Member Avatar for EasyO

Hi guys! I need recommendations for books learning XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript from scratch with best pactices.

  • 7 Contributors
  • 8 Replies
  • 224 Views
  • 4 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by pritaeas

Dani AI

Generated

A practical, project-first approach will get the best results: pair one or two well‑structured books with regular hands‑on practice and a few small projects. and made good points about the speed and variety of online material, while is right that a peer‑reviewed book gives a clearer learning path. Follow a modern HTML → CSS → JavaScript → server workflow rather than spending time on legacy XHTML.

Good beginner books to complement practice (short notes on why each helps):

  • Learning Web Design — solid, up‑to‑date introduction to semantic HTML and responsive layout.
  • Head First HTML and CSS — very approachable, visual learning for absolute beginners.
  • Eloquent JavaScript — excellent for moving from basics to real JavaScript patterns and modern syntax.
  • You Don’t Know JS (Yet) — deeper, conceptual follow‑up once you’ve got the basics.
  • Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript — a single‑volume practical guide for simple server+DB apps.

A simple learning roadmap: start by building static pages focused on semantics and accessibility; layer responsive layouts (Flexbox/Grid); add small interactive behavior with modern JavaScript (ES6+); build a tiny CRUD app that stores data in MySQL and talks to a simple PHP backend using parameterized queries; practice deployment on a local dev stack and then a cheap host. Include version control (Git) from day one and pick a comfortable editor (VS Code is a common choice). Prioritize security basics: validate and escape input, store hashes (not plain passwords), and avoid deprecated server APIs.

For older sites (as asked): migrate gradually. When you edit a page, remove presentational markup and replace it with CSS; test across browsers; keep source under version control; and use a local environment before pushing. Authoritative, practical references: MDN Web Docs, freeCodeCamp, PHP Manual, and OWASP for security guidance.

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for ObSys

Cheaper than books, try this website. It's free and has a lot of good starting points.

If your looking for inspiration and to see some cool design ideas/code, visit css-tricks. It's run by a guy called Chris Coyier and he usually posts some pretty interesting guides about web programming.

If your looking for a book specifically however, John Duckett's HTML & CSS book is a good starting point

Hope this helps

Member Avatar for JorgeM

regarding..

XHTML

I highly recommend you consider HTML5 instead. There's no reason not to. XHTML is simply bringing stricter rules/standards to the markup which you can implement in HTML5 anyway.

Just because you may be hearing that some browsers dont fully support HTML5, that's OK. As you learn HTML5, you'll be learning about the new elements that HTML5 has... you are not required to use them at this time. You can stick with the standard HTML elements (minus those that are now deprecated).

Member Avatar for NetJunkie

I would recommend using the internet as your main resource. Personally, I find the books to be very mundane and you will not learn valuable coding techniques or be introduced to real world issues that may occur. It would be best to just do some research on W3C and check YouTube for tutorial videos. You will learn more that way and at a much quicker pace.

Edited by NetJunkie
Member Avatar for Member #120589

Personally, I find books very useful. The main reason is that they are peer-reviewed and usually well-structured, often leading you through a series of tasks as you develop skills. They also allow you to dip in and out at certain points, using the all-important Google page in the back.

Obviously, books date pretty quickly, so if you're buying, buy new.

With regard to web resources and video tutorials, they can be very quick to pick up. Unfortunately every idiot out there with a copy of Notepad and a browser thinks that they are authorities on web technologies... and so they post tutorials.

Note the links for 'this' and 'W3C' in the previous posts are for W3Schools. Just be aware that W3Schools are in NO WAY affiliated to W3C. They do not enjoy any special status. That is not to say that their tutorials are not useful, but be aware that they are just one site out of thousands. IMO, too much is made of this site as a 'great site to learn the basic on...'. They've sharpened up their act a bit, but they used to be error-strewn.

commented: Another quality post from diafol. Man, you save me a lot of typing. +7
Member Avatar for jaymista

I am wondering if I could start incorporating HTML5 tags on pages that are HTML designed from 10 years ago or would it be best that I start using HTML5 to re-design all my pages. The website I am wondering about is www.usa-hero.com. I use a lot of <center> and <font> tags which I understand you don't use with HTML5.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

if I could start incorporating HTML5 tags on pages

As soon as you change the document declaration to <!doctype html>, you just created an HTML5 page. It may not validate 100%, but that's the foundation for an HTML5 document.

If you plan on going back to some of your older pages, you can. With regard to deprecated elements and attributes, you can also start replacing those with the appropriate CSS.

Keep in mind that browsers do their best to render HTML markup. If the markup is written within the standard, there is a better chance that you'll get the same look and feel accross browsers. If not, they do their best to display the page as it was intended.

While center and font is now deprecated, most browsers out there will continue to render those elements as inteneded, but for how long? As new versions of browsers come out, the developers may begin dropping support for those tags.

Member Avatar for jaymista

Thank you for this info. This was good news for me. I am going to try to learn HTML5 and make gradual changes to my sites. I have been so busy I haven't had time for learning lately.

Member Avatar for pritaeas

I use a lot of <center> and <font> tags which I understand you don't use with HTML5.

Even then that should've been done with CSS. ;)

Edited by pritaeas
Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.