how to optimize it you can have it render faster.

I find Ruby troubling to load dynamic content, maybe its just me :-P.

I recommend you learn PHP and then get used to the CodeIgniter framework. (Lot's of documentation so yay!)

Here is a good place to learn HTML5/HTML/CSS3/JavaScript:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/

Wio's comment:
"If you really want to be cutting edge, learn about Node.js and socket.io. It is new tech, but it allows even faster communication between client and server than AJAXX."

I don't know if AJAX is faster or slowly but for sure, AJAX is quicker to code, although when it comes to persistent connections like OpenStudy, Node.js all the way. (Currently learning how to use Node.js, so far its awesome, plus it handles resources better than AJAX).

I recommend learn HTML and CSS first, then find your way to JavaScript and AJAX.
From there learn what you think you need, honestly there are to many markup languages I could go on forever, but yeah first markup language, then the databasing.

Good luck.

Answer 8

"I don't know if AJAX is faster or slowly but for sure, AJAX is quicker to code, although when it comes to persistent connections like OpenStudy, Node.js all the way."

HTTP protocol was not designed for back and forth communication. It was designed to ask and receive HTML web sites. Originally HTTP 1.0 only allowed one request and then the connection would die. Establishing a connection is an extremely expensive operation.

Sure, some things have improved like HTTP 1.1's keep alive and the actual addition of AJAX, but even then there is a fundamental flaw in the way HTTP communication works: servers can not directly talk to clients.

The server can't notify the client about a state change. The only solution is that the client make pointless requests just to give the server an opportunity to send a message in the response. This is a total waste of bandwidth. In addition, every communication between server and client has to be loaded with header data, even if the they just want to send an integer.

Ajax is not necessarily quicker to code either. Node.js socket.io is fairly easy to code, but people are just not as familiar with it. The problem with web sockets is just that they aren't fully established.


"Has no one mentioned Perl?"
Why would they? The only use for it in a website application would be server side scripting, and I don't know any popular Perl frameworks. In general Perl is a terrible language to use for any project you intend to maintain for a long period of time, and it's main user base is hackers who are putting together quick throwaway scripts.

Answer 9

Perl's main user base are hackers? Honestly, I don't see where that comes from, sure there are hackers that write scripts in Perl, but there are also a lot of Perl users that use Perl for database switching, and data analysis. Perl also has a huge community that is still active till today. Most hacking that occurs on the internet are via SQL exploits, the last big thing Perl did in hacking was refref (I think). Perl also has many other uses than just writing throwaway scripts such as the extensive CPAN and the security and speed of it. Of course there are better alternatives to Perl, such as Ruby, but Ruby is basically candy coated Perl, I personally find Perl to be more, "in-depth" than that of Ruby.
(Also let's not forget about mod_perl.)
"In general Perl is a terrible language to use for any project you intend to maintain for a long period of time."
That quote maybe true, but only for those who cannot understand Perl syntax to the fullest.

As for your Node.js part I agree completely, I love how it is more responsive that AJAX with persistent connections.
(I'm currently working with Node.js and npm, to create a viewer where you preload images while you look at other images, much better than AJAX.)