Dilemma in Web Design-At my wit's end! :|

[Leif K-Brooks]

What is the difference between ASP and ASP.Net?

ASP.NET is the newest version of ASP, and is part of Microsoft's .NET
marketing umbrella. It's higher-level then previous versions of ASP,
including stuff like object-oriented form creation.

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

I haven't, but what on earth does it have to do with getting a job in
web design?? IIRC, it was made (and set) somewhat before HTML ever came
about.

It's about a markup language created to store music (hence the name),
but the language later expands into an HTML-like language for text along
with music.

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

Go with PHP because it's probably the most widely supported.

And it will drive you crazy in a few months when you try to figure out
what on earth your code is trying to do. Go with Python.

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

What the hell does "subset of flash"? That makes no sense at all.
Actionscript is it's own language similar in syntax to Javascript.

IIRC, Actionscript is just ECMAScript with a library for manipulating
Flash. It's not its own language. And it's a subset of Flash because
it's only used with Flash (and for good reason).

 

[Leif K-Brooks]

Would Access be sufficient or is that getting phased out by MySQL,
etc.?

Access is just a graphical tool for working with databases. IIRC, it can
even be used with the likes of MySQL and PostgreSQL. Its default DBMS
(Jet engine) is pretty light-weight, and won't work with a high-traffic
web site. Use something heavy-weight and cross-platform like PostgreSQL
or MySQL.

 

[Augustus]

I like self-learning and there are *tons* of tutorials online. Any
really good sites you know of- that would make me an expert in like an
hour?

There are quite a few tutorials online. You have to pretty much decide what
language you are going to want to learn for server side scripting

Then just tackle it the way they would if you were in a course at school...

Lesson 1: Write "Hello World" on the screen
Lesson 2: Write "Hello World" 5 times on the screen using a FOR loop
Lesson 3: Write "Hello World" 5 times using a WHILE loop
Lesson 4: Put your name in a variable and then write that to screen
Lesson 5: Input box (form) where you can enter your name and then when you
click SUBMIT it writes it to screen
Lesson 6: Two input boxes (form) where you can enter your first and last
name, when you click SUBMIT it writes them to screen
Lession 7: Modify Lesson 6 so that if the first box is empty (your first
name) it puts "Mr." in front of your last name

That about covers the basics... if you can search online for how to do all
that in PHP and/or ASP you are well on your way
(By doing the above 7 steps you will have learned: how to output text to
browser, using a FOR loop, using a WHILE loop, working with variables,
processing user form input, concatenating text, working with conditionals
(IF... THEN... ELSE...)

I'm thinking of specializing in database since a lot of jobs seem to
be looking for that. Is it possible to get a job in that specialty or
any other for that matter without a degree of sorts? I get the
impression that companies want everything on paper, but if I create a
few myself and provide a link to them on my resume would that be
sufficient?

Databases are the way to go. For the most part thats what people do with
server side scripting: they use it to manipulate results from a database and
output it to the user (there are alot of other things you can do... but
thats one of the main uses for it)

True. And the lack of hands on experience in my case made matters
worse.

Yes, but everybody had to start off somewhere and with no experience

I've volunteered for a few sites, but it was only maintenance so it's
hard to show what *you've* done since it's working with a site someone
else created. And, yes, the bills keep right on coming.

I don't know about other people, but when I started doing web design
professionally nobody asked about my portfolio... I would network and talk
to potential customers and tell them what I could do for them. If they were
interested they'd ask for a price or a good estimate and then either go for
it or not.

I have been seriously thinking about getting my own server, etc. Is it
possible to do with a home computer or do you have to buy a server per
se? I would think it would be nice to get server space to make my
sites on, etc. and at the same time "lease" space to other people who
want web space. The monthly costs add up when I had to get my own
domain name and host (Burlee). It would be worth it if I had made some
money creating sites, but when money's not coming in it doesn't seem
worth it. I assume that if I had my own server, I can create my own
domain,etc. Is that right?

Can you provide me with more info on how to be a reseller and for
whom?

Alot of people here use affordablehost.com to resell... they have good
prices and a reseller program

For getting your own server... You can run one on a basic home computer, but
your best bet now would be to go the reseller route and while you are making
a few dollars at it go an buy a decent used computer and get your feet wet
with alot of stuff like setting up the server, installing the scripting
languages (if necessary), setting up databases, security, etc

I tried that, but couldn't even get a first person to make that
possible. :|

You need to get the word out about your services and let people know you are
for hire

Try going back in Google Groups for this group and alt.www.webmaster for
part articles on how to advertise/market your services (there were a few
within the last month to month and a half that had some great replies to
them)

One I can remember off the top of my head would be the thread "Getting your
name out there without been a spammer?" in the alt.html group (see my
posting on May 12, 2004)

 

[Whitecrest]

Web design is going the way of word processing...

Web coding is going that way. Now anyone can "code" a web site (which
is what they teach 4th graders). Very few can design one.

 

[Whitecrest]

IIRC, Actionscript is just ECMAScript with a library for manipulating
Flash. It's not its own language. And it's a subset of Flash because
it's only used with Flash (and for good reason).

That is like saying C++ is a subset of Visual Studio.

 

[Mabden]

That is like saying C++ is a subset of Visual Studio.

You are just a subset of alt.html!

 

[Whitecrest]

You are just a subset of alt.html!

LOL.

 

[Toby A Inkster]

That is like saying C++ is a subset of Visual Studio.

C++ is a superset of Visual Studio.

 

[Mabden]

C++ is a superset of Visual Studio.

You are a superset of Visual Studio!

 

[Whitecrest]

C++ is a superset of Visual Studio.

hey, I thought you had me kill-filed?

 

[Whitecrest]

You are a superset of Visual Studio!

I see a pattern here...

 

[Toby A Inkster]

You are a superset of Visual Studio!

Your mum's a superset of Visual Studio!

 

[Mabden]

I see a pattern here...

Ummm... "you are a pattern here"? OK, I'm done.

 

[Mabden]

Your mum's a superset of Visual Studio!

Well, Your mum's a... ummm... well, uh... a Mac user!