Most important skills?????

[gaz_the_mod]

Hello all.

I've got some spare time on my hands and have decided to take some short courses to add to my skills list, but cant decide which to do.

What would you all consider to be the most important skills for a designer wanting to go into more developing? MySQL? PHP? ASP? CGI Perl? Java? Javscript? XML? Coldfusion?

would appreciate you input

cheers

[nocrapchurch]

It depends on who you talk to. There are currently more opportunities with PHP/MYSQL and XML. I would start with those.

Hope this helps.

-scott
http://www.scottmanning.com/

[Sid☼]

asp, javascript and xml is easy to learn. check this site out. http://www.w3schools.com see which one you find easier to understand and decide accordingly.
[Edited by Sid☼ on 08-27-2002 at 10:17 PM]

[enstent]

Everything you can learn in school you can learn from a book, everything you can learn in a book you can learn online...

If you know XHTML then XML will be very simple. It is a great little language to know and I use it a lot with flash.

PHP is a great language to learn. But it is better to learn if you have a server that supports PHP so you can test out code.

Don't learn Java, CGI, Perl, Coldfusion.

Start with basic client/server side laguages and go from there.

[nocrapchurch]

Originally posted by enstent
Don't learn Java, CGI, Perl, Coldfusion.

Start with basic client/server side laguages and go from there.

Aren't Perl and CGI basic server side languages?

-scott

[mx_kid]

Originally posted by nocrapchurch
It depends on who you talk to. There are currently more opportunities with PHP/MYSQL and XML. I would start with those.

Thats exactly what Im learning now...so yeah go for those two, along with XHTML

[dogjaw]

Everybody should learn a second language. Should be a damn required job skill for every job.

Stupid chauvinist western world.

[mx_kid]

What do you mean dogjaw?

[Tazmania]

Originally posted by Sid☼
asp, javascript and xml is easy to learn. check this site out. http://www.w3schools.com. see which one you find easier to understand and decide accordingly.

Link does not work and I have tried searching but can't find this site. Any help would be appreciated...anxious to check out new sites like this.

Taz

[ahearn]

With Macromedia buying Coldfusion and releasing a whole suite of new integrated products based around Flash and Coldfusion (Flash MX, Coldfusion MX, Flash Communications Server, etc.), companies are going to start getting excited about the Flash/Coldfusion combination as a great application platform. Therefore, a good combination of skills to have is Flash AND Coldfusion.

[Finchbirds]

Originally posted by Tazmania

Originally posted by Sid☼
asp, javascript and xml is easy to learn. check this site out. http://www.w3schools.com. see which one you find easier to understand and decide accordingly.

Link does not work and I have tried searching but can't find this site. Any help would be appreciated...anxious to check out new sites like this.

Taz

Just remove the last dot in the link, that caused it to be an invalid URL. Try this one:
http://www.w3schools.com

By the way, nothing new about this site, they have been around for years. But plenty of new stuff there!
[Edited by finchbirds on 08-27-2002 at 07:21 PM]

[leenaomi]

Originally posted by Tazmania

Originally posted by Sid☼
asp, javascript and xml is easy to learn. check this site out. http://www.w3schools.com. see which one you find easier to understand and decide accordingly.

Link does not work and I have tried searching but can't find this site. Any help would be appreciated...anxious to check out new sites like this.

Taz

Take out the ./ on the end

[tiGRAN=-2001]

Originally posted by Finchbirds

Originally posted by Tazmania

Originally posted by Sid☼
asp, javascript and xml is easy to learn. check this site out. http://www.w3schools.com. see which one you find easier to understand and decide accordingly.

Link does not work and I have tried searching but can't find this site. Any help would be appreciated...anxious to check out new sites like this.

Taz

Just remove the last dot in the link, that caused it to be an invalid URL. Try this one:
http://www.w3schools.com

By the way, nothing new about this site, they have been around for years. But plenty of new stuff there!
[Edited by finchbirds on 08-27-2002 at 07:21 PM]

muahaha that didnt work either, that page is great! i cant stop using those codes...
here it goes http://www.w3schools.com

[Barrie]

Learning about sound would be my suggestion, Flash is woefully inadequate at the moment with sound but this has to change. With broadband looming the net will become more entertainment oriented, sound is a big part of entertainment content.

Barrie

[mtrax]

Originally posted by Barrie
Learning about sound would be my suggestion, Flash is woefully inadequate at the moment with sound but this has to change. With broadband looming the net will become more entertainment oriented, sound is a big part of entertainment content.

Barrie

I agree about the sound. One cool application is doing music videos in Flash It captures your audience so much better, but yeah, broadband oriented... Also keep up with the ActionScripting - sometimes I wonder if there'll ever be anyone who uses all of Flash's features! First learn the tools that you have!

MtraX

[Pippomusic]

Besides Audio and Video editing and manipulation, which is a BASIC skill for a flash user, there is a key point to focus i guess...

Sometimes all of us banged our face on the ENORMOUS amount of knowledge and applications available out there... i guess that all of us started using flash because we DO like to put our hands on something, and actually create something pushing our skills to the limit...

But then there is a point in time, where we faced the truth: life is too short, and we will never be able to know and master everything... flash, actionscipt, coldfusion, javascript, bitmap images maniulations, vector graphics, sound, video (till here it's ok) but then comes: 3d design, texture design, music making, XML knowledge, rich media applications, etc. etc. etc....

So, i know it hurts our feelings, but we DO HAVE to choose something and deepen our knowledge till we master it...

I agree with who pointed out that the new macromedia suite of applications is a good arena...

I still have to see the market response, and personally i still feel safer with cgi-bin applications written in perl, but the rich media environment offered by macromedia (coldfusion, flash server, etc.) offers a common approach and a common development flow...

What i suggest to a newcomer, or to a flash skilled who wants to deepen his knowledge (besides going deep in flash with actionscript) is to approach coldfusion and flash server...

But this doesn't mean that you can forget about the rest... using flash you MUST be proficient, (and when i say PROFICIENT, it doesnt mean just knowing where to stick your hands)in the following matters:

Vector Graphics manipulation.
Bitmap Graphics manipulation.
Video editing, compression, creative skills.
Sound editing and creation.
Server Side data manipulation.

That means to know:
Creative skills.
File format knowledge in compression and advantages.
Production skills.
Editing skills.
Leading skills to give indications to creative people about the choice of file format, colors, compression, size, etc.

Remember that being the flash master means you have the last word about the kind of file you need to be imported in the project, and so all the people dealing with graphic and music, will need your input before producing and exporting artwork.

So...
Focus....

I suggest, if you already are strong in the matters above, o approach ColdFusion and FlashMX Server.

Or anyway to stop for 1 hour, breath deeply, and focus... focus on what you like to do... do you like to code? do you like to push buttons? do you like to wait for rendering? guess what lifestyle you like, and approach the field of knowledge that will bring you there...

Remember what life teaches...

It is more important, during the hours, days and months you spend working, a smile on your face than a step in your career...


Lots of Love,
Pippo

[ScottSolomon]

I really don't think it matters what language you learn. Most languages are so similar, the only differences are syntax.

Understanding code structures is much more important in my opinion.

I disagree with the guy that said that coldfusion is unnecessary. I think that coldfusion is incredibly powerful - especially when combined with Flash.

VBScript is good for ASP pages, but if you know Actionscript, you know Javascript( for the most part ). If I were you I would learn VBscript, and Visual Basic. This is simply because MIcrocrap is still the 300 lb gorilla in the business world. I would learn as much as I can about Web services, .net, and XML. I would learn as much as I could about WAP interface development as well.

I would not take those crappy over- priced courses. Every piece of information you could ever EVER need is on the web. There are a million experts falling all over themselves to help you in newsgroups, and everything is ( more or less ) up to date.