Where to start learning languages?
 

I am a web designer (non-programmer). I can build webpages with HTML, CSS and XML. But now I want to create a website which can be accessed by registered users only and I have to learn web development languages for it. But I really don't know anything about programming. I don't even know C language so I was wondering if I'll have to start from c, c++, java, php and so on.

I am free till July and I was thinking to join some short term courses in programming & web development languages. Can somebody guide me which courses I should pick among these: JAVA, J2EE, ORACLE, ASP.net, VB.net, C #, C, C++, ASP, VB Script, PHP?

Re: Where to start learning languages?
 

You really have two choices: ASP.NET or PHP. ASP isn't supported any more and is, frankly, horrific to work with, but ASP.NET with Visual Basic or C# (you need to use it with a .NET language - ASP is just a framework) is actually quite nice. The other option is PHP, my preferred choice.

There is a third choice - a relative newbie to the race called Ruby on Rails. It uses Ruby and gives you a pretty cool framework to work with. I'm just about to start learning it myself, so I can't really offer my opinion on it, but it looks pretty easy to learn and provides you with a lot of backbone from the offset.

Which one you pick is largely down to personal opinion. Learn about both and decide. PHP and Ruby will work on more servers, being open-source and available on all major operating systems, and both ASP.NET and Ruby give you more of a structured framework to start with. It's worth noting, however, that PHP frameworks can be found that give you a lot of the same structure - CodeIgniter's my favourite.

You also need to learn about databases. If you're using ASP.NET, I'd recommend Microsoft SQL Server - they interact quite well with each other. With PHP and Ruby, MySQL and PostgreSQL are usually recommended - pick one.

Re: Where to start learning languages?
 

Yeah, Ruby is very good and very easy to learn for a none programmer. Personally though PHP would be good for you girly.

Re: Where to start learning languages?
 

PHP is easy to learn, and as for frameworks - why not use one that runs on PHP?

CakePHP is what I use and it's so easy to work with, I suggest using it instead of Ruby on Rails, due to ease of configuration, wide-spread support of PHP and the ease of using Ruby on Rails

When I was in your position I read some tutorials on PHP to get a decent understanding of the language
http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627
Is a good primer.

Re: Where to start learning languages?
 

Go to www.php.net to learn more.