By: dhvrm

dhvrm — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:46:19 +0000

http://www.dougv.com/blog/2007/05/26/the...

By: CHEVICK_

CHEVICK_ — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:53:22 +0000

1) You don’t have to learn linux to know php.
2) Once you learn how to program and a bit about SQL, you can use that knowledge on almost any language.
3) My advice: just get the basics down first then you will be better prepared to make that decision yourself.
4) Most developers can utilize many languages.
5) SQL is used in many databases and often there are programming elements specific to each DB that are used with it. MySQL is only one example of a DB that uses SQL. SQL stands for Standard Query Language… emphasis on the word standard.
The link below is a quick easy windows install of several programs that will setup an environment on your machine where you can play with several languages and two ways of using MySQL.

By: Baby Safety Gates

Baby Safety Gates — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:36:43 +0000

It depends on what kind of job you are looking for and the part of the country that you are in. The technologies are pretty comparable – and if you don’t know anything about dynamic websites – learning one will definitely help you learn he other. Here’s some advice:
1. Check out the job ads in your area to get a sense for what is in demand. If in the past 30 – 45 days you see 3 advertisements for PhP developers and 35 for ASP.NET – then you have your answer. Also – take a look at your industry and the salary levels for each. For example, in the D.C. area, a lot of government contractors know JSP instead of ASP.NET – so knowing JSP will open up a lot of doors for you. But if you want to work in non-profits, PhP is the way to go. Getting knowledge like this up front should help you to know where to focus.
2. Focus on learning the one that is significant demand but also for which there is not a huge supply of people (salary levels can tell you a lot.) Try to learn it thoroughly!
3. Once you learn one technology pretty well, the other one should come fairly easily. A few months before your job search, you can download the other one and learn enough to be able to truthfully say that you have a working knowledge of it. That way, although you focus on the one with the huge demand, you still have a little experience in the other. I’d be very honest about how much experience I have with it so that employers aren’t annoyed when they find out that you have working knowledge – and are not an expert.
Here’s a little advice for each type of technology:
ASP.NET: There are tons of good books out there to help you learn ASP.NET. Microsoft is really good with software training – you can usually get all kinds of free stuff and they have webcasts etc. online. Watch their site – sign up for webcasts, their microsoft road shows, and user groups. They are really pushing sharepoint (their content managment system) so it would be good to at least know what it is. From doing these things, I’ve gotten free books, software, and more. A lot of it is the developer’s version, which is great for learning.
If you learn ASP.NET, you might want to try your hand at SQL Server too, which is the Microsoft’s corresponding database. But just learning standard SQL is the best route – since once you know that – you can use it on just about any database, from Access to MySQL to SQL Server to Oracle. If you want to keep everything Microsoft, make sure to run your application on IIS – the microsoft webserver, which is very easy to learn how to administer. I’m not sure if IIS comes seprately – for XP I remembered getting it as part of the XP Professional operating system. Also, if you are looking to program (doing a lot of the business logic) – you’ll probably want to look into learning VB.NET or C#.
PHP: If you decide to go with PhP, you can skip all of the messy configuration by downloading XAMPP (www.xampp.org). XAMPP will install Apache (web server), PhP, and MySQL for you. You control them through the XAMPP interface. Installation is a breeze – just remember that Apache runs on port 80 and if another application (such as Skype) is running on it, you’ll need to shut down that application before Apache will start. There are tons of PhP tutorials out there and there are lots of open source PhP projects that you might be able to lend a hand to – to get experience. Something else that might be a feather in your cap if you are going this route is to try to learn how to work with a CMS (content management system) – like Joomla! or Drupal. They are free, PhP-based, and might give you an edge over the competition.
For Both: Again, try to learn plan SQL instead of worry about the different variants for MySQL or SQL Server. Plain SQL should help you no matter what database – you can learn their particular quirks later. If you are thinking front end – you might want to brush up on HTML, CSS, and Javascript since you’ll still need these technologies. When you test, download a couple of browsers so that you can look at your site/application in several browsers while you are working (Firefox, IE, and maybe Netscape should do the trick). It will also give you a good feel for what works …. and what doesn’t. Also learning a bit about graphic design (a good online tutorial) is a plus as well as having a rudimentary knowledge of XML – enough to do simple things like create a RSS feed. Another nice tool to have that is easy to learn – is learning how to set up a web log parser. There are lots of free ones out there like Wusage that will parse data for you. Knowing how to do simple things like this can add to your resume and help you to stand out.
There is a lot to learn in this field – but it is so much fun, and if you can wrap your hands around the basics, you’ll be way ahead. Congratulations on choosing the field – I think you are going to have a blast, I know I did!

Comments on: At 54 Is Php/msql The Way To Go For Me Or Asp.net?

By: dhvrm

By: CHEVICK_

By: Baby Safety Gates