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At the university I plan on going to they have a very good computer science program but they also have a communication technology program that seems to be more geared for the web but it worries me that the only things I see listed in the description of their classes is HTML, CSS, and Javascript. I know there are much more things you can learn to create websites...
I personally think that the counselors have no idea what they are talking about so I figured I would ask some people that actually do web development.
CS classes will probably focus more on programming theory and skills.
If you start with an advanced language.. let's say PHP, eventually you are going to want to display the results on a page. You'll need to know HTML. If you want make your results pretty or fluid of placed somewhere specific on the page, you'll be glad you know something about CSS. If you want to keep someone from framing your results in their page, you'll be very happy to have an understanding of Javascript.
I have no doubt that the Communication Technology program will offer more advanced classes as well. But you need the foundation to build upon.
Welcome to WebmasterWorld, and good luck.
As far as what direction I want to go with like business, programming, or design. I really don't know. I just know that I've always enjoyed working with websites and that I would like to take that a step farther. It's especially hard for me to just choose one thing because I want to learn everything!
There are plenty of opportunities on the web from just about any discipline. If you already understand the web basics and excel in psychology and develop pagerank for people, you can beat match.com without even knowing how to program yourself. So don't limit yourself just to schools with web courses, the web moves fast enough few schools can keep up. Learn to think.
But above that you need Php and mysql.
I think the only way to learn it is to do it yourself I have been teaching myself by running a messagebaord and modding it to suit my needs.
Otherwise any good language will give you the basics. I knew some VB beforehand and that gave me the general computing langauage skills to know what to look for.
For example I knew I need an IF statement and only have to find out how it is done in php.
University of Wales, Bangor
E-commerce and Internet Systems
3 year full-time Degree
Internet Systems and E-commerce
3 year full-time Degree
University of Bedfordshire
Internet and E-Business
3 year full-time Degree
Canterbury Christ Church University
Entrepreneurship and Internet Computing
3 year full-time Degree
Internet Computing and Business Studies
3 year full-time Degree
University of Chester
Business with Internet Technologies
3 year full-time Degree
Internet Technologies and Business
3 year full-time Degree
Internet Technologies with Marketing
3 year full-time Degree
Management and Internet Technologies
3 year full-time Degree
As you can see, I didn't even finish 'C...' in the alphabet. That was for a search for 'internet' at [ucas.com...] - and then hand filtering the list.
[edited by: encyclo at 2:07 am (utc) on Mar. 13, 2007]
[edit reason] fixed link [/edit]
From my experiences over the last ten years qualifications do not matter anywhere near as much as a strong portfolio and the experience you gain over time.
You can use the above in any number of fields.
Alternatively, you can take something you find easy, giving you plenty of time to work web stuff on the side.
I took a fairly challenging program, and used student loans to pay for all of my basic needs. Instead of getting a job, I spent extra time on the computer. I left with a large student loan debt, but the interest rate is way below what it would be if I took that loan out to start a business. I don't guess it would work out for everyone, but it sure worked out for me. I have a very marketable degree. At the same time, I have no need to market it because I'd have to take a giant pay cut if I got a job.
If you do go with a computer science degree of some sort, I would take some business classes along the way.
You might be happy building web sites for now, but with an eye to the future, you'll want a well-rounded college degree in your pocket to gain access to any advanced position in any substantial company. And most advanced positions will require some level of business administration and management.
I'd have to suggest a BA degree, with a major in business administration, with a minor in information systems management or computer science. After you get your BA, go get a job, and keep going to school part time and get your MBA.
Learn the web development on the side. PHP, Perl, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL, Linux... good free tools for most any work, and all with tremendous on-line communities for help. Java, BEA Weblogic, Oracle, Unix... good expensive stuff found in corporate enterprises. And Microsoft's stack with VB.NET/ASP.NET/C#, IIS, and SQL Server works great but is not free.
Best wishes!
Thus, do an academic course (ie. economics rather than business, philosophy rather than communications) for the degree and spend your sparetime learning HTML, CSS and SEO. Supplement the academic background with business experience through internships during your summer breaks.
Also, keep in mind that content is king. You will learn the skills stated above very quickly, creating valuable content, however, demands more depth.
Good luck!
If you know what you want to achieve, and have a reasonably good idea of how it should be done, you can do it in php even if you've never used the language before just with the help of php.net.
My fear of a highly specific "web development" course would be that it just teaches you specific things in a monkey-see-monkey-do kind of way, without giving you any insight into why your typing these particular commands.
That said, design and business skills are not something you should overlook if you want to strike out on your own.
