webprogramming -what is the learning pathway? [closed] - language-agnostic

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i have some knowledge of css,jQuery,Grails,django,servlets and jsp still i can't see me designing good professional looking websites .what am lacking ? should i start learning jQUery ui ,should i get into adobe products like flash i am pretty confused. i am pretty bad in the userinterface part,

If designing good looking UI is your problem, then learning any amount of new technology will not help you much. It is equally easy to design bad UI's in flex as it is in HTML/CSS.
You need to learn concepts of good interaction design first. Start with reading a few good books:
Don't make me think by Steve Krug - for understanding of UX and basic design aesthetics
Filling in the blanks by Luke W - if you need to design a lot of web forms
Read a lot of articles from Smashing Magazine, noupe.com, A List Apart and similar blogs
Browse the web looking out for examples of great design, understand what makes them great.
You can spend 30-60 mins every day doing all the above and the rest of the time sharpning your framework/library/scripting skills. The time you spend learning good UX/UI will pay back gradually. If you need instant results, then hire a good designer and make some friends in the designer community.

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Do I have to take my time while learning to code? [closed]

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Is it better to take some time while learning to program in general or is it better to jump swiftly over the topics and try to reach some fruition?
I started web development course on Coursera. The first course that covers HTML,CSS and JavaScript was more or less bearable. It were the basics. Bootstrap was kinda hard. And I have to confess, I don't fully understand JavaScript. Now I am on AngularJS course. And I am stuck. I do not understand anything. Although I spend approximately four to five months of learning web development in general. So, my question is: "Should I thoroughly learn the concepts while reading some books on HTML/CSS/JavaScript and AngularJS or is it better try to finish the course without diving deep into the subject?" Should I be Jack of all trades or Master of the subjecdt?
While taking courses on Coursera it is absolutely essential that you understand the core concepts before you move on to the next course. Don't try to rush yourself - and feel free to try out things that are not included in your assignments.
Working with AngularJS without understanding Javascript is close to impossible.

Is using bootstrap or a theme cheating? [closed]

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I am currently new to HTML and CSS. I completed codecademy's HTMl/CSS course yesterday and started working on something which doesnt really have a use but it will touch on everything and I will finish it as I learn more including PHP. I am using bootstrap right now and it honestly feels like I am cheating. I have tried to do everything myself but it basically gives you a navbar which I wont just steal and use, I will try to make my own later on. This is my current site: http://i.imgur.com/nM3wzWv.png
What should I be using? Should I cut out bootstrap and try to do everything with my own CSS?
I mean I did use my own CSS for the positioning but it doesnt seem like much. What do professionals use? Thanks.
Professionals mainly use Bootstrap or Foundation (since these are the most popular frameworks). If you're completely new, it's probably not a bad idea to code some websites from scratch to improve and probably even perfect your basic HTML/CSS skills and once you're comfortable I highly recommend using a framework. As for Bootstrap you can check out the documentation. It is very detailed and once you've figured out the basics, you're way faster than coding everything from scratch.
Generally speaking a professional application parts from a CSS framework of choise and goes arround to customizing it as needed for the application. Of course in order to learn you should neglect those when just starting in order to learn more.
professionaly speaking you use as much "premade" code as possible. That is the reason for the grat ammount of frameworks in any language.
is like asking is it okay to use JQuery it feels like cheating normally I would write like 20 lines of code but using JQuery it became a one liner.

When to use Foundation/Bootstrap or custom css? [closed]

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So this has been a topic of debate between me and another coder. We are using foundation for a project and he really likes following the system they provide. I like to venture out when it doesn't fit exactly.
An example was this was when I was doing the login form and I wanted a singular sized view that looks the same on every view. I created a login form with a solid width and centered with margins. He comes back to the code and puts it in foundation with large/medium/small columns. The justification was that they know how to handle responsiveness better than us. I just wanted stack overflow's opinion on this one.
When is it right to use a css framework and when should you go outside of it?
I guess on big projects, where you'd like to use each an every feature that a css framework provides, you should go for it. Whereas in small websites, using Bootstrap/Foundation would be a slow-down factor.
Otherwise if you are confident with building a responsive framework yourself, you should go ahead. But, if you feel you aren't take help from others in the form of css frameworks.
This question is way too broad and there can be many possible answers. The above is just my point of view.
First of all if you already have experience with one framework, unless you're doing it for research stick with it.
Otherwise you could check this comparison.
Also if you're using a web framework like Rails, Spring MVC, etc, check the integration status between the both frameworks.
Another point you should care is the community, and in my humble opinion bootstrap wins (as my personal perception).

What Should I Learn First? [closed]

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I have just scratched the surface in the world of programming, and I need to know where to begin. I work for a Web-page writing articles, and I face a raise if I learn to format the article myself. I want to learn how to format, and also how to code. Is there anywhere in particular where I should begin my journey to programming things such as web-applications?
The following are just a hint. This journey is quite long and after a basic level, you have a multitude of options...
First of all: learn HTML. There's nothing to do if you cannot understand the content you're creating.
Learn CSS - this will help you to achieve the formatting in the right way and will make you understand how web pages are styled. That's where the fun begins, with knowing some CSS you will be able to make a web site look good.
Get a decent code editor for working, prototyping. If you really want to understand what's going on, then prefer non-WYSIWYG editors (you will see what I mean). The more decent you can get the better - this will help you in your daily work, better to not choose one which is irritating for you. (Personally I use PhpStorm which is a really good, professional tool. It might be too advanced for beginners.)
All web pages nowadays are created dynamically, for example via PHP. Learning to code in PHP will make you busy for quite a bit of time, so it would be the best to get a good book about it. (This will also start you up learning about databases, where the actual information is stored.) In my opinion, this is where the real part of web programming begins.
After writing some basic stuff with PHP, get familiar with different frameworks/CMSs just to know how we deal with big, real sites. (WordPress is great for starting and it's advanced enough to use it on a real site.) There's no point in reinventing the wheel, so always try to have a look whether others have done what you would like to do before. There's always a toolkit for the common tasks.

Web design software for non-designers [closed]

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I'm a system programming geek. My drawing and design skills are very limited and I barely know how to use Photoshop.
Currently, web development software only offers separate options for coders (non-visual) and designers (visual). But I'm trying to find a WYSIWYG (visual) website design piece of software optimized for engineers, rather than artists.
Something like drag & drop building blocks, select various layouts, options. Add graphics.
Don't get me wrong - it must not be a primitive template-based editor - I'm looking for advanced solution, so I can make a professional website.
I dont think you will find a "golden bullet" here.
That being said I consider myself in a similar vein. I'm a pretty competent front end developer with minimal design skills. Although kind of template based, Artisteer is worth a look. I use it to get me started then I tweak from there. Being an ASP.net guy Visual Studio is my normal poison for tweaking. Visual Studio Express is a free version. Though Dreamweaver etc would also work.
If you are getting serious about this, you make sure you have the basics of HTML and CSS covered so you know what you are doing when you are tweaking templates.
you best option is what most of us nerds do and thats hire a designer, or go to something like template monster thing is with design, it is a creative mind... when it comes to programming it is logical mind. Fair enough there are a few good designers out there that can make a website, code etc but to what level. I just right code, its what i am good at, my pal brian creates designes for me.... because thats what he is good at.
:-)