Money and Business Resources

Free Resources For Learning To Program In HTML by Dan J. Fry, c. 2003-2004, All rights reserved. If you decide at some point in your life to start an online business, you simply cannot function without a web site. But, how do you go about building your site? Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Staples, and Office Depot, to name a few, have many books to assist you in web programming. These cost both money and time. HTML, or Hypertext Markup Language, was first developed by in. It is undoubtedly the top web programming language. Online business owners typically find themselves in an awkward position; Either pay someone to build your web site, or take charge and spend the time to learn how to program. The latter however, takes not only time but money, something that new online business owners have little of. Fortunately, due to the primary function of the internet, there are many who provide free resources by way of their own expertise to assist others. So, o.k. Dan, what are they? (1) HTML Goodies (http://www.htmlgoodies.com) This resource is listed first for a reason. I think it is the best free resource available. It teaches by example, which is the best way to learn. All of the basics and then some are covered: tags, tables, fonts, colors, alignment, links, dhtml, backgrounds, images, forms (2) Dave's Site Interactive Tutorial (http://www.davesite.com) Covers all of the basics plus web site publishing and copyright concerns. Also covers the generation of list items quite extensively. The nicest feature is the ability to test the concepts covered within the site. There is no need to copy and paste to another text editor. Covers a bit of web design as well. (3) University of Texas (http://www.utexas.edu/learn/html/). A lot of basics. However, this site goes beyond by covering some Javascript and dynamic programming. Another nice feature is the extensive writeup of details regarding different html versions. (4) HTML Code Tutorial (http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/). I absolutely love this site. Authored by Miko O'Sullivan the author of The Idocs Guide To HTML. Very easy to use with lots of examples. (5) WebMonkey (http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/teachingtool/) Part of the terra lycos network of sites, I frequently check with WebMonkey if stuck on some small part of web programming. I don't find them to be an extensive resource but good for quick solutions. One of the most important things to pass along here is learn by example. This is the only way to learn any form of programming. You can read whatever you wish. But, until you try it and understand the outcome, you will never really understand the language enough to develop even the smallest html documents on your own. My site, e-kinetic.com, was designed and built entirely by me. It took time, but did not cost me a dime. The biggest advantage was the wealth of knowledge I gained by programming everything myself. I of course made use of the very same resources listed above. The best tip I can pass along is to be patient and persevere. Make use of the expertise of others posted free on the web. With a little hard work you too can build your entire site from scratch.