I plan to start web app development. (Html, Css and Php) I want to make a mafia wars style game for the web. Static graphics game is played using buttons.
Its would really just be a database to store stats and a bunch of buttons.
Would this be too hard for a complete beginner to web development to take on? Would javascript even be necessary for this?
Yes. It would be too hard for a COMPLETE beginner to take on. Where complete beginner = just learning to program. If you have some other background (General CS knowledge, Database experience) then you could probably do it.
JavaScript doesn't sound necessary for what you are describing.
I would suggest going through a couple tutorials on web application development so that you understand the basic concepts, and then decide whether you know enough to start building your game app. Here are a couple tutorials for various development environments:
http://webproject.scottgu.com/CSharp/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.aspx
http://www.eclipse.org/webtools/community/tutorials/BuildJ2EEWebApp/BuildJ2EEWebApp.html
http://download-llnw.oracle.com/javaee/1.4/tutorial/doc/WebApp.html
You should probably at least read through some of those to get an idea of what you should know.
Would this be too hard for a complete
beginner to take on?
I don't think so. The game hasn't been developed by a single developer, there is a team of developers behind it. That shouldn't be an issue anyway, however, it won't be that easy for a beginner to take on such website initially unless you have good understanding of various concepts including strong knowledge of the main language, javascript, html, etc.
Would java script even be necessary
for this?
Possibly. Facebook has its own implementation of javascript named FBJS (Facebook JavaScript), it is more or less similar to vanilla javascript. At some stage or the other, javascript is needed to build some dynamic pages and there are certain facebook-related stuff you will need to use javascript (FBJS) for.
JavaScript. Yes. However, it can be done without but it may hurt the game in the long run.
A project for a beginning? It depends how focus the programmer is. If you are using this project to learn, certainly a good place to start. However, if it is for long run serious project, I would reconsider after learning some of the basic of programming.
If you love the idea you have and want to run with it, you will learn a ton in the process. Just don't expect to have a working product in a week. Don't let feature-creep hit too hard either. Odds are you'll end up re-writing it once you have an idea of how the process goes over all. I did something similar a few years back over the course of a month and I was pretty pleased with everything I learned.
You can do it, with patience.
Related
Context: Ok so I am building a website for a friend. Hes a designer with a high need to daily include his projects (images and text).
Problem:
Ok so I know pretty much how to code in html/css/javascript a front end responsive website, that is the easy part for me, the hard one is the content page. I've never done it so I don't know the best way.
A page that he goes daily put a new project, new images, formatted text (A like a blog). But since he doesn't know anything about coding and front end, it has to be simple enough for him to understand.
Resources: I made several searches and found some websites that allow custom templates with content, one of them standing is wordPress (haven't used it for years). I am currently abusing tumblr for that matter, but their support is quite bad. Should I use one, should I buy a host like bluehost and create my self one, what you guys recommend? I tried google it but perhaps I am not doing it the right way since I am not finding any answer to my problem.
Look, you've come to a programming website, so the most common suggestion you'll get here, and the option I myself recommend is:
MAKE IT YOURSELF!
It really is a fun and very educational experience.
There are many, many ways to do this. In general you'll want to have a front end that communicates with a back end API.
For the front end, there are a lot of options. From templating engines like Jekyll, to MVC frameworks like Laravel, to full fledged high level abstractions like Angular and React, which are admitedly harder to learn but so, so robust, and useful once you've figured them out.
The selection of tools you can use to make the API that supports the website is just as rich. There is ASP.NET for C# (which some people use for the front end as well but I wouldn't), there is Node.JS for JavaScript, with a myriad of libraries and packages to get you started. Flask is a popular option for Python. The list goes on and on.
Oh and dont forget about Ruby on Rails.
As for the interface which your friend will use to add their work, turning all that complicated back end into a simple, easy to use interface is a fundamental part of UX design and, IMHO, quite satisfying once you get it right. Make it sleek and, most of all, intuitive. One shouldn't have to be taught how to use it. It should be apparent from the first time they open the page. You should always ask for their feedback as you are developing it. Some even opt to create mock ups of the interface, in order to get feedback on both its aesthetics and its intuitiveness before a single line of code has been written.
Now, regarding how you'll actually do it, the answer really depends on the tools you opt to use. In general, you'll want to read up on things like the MVC pattern, or React's component architecture. The former is something you'll come across on a wide variety of platforms. The latter is mostly React specific, but in my opinion, understanding how to properly build a website using component architecture means you're in the right mindset, something that will help you no matter how you choose to build it.
All that being said...
Web development is complicated. Creating dynamic websites is a much larger undertaking that designing a static page, or even making an SPA. Though I do wholeheartedly recommend you do it at some point, starting with your friend's website might not be the best idea. Or, you may simply not have the time to sift through all your options, figure out which is best for you, begin the learning process etc.
In that case, there are plenty of publishing frameworks and tool sets to choose from. Wordpress has become very popular in the recent years, and templates and plugins for it are abundant. Alternatives like Medium and Ghost have also gained some traction.
There are plenty of commercial CMS type frameworks. One I have heard good things about is ExpressionEngine. However, I cannot speak for it with certainty.
If you are looking for a website builder, there are also plenty of options out there such as Weebly, Wix, as well as Squarespace. Google sites is a relative newcomer in that department, but seems promising.
So, in summary,
I wholeheartedly recommend building it from scratch. There are many, many languages, frameworks, and tools out there you can choose from, each with its own patterns, best practices and idiosyncrasies. If you lack the time, or simply don't feel like going through that process of building a dynamic website from scratch, you can use one of many tools available. However, that wouldn't be nearly as much fun, and would likely produce an inferior result.
I am attempting to learn css attribute relationships. With my current knowledge, I would venture to say that there are only about 30 or so attributes that the majority of web pages are built around, but how you match them up is what gives one page a cleaner look, better functionality, and an overall better experience for the user. Currently I am getting feedback that the 'only' way to learn is by a combination of experience and looking at examples of implementation(s) on webpages that have the feature(s) I want, and trying to replicate. I think this is too time consuming, and not an effective tool for someone wanting to develop a solid approach to CSS. Is/are there tools that you have used similar to any of the below that help you understand the interaction of the attributes for basic manipulation of semantic markup?
Current tools that have GUIs to allow quick feedback of attribute/element manipulation:
JSFIDDLE : An online platform for viewing HTML, JS, CSS, and the result in one window, allowing for common shared code.
Button Maker : Dynamic CSS/HTML generation for a graphical button.
SourceTree : For understanding repository structure for Git,
Mercurial and SVN version control systems.
Eclipse : An IDE with 'desktop' organization of multiple implementations, code, and information panes.
CodingBat : An online console for learning Python or Java by 'snippet' coding and viewing results of different passed parameters.
Codeyear / CodeAcademy : An online IDE to allow for both 'snippet' coding and viewing CSS/HTML/JS/results in several structured learning paths.
Specifically, I would like to learn the relationships of postion based styles, such as fixed, float and such.
For me, the best way to learn: Think up of something you want to make. Make it. Go through the process of finding out what works and what doesn't. Figure out how to fix it. Fix it. Be amazed at how crappy the result is. Repeat.
You won't learn all the little tricks by looking at independent examples. You won't learn much by "looking at" anything. Do it. Once you have a basic grasp of what's going on, make something. Copy something. Time consuming? yes, sure... if you say so. Experience comes with time.
The thing with copying other people is that you don't know the process they went through. Why did they do something a certain way? Is it even right? Just because somebody put it online doesn't mean it's any good.
So specifically, what function do you want to implement? Google that, read all the different ways people do it. Find one that you like, implement it. Tweak it. If you don't understand, look into that.
I think there's a term for when you're trying to find something, you go from one (related) thing to another until you forget your original issue... That's bad when you need to be productive. It's perfectly fine here, where you just want to learn everything.
For some things, it's important to have structure. Once you learn the basics, I think having some sort of structure or system will just slow you down. I like to go at it and solve a problem, learning as I go. When I'm trying to figure something out, I have nothing but Notepad and Chrome with a lot of Google search results tabs open. You don't need all these GUI tools. Sure they might make your development go a little faster with their auto complete or error warnings, but what's your rush?
Don't spend so much time finding the perfect set of tools that you never get to the thing you were finding those tools for. Just do it.
I want to start a project and I am evaluating the architecture.
And now I am at point to decide the front end components.
I want to use HTML5 + Css3 + Javascript
On Javascript side I don't know what do you recommend. YUI or Backbone. I don't know how to evaluate what can be the best for me. The idea is to create a Browser web app and a Mobile app.
Do you recommend another framework for do that? Or some book, url or something that expose how to organize my front end?
This might be a bit late. But I will say this. I've looked through these so far:
Angular, Knockout, Backbone, YUI
And I read some other comments on Ember.
From what I've seen, Angular and Knockout take the same starting approach. They start out telling you how to interface with the front end. I do NOT like this. They give you a whole lot of rope to hang yourself with if you don't know how to design good architecture. Its completely up to you to build a proper MVC app with them.
From what I've seen of YUI, its EXTREMELY similar to Backbone, which is no surprise because YUI was INSPIRED by Backbone. I have spent a LOT of time looking at backbone and I'm very impressed with it. If you follow its principles and standards, it will encourage you to build a sound framework that won't leave you hanging later.
But I saw another commentor who actually actually moved from Backbone to YUI because he said YUI is more streamlined and all around better. I wouldn't be surprised if this is true. But I need to evaluate it further.
Many folks, including myself, agree that Ember, Knockback, and Angular are rather "heavy handed" in their approach. Like I said, they START with explaining how to interface with the HTML. Right out of the gate, they're wanting you to do things a certain way. This could be very problematic depending on your particular application.. OR it could make your particular application a piece of cake if it fits nicely in their approach!
My two cents!
Backbone is great for creating web apps, both for desktop and mobile. It's strongest point is that it's small and quite simple: you can actually read through the entire annotated source code. Backbone helps you structure your code in a maintainable way, which is the main benefit.
The downside of backbone is that it's not very beginner-friendly: setting up the collections, models and views can be quite challenging if you're not used to it. It also doesn't help you at all in rendering the views, which is a blessing and a curse: it's not as easy or helpful as a widget based framework, but it also doesn't get in your way, which is especially important when implementing the mobile app.
I would recommend you study the backbone todo-example ( http://documentcloud.github.com/backbone/#examples-todos ) to get an idea how the framework works.
I am starting server side programming with RoR. I am noticing that it's tightly coupled with css/html web design. (Maybe I am just perceiving it that way since this is my first time doing server side stuff).
I just want to know, are server side programmers usually well knowledgeable in css/html layout stuff? I understand the ruby part, but css is giving me a headache. Debugging with different browsers/testing/ a lot of trial and error and still buggy. Finally you get it to work with Firefox and I.E doesn't work anymore...
How do server-side programmers out there usually tackle the "looks"/UI? Do they get someone else to do the css stuff and worry mostly about the functionality?
Thanks.
I answered a similar question here.
Most of the times from something basic, like twitter-bootstrap is now fantastic to get something up and running quickly.
What happens next is up to you: either you have some interest and learn some design skills. Or you get in touch with a designer to do the designing for you. I seriously think you will need to have some HTML/CSS skills yourself, but that is not the same as designing.
It depends on the development shop your working for I suppose. Larger companies tend to have some people focus on the backend, and some on the front end to best suit peoples talents.
I would highly recommend becoming familiar with the front end UI as well for your own benefit though. Most small web development shops are seeking full stack developers that can manage all aspects of the web app from server configuration, backend logic, and UI. You'll be much more well rounded in solving your own challenges, and become a more valuable employee with a diverse skill set.
Since your using RoR I would recommend becoming familiar with SASS and Coffescript since they can save a lot of development time. Also sass provides excellent mixin features to help solve your CSS cross browser issues, which you can find several prepackaged ones in Thoughtbots bourbon gem. https://github.com/thoughtbot/bourbon
The question is impossible to answer.
Many server-side devs are well-versed in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, at least up to the "Oh that's the IE7 off-by-one bounding rectangle absolute-div positioning bug" point.
However, I think some groups of server-side devs are generally more adept than others: server-side environments like RoR, PHP, and so on tend to push more HTML/CSS onto the devs than, say, Java.
For me, the trick has been to keep the HTML and CSS relatively clean (sass/scss helps a lot), not obsess about pixel-perfect cross-browser appearances, and have layouts that you don't have to mess with much. There are HTML/CSS frameworks that help in this regard.
Conversely, a lot of designers don't know enough JavaScript to be useful--I think it is important for site developers to know enough JavaScript to provide the necessary functionality. Here again, the frameworks tend to breed different levels of JavaScript awareness, although that's changed somewhat as more sites get more interactive.
I am entirely new to learning programming, and my father recommended this site to me. I wanted to learn Actionscript 3.0 to possibly make my own flash game. There is alot of things I need help on because I am completely clueless. What kind of things should I download, do I have to pay for any of this?(I don't have money to spend, sadly.) Where can I find some good tutorials? Do I need any kind of client to play around with actionscript 3.0 and learn the language? Sorry if some of these questions don't really make sense, like I said, entirely new to the programming world, but I really want to make my own MMORPG,(completely unrealistic dream), and I want to start small, try making money off flash games, get some programming experience, any help anyone can provide would be great. All I ask is please do not tell me how unrealistic my dream of making an MMORPG is, just mentioned it to give a little insight as to why I wanted to learn programming. I know it's crazy, but that's why it's a dream, a goal I'm hoping to achieve one day.
I highly recommend downloading Flash Develop (requires windows) for development, its a free, and also IMO the best, AS3 editor. It'll get you up and running. If you are on a mac you might want to start with free trials of the Adobe code editors.
For resources & tutorials, the web is full of free stuff to get you started. A couple are 8bitrocket & gamedev.stackexchange The first thing to do is just pick a simple game (perhaps a true/false trivia game) And just build it. For getting started with general AS3 programming look here for a variety of docs & tutorials.
Good luck, and have fun!
Flex is a free product made by Adobe itself, and uses ActionScript 3.
Here's a link to a game dev site with tutorials on how to make a game for free using flex:
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/92205-making-flash-games-for-the-non-flash-developer-part-i/
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/92293-making-flash-games-for-the-non-flash-developer-part-ii/
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/92746-making-flash-games-for-the-non-flash-developer-part-iii/
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/92893-making-flash-games-for-the-non-flash-developer-part-iv/
If you read through the link article carefully, you can use eclipse (free) with a flex plugin, instead of having to use the flex builder.