Monday 17 December 2012

What does a web server have to do with a cinema?

Image from Wikipedia

Web development is an incredibly broad topic. It spans everything from creating simple home pages using HTML through to more complex "dynamic" pages that use computer programs to display content drawn from a database in response to a user's interaction. Creating simple web pages is a difficult enough hurdle for someone completely new to the field, but when you start introducing actual code into the equation, it gets exponentially more difficult. Some of the barriers you'll encounter include figuring out the difference between client and server side programming. Learning multiple programming languages. Understanding the role of the web server, the web host. Figuring out how to publish your web page. The difference between ftp and http. The list goes on.

Don't be put off though. It is very satisfying to get your own web page up and running and available on the world wide web. And like any great journey, it starts with a single step.

In order to get your website onto the world wide web for all to see, you will need to understand two basic concepts. The first is that you need to create a file (or files if you have lots of pages) that will be your website. The second is that you will need to have a Web server that will show your website when people try to view it.

You can consider this interaction somewhat like a movie. In the old days, movies would be shown on screen using a projector and a reel of film. The reel of film can be thought of as your website - this is the actual content that you want to display to the rest of the world. The projector can be considered as the Web server - this is the thing that lets other people see your website.

Now, most people didn't own large 35mm projectors with which to show private screenings of films in their own home based movie theatre. Instead cinemas would have all the equipment needed to show a film and people would come to the cinema to watch a movie (well they still do, but home cinemas are much more prevalent these days). In a similar way, most people do not have the software needed to actually show their website to the world. Instead most people use a Hosting provider to actually show their websites. The hosting provider has all the necessary software like a web server to make our website available on the internet for all and sundry to view.

Don't worry if this is a bit confusing at first. We will walk through the process one step at a time. After you have put together a few pages and got them hosted, you'll have a better understanding of all these moving parts.

Sunday 16 December 2012

Welcome to web development for beginners

Welcome to my blog on web development for beginners. I will be covering topics about creating websites from the ground up - everything from HTML, CSS to create your average static site through to dynamic sites with programming thrown in using Javascript, PHP and even some Ruby and Python. I hope you find it useful and if you have any suggestions or questions, drop me a comment and I will try to cover whatever you are interested in.