10 Steps to Becoming a Great Web Developer

做CS2102的project时变得很被动，组里都是参加IOP的强人，搞得我想贡献也跟不上。撇开借口不说，还是自己的实力不济。做出一个好网站一直是我的一个愿望。几天前在浏览网页时忽然想通自己喜欢媒体的话网络是绝好的发展方向。和传统的电视及广播传媒不同，网络传媒有如下几个基本优势：

1. 形式更加多样：
网络支持文字，图片，视频，音频等等各种形式的信息储存方式，一个网页平台就可以涵盖书籍，电视，电台等各种传媒的功能。

2.互动性强：
网络传媒是一种民主的传媒方式。受众不再单方面的承载信息，相反，他们本身也是生产内容的个体。正是由于这种特点，网络传媒的用户对信息有更多掌控，从而更愿意使用网络传媒的方式。这也是为什么如今大家都不再看电视，而是转向网络的原因之一。

3.限制少，创作自由度大：
迄今为止，网络的广大空间尚未被完全发掘，关于虚拟空间中的行为规范，道德标准等等都是灰色地带话题。从而，网络内容不需要官方的批准就可以发表，这也决定了网络传媒可以独立服务于信息产生者单方，而不迁就，顾忌政策和观点的政治立场。

4. 应用广泛：

无论是创业公司，银行业，艺术画廊等等，现在都有自己的虚拟形象。当然根据不同性质的公司，对网络设计的创新，内容的充实以及信息传播的准确性要求都不尽相同，然而很肯定的一点是，在不久的将来一个好的站点对个人的团体都是必备的。

5.是与第三方（客户）关系管理的重要渠道：

网络是最容易接触到客户的途径了，一个优秀的信息系统可以增进客户和服务方的联系及服务满意度。

6. Start-up 必备：

现在创业变得越来越虚拟，我们不需要工作间，不需要办公室，只需要建立一个网络门户就能接发订单，随时随地地为自己的账户创收。

7. 传统传媒的新方向：

对自己人生的期待，总共那么几个。今天遇到了来自加利福尼亚UC的Jay, 他主攻美国及亚洲关系，并且希望以电影的方式来传播自己的观点。我和他简要阐述了自己的兴趣。喜欢电影，但是担心新加坡市场不够好，去美国不易融入主流，等等。他说电影真正需要的是一个好故事，去学校接受专门的训练当然是好的，可是作为爱好其实有很多可以直接上手来做。

不知道是不是人以类聚，最近身边出现越来越多学媒体或film的人。希望这种inspiration可以持续。All in all 我想说的是，网络也将是视频传播的最大平台，而现在无论是摄影或录制技术都离不开电脑的后期制作。在某些minor 的角度，对code，文件格式，电脑图像，屏幕等等的进一步了解，对我的梦有利无害。

是否是我太过木讷，直到今天才明白这互联网给我们带来的真正自由。我拥抱这自由，同时激动得热泪盈眶。简而言之，在花了一段时间学习adobe photoshop,fianl cut pro, dreamweavwer, premier 之后，也许是时候进一步深入，去探索digital Media的奇妙世界。

下面贴上这篇

For those of us who are already web developers it may seem obvious but when you just getting started and don’t know what to do, it is nice to have guide where to start.

1. Learn HTML
HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language is the markup language for web pages, it is the heart of web pages, so this is what you should aim first. HTML is easy to learn, but it is also easy to misuse them. Learn it right, and you’ll get one of your fundamental as web developer.

Resources
HTML Dog
Getting started with HTML
HTML W3C school tutorial

2. Learn server side scripting

Learning server side scripting is fundamental for web developer, pick one of server side scripting language and try to master it. Here some of your choices :
PHP
Python
Ruby

3. Learn SQL

Building dynamic web pages will get you to learn about database. While there are so many database engine, most of them understand SQL language. If you want to speak with your database then learn this language.



Resources
SQL W3C school tutorials
MySQL Homepage
Wikipedia on SQL

4. Learn CSS

When it come to presentation of your web pages, use stylesheet. This is where CSS will help you. So put some of your time to learn this stuff.

Resources
HTML Dog
CSS Zen Garden

5. Learn Javascript

While most of today web programmer love jQuery, learning basic syntax and how to program in javascript will give you more skill in the long run.

Resources
Javascript tutorial on Webmonkey.com
Javascript W3C school tutorial

6. Learn regular expression
While it is not as important as the others, but knowing about regular expression, and how to use it will definitely save you a lot of time. From validation to highlight words, you can do it easy enough in regular expression.

7. Get yourself basic knowledge of UNIX/Linux

It is optional, but knowing some of basic linux command won’t hurt you. Maybe you don’t know, but most of web server is running on unix/linux platform. If I were you, I’ll get started learning this basic command.

8. Knowing web server

You don’t need to be a master on this part, but it is really nice to know about basic apache configuration, .htaccess tricks. Learning one or two about apache web server won’t waste your time.

9. Get a hand on version control

Learning on how to use version control is one good thing to do. You’ll thank to for yourself for learning this.

10. Learn web framework

After get your hand on HTML, server side scripting language, css, javascript, then it’d be better to choose a web framework to speed up your development. Using framework can save you time. If you’re into PHP, you can go with CakePHP, CodeIgniter, Zend, and many more. Python lovers can go withDjango, webpy, RoR for Ruby programmers.