Recommendations on Classes to Take; Back to School !

[dailypress]

hi all,
I am most likely moving to Manhattan, NYC soon and would like to take some classes related to web designing and programming.
I run a few sites using Drupal CMS and have only very basic knowledge of HTML and learned mostly by trial and error.
I would like to learn more on CSS, and in general coding i.e. PHP, and maybe some Photoshop.

2 questions:
1.Which programs should I learn and focus on learning as a webmaster?
2.Do you recommend any specific school/classes/training centers?

[celgins]

I am all about education, but I think most of these things are best learned when self-taught. Like you learned Drupal and others (trial and error), your future projects may come by trial and error. Of course we are all different; some people prefer (and need) a structured learning environment and others do well alone.

In my opinion--markup languages like HTML; programming and scripting languages like PHP, ASP, C#; styling languages like CSS; and applications like Photoshop and Flash--are best learned when you sit at your computer and hammer them out.

It's like learning to drive a car: no matter what a driving instructor shows you, or how many times you read a road signs manual, you will learn 90% of what you need to know by actually getting on the road.

Your two questions:

1. I would learn as much HTML and CSS as possible; however, if you plan on using website developers like Drupal, Expression Web, DreamWeaver, etc., you may not see the long-term benefits since these apps will piece together HTML/CSS for you. If you want to become proficient with a graphics editing program, Photoshop is definitely the one.

2. It's just my opinion, but there are so many free resources available online. It takes time to learn these things, but if your heart is in it, you will do fine. When I think of training classes and IT/engineering-based workshops, I think of network engineering, database administration and software developement--things that, if you want to get into a commercial/business environment, you would have a difficult time learning on your own.

[ChrisE]

Design and programming are two totally different arenas.

I really can't help on the design part, but for programming, I would say get some of the basics: algorithm design and data structures* would be two key classes. If you have the basics, you understand how it all comes together and can apply it to a lot of things.

Other suggestions would be to get some basic business classes: accounting and marketing being two of the top suggestions I can offer.

*A lot of math can be required for those courses, so be sure to have at least differential and integral calculus and linear algebra skills.

[dailypress]

thanks guys. I have a EE degree which some courses involved some C, C++ programming so I do understand algorithms and math.

I will definitely learn HTML and CSS through trial and error and will review some online video tutorials (i.e. the drupal online videos are amazing!)

However, i still want to take a class to either learn PHP, HTML or CSS.

One class wont hurt! :) But 'celgins' I do agree. Self taught is the way to go.

[maximillianos]

Sounds like you have already learned the concept of object oriented programming. That is key for doing some advanced PHP and JavaScript.

Take a SQL class. Query design and optimization can make or break a site's performance.

Then just buy a few Php/javascript books and go to town.

Best of luck!

[JAB Creations]

Why spend money on something you can do for free and better then you would get if you paid for it?

If you're going to learn CSS simply learn it for it's levels; 1.0 is all about divisible elements with floats, not using any width-creating properties except width on parent-most-elements, using child element's margins to emulate the parent element's padding, and adding the float property to the parent elements. I'm rather shocked to see in general the severe lack of that fundamental understanding of CSS even these days. CSS2 adds positioning and z-index so you can then move your menus from the top of the code to the bottom and still have it appear at the top in example.

Want to learn PHP? Download a copy of XAMPP and you'll have as close to an instant WAMP/LAMP server as can be had and you can start messing around with PHP within minutes.

Factor that in against the time to travel to the class, the talk, intros, money spent, potentially getting a teacher who doesn't comprehend certain fundamentals, etc and then sitting at home spending a little time...well I'd say from personal experience it's well worth it. Heck, even listening to Ajaxian podcast it's clear that even pros can get things wrong like layouts with CSS. Spend your time wisely and cover as much ground as you can. I have and it's paid off rather nicely. ;)

- John

[dailypress]

Thank you all for your responses. Also thank you John. Very good point to consider. :)

[BradleyT]

HTML
CSS
Intro to programming
SQL
PHP

After that you will be a drupal master like myself. Or you'll at least be able to understand what Views and CCK are doing behind the scenes and appreciate them more.

[Makaveli2007]

I wouldnt rule out taking classes completely for everyone. I know I'm best when teaching things to myself, but other people seem to do better when they have a clear "structure" and someone who teaches them. It's not the way I'm good at learning things, but other people just seem to do better with classes.

That being said, learning to teach things to yourself is probably not a bad idea when it comes to the web, where things are changing quickly.

[maximillianos]

I agree with Makaveli. I learn tons from the web, but sometimes a class provides good structure and disipline. I took two semesters of Java at local college years ago to master object oriented programming. It helped me tremendously to have a professor review all my projects and advise me on better ways of doing things, etc. Didn't hurt that he was one of the creators of the language either. ;-)

It was also cheaper than taking one of those 2-4 week tech courses that cost a small fortune. Plus my classes lasted a whole semester which gave me time to work on all sorts of programming projects.

[dailypress]

Well that was one reason why I was thinking of taking a class esp. moving to a new city:

It would help me get in the loop; find more people in the computer science field; find more friends; network; and it would help discipline me to wake up on time especially if I take early morning classes.

I have been working full time and did an MBA part time after work for 2 years. I think I would die of boredom if I were to quit my job; not continue school; to only work on my websites 24/7.

[dailypress]

OK. So here are 2 book recommendations I was told to read:

1. Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript
2. Internet & World Wide Web How to Program

which basically should cover what 'BradleyT' mentioned.

Thank you all.