What to learn next?

Originally Posted by StormCat XHTML > CSS > Javascript > Ajax > PHP > MySql > PERL You don't really need perl, but it does come in handy

XHTML and CSS should be learned at the same time, as should PHP and mysql.

CSS and XHTML are the same discipline, it would be bad for you to learn an XML style language as from a non-semantic perspective. CSS holds the stying, don't learn XHTML and CSS separately.

For PHP and mysql, databases are an integral part of any server side language. You will never be able to be an effective programmer without knowledge of both. Learn mysql when it becomes relevant in your PHP studies.

Ajax is useless without knowing a server side language, ajax is using javascript to communicate with a server though the document object model (DOM). You will need to know both javascript and a server side langauge before you can start ajax.

Originally Posted by StormCat I had figured Perl would be in there somewhere, but I'm still wondering where I should fit in Visual Basic, the various C's, Java, .Asp, Oracle, etc. Also, isn't PHP part of Ajax, so shouldn't I learn that first? (Yes, I realized I probably seem a little nuts to be trying to do all of this via the "self-taught" road, but, as I said, not much choice on that front right now.)

-Perl has become obsolete, I believe it would be a waste of your time to learn it.
-Visual basic is not a web programming language (unless it is in asp.net). If you do asp.net, use c#.
-C/C++ is a computer programming language, one of the most advanced in common use. PHP was made in C, you can make extensions to PHP in C or C++.
-Java is a computer programming languge, Java also has a browser platform. Although few decent applications are made in it, it is not common.
-ASP is almost completely obsolete, it is a not as good copy of PHP.

PHP is not a part of ajax, I explained what ajax is above.


More important than learning everything, is learning it well. I can code in (X)HTML, but I am not good at it since I have not put great time into it. My specialty is PHP and that is all I do. No one will want to hire an average jack of all trades, most worthwhile clients will want someone who is good at what they do.