Technologies for a web developer

Just a list of technologies/languages that you should be familiar with to be a good web developer,

* Java - used in most of the webbased applications for its scalablility and simplicity. MVC architecture understanding is a plus.
* SQL - query language basics is a must to deal with DB operations. Knowledge on persistence framework like hibernate is a plus
* JavaScript - Good knowledge on JavaScript which is the base of AJAX and ultimately web 2.0
* Regular Expressions - its everywhere, java, javascript, perl, python for a lot of operations
* HTML, CSS - which defines the structure and style of a web page.
* A Scripting language - Any one of the scripting languages which helps in some mundane operations you do. Perl, Python, PHP and Ruby are various options. Some of them have even evolved as equivalents to Java
* XML - Most commonly used technology for data isolation in many of the languages and applications
* XSD + DTD - Schema for XML, XSD is a successor of XSD
* HTTP Concepts - details about a http request, headers, and alternative protocols.

Yes, you definitely need good design skills. Knowledge on data structures and algorithms is essential.

webdev reference

JavaScript References

* Gecko DOM Reference
* Devguru Reference
* MSDN Reference for DHTML (as you know this will be specific for IE)


CSS References

* W3Schools
* Html Help
* Blooberry

HTML References

* HTML 4.0

W3C Technical Reports

* HTML Spec
* CSS Spec

ECMA Javascript Standards

From European Computer Manufacturers Association

Hard Earned Learnings

My Tough Time Learnings

I mention these Learnings are as tough time because I have really spent a lot of time in debugging these issues. This blog will be a mix-up of all the learning’s in various technologies. I start with PHP.

Configuring GD(Graphics Draw) for PHP

This write up guides you in installing and Configuring GD for PHP running as a Module in Apache for windows. The fact that I was using WAMP stack from Spike source took me some more time to identify the issue.

• Get php_gd2.dll for windows – download php-5.1.2 binary from php.org. The distribution will contain a folder called “ext” which includes all the dlls. Copy this folder and paste it in your current php folder. For a WAMP stack it will be “C:\SpikeSource\oss\php5”. Also copy the dlls directly inside php-5.1.2-Win32 folder of the distribution and place it inside “C:\SpikeSource\oss\php5”. Now you have got all the dlls required for GD usage.
• Configure php.ini – You have to tell PHP to load the GD extension for usage. For WAMP stack the php.ini file is under “c:\windows” directory. Don’t be taken away by the php.ini file in C:\SpikeSource\oss\php5 directory. This is just a copy. Open the php.ini file under c:\windows. Update the location of the extension folder.

; Directory in which the loadable extensions (modules) reside.

extension_dir = "C:/SpikeSource/oss/php5/ext"

Update the extension to be used. Remove the semi-colon from the line ;extension=php_gd2.dll

;Windows Extensions

;Note that ODBC support is built in, so no dll is needed for it.

extension=php_gd2.dll

• Restart your Apache server. Now you are ready to use GD, great.
• If you receive any errors in startup like - PHP Warning: PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library 'C:/SpikeSource/oss/php5/ext\php_gd2.dll' - The specified procedure could not be found. – then you haven’t copied the dlls completely.
• Try the following program

header ("Content-type: image/png");

$img_handle = ImageCreate (230, 20) or die ("Cannot Create image");

$back_color = ImageColorAllocate ($img_handle, 0, 10, 10);

$txt_color = ImageColorAllocate ($img_handle, 233, 114, 191);

ImageString ($img_handle, 31, 5, 5, "My first Program with GD", $txt_color);

ImagePng ($img_handle);

?>

It should display a image for you. For further doubts contact me at prathapnirmal+gd@gmail.com.