I code in three different web languages that all work together to accomplish about any task you need for your website. Well three is a stretch because only two involve traditional (difficult) programming. The two languages being PHP and Javascript.
PHP stands for “Hypertext Preprocessor”. It is a server-side scripting language. In simple terms, this means you use php to grab and display specific information from your server. This is great for sites that need to provide a lot of information.
For example, lets say you wanted to make a website that allowed users to view their order status depending on the login. This would be accomplished with PHP. After logging in, depending on what user it is, proper PHP coding would send a query to the database that would then output the specific users information based on what information is in the database.
Javascript is called an “object-oriented scripting language”. This language is used for on page actions (as opposed to page load actions which PHP accomplishes). This is great for making a specific page (after initial load) look dynamic.
An example of Javascript code would be when you hover over the menu at the top. The effect of a drop menu is done through Javascript.
So, Javascript and PHP go hand in hand. For successful web development it is important to feel comfortable with a server side language and an object oriented language so you can cover every angle you are presented with. In my opinion, these are the best two to use since there is a lot of information on Javascript and PHP on the web.
