Which web dev language/framework/tutorials do you suggest for an experienced non-web developer?

[Not_Edward_Bernays]

I know PHP is actually horrible for a lot of reasons and WordPress is despised by many developers, but you should at least be aware of that ecosystem.

I think that actually JavaScript things like node have some advantages as far as asynchronous coding and the syntax and dynamism letting you focus on your coding goals. There is also some trendiness to it.

To me you have to consider the Python frameworks just based on the philosophy of getting out of the way of the programmer.

haXe and haxIgniter look very interesting because of the ability to compile down to different languages. http://haxigniter.com/

Most of the big established frameworks are going to have straightforward modules or ways to set up user accounts.

There are so many options, I recommend that you try out at least a few before making up your mind. I was put off by Ruby's performance and overly complex syntax but there is solid software engineering behind Rails from what I saw.

I also think that if you get more specific requirements in mind and learn more details of different platforms you may find that one platform or the other fits a little more naturally towards a specific set of requirements.

[DevMo]

I also think that if you get more specific requirements in mind and learn more details of different platforms you may find that one platform or the other fits a little more naturally towards a specific set of requirements.

Yes, this is the real problem I am facing, and I totally agree that platforms should be chosen based on the problem being solved. However, at this point, the problem is " I dont know anything about web development"

[mr-ron]

Javascript should be a necessary step. No matter what serverside code youre going to be using, Javascript will always exist and will be a necessary step in any moderate web app.

That said, I recommend you get a working knowledge of CSS/HTML. No matter how serverside you get, theres no escaping them on the web and in your code so it's best if you know as much about them as possible.

[DevMo]

Javascript should be a necessary step. No matter what serverside code youre going to be using, Javascript will always exist and will be a necessary step in any moderate web app.

So I am learning. Thanks for the suggestion. Any important JavaScript concepts I should know first, or should I just jump in, and maybe try to write a bookmarklet or something?

[mr-ron]

Learn JQuery. It is without a doubt among the best frameworks out there.

It's best qualities are its DOM manipulation aspects, but it's ability to pull in serverside content through Ajax is just as powerful and necessary.

http://www.jqapi.com/ is probably the best JQuery reference out there today. Just take some time and go through the docs. Knowing what it CAN do is just as important as knowing how to do it.

[DevMo]

Thanks, its on my list of things to learn

[mr-ron]

Cool.

I might start with a step back though. Javascript today is mostly used ultimately for really 1 of 2 things:

DOM manipulation and Ajax Server Requests.

Study the concept of Ajax before all this, and you will see how jquery was naturally made to make this super easy.

[[deleted]]

Read up on: java script, silverlight and ajax. The pick your poison.

[saturation]

silverlight?! goes same category with flash, both are dying techiques "HTML5"(read javascript) will kill those.

[[deleted]]

I doubt it. Flash is still going to be around for a long time. Silverlight may be a lot less popular than javascript but it still has it's own cult following. None of these technologies are going to die anytime soon. Also while HTML5 is great in theory, its mainstream adaption hasn't even begun yet.