advice What Programming Language is useful for a domainer?

[Sammy Jakes]

I have some free time now and I would like to learn coding.
I would like to know what programming language is useful for a domainer and what specific domaining problem can I solve with it?
Thanks

 

[TCK]

You obviously are incapable of honesty. You say that if you use PHP you will also need to use Javascript.
That is not true. I have used PHP without using Javascript. The filmz.us website uses PHP and does not use Javascript. I have used Javascript and PHP together on a website that allows users to upload mp4 videos to their own webpages. You say that you cannot use just one language to build a website. That is clearly ridiculous. I am an electrical engineer and have never worked as a web designer. I learn how to do things as I need them. But, I still know stupidity when I hear it.

Wow. You are bold indeed. Not very smart, but bold. I have built websites using just html and notepad back in 1995. But in today's world, this won't get you anywhere. Get real and get smart. Why would you learn only PHP? How far would that get you if you don't learn SQL? Javascript is part of every website. And HTML without CSS is third grade web design. At this point, I wouldn't hire you as an electrical engineer. Sorry to be so blunt but you are sounding more and more ridiculous. Obviously things are not working your way because if you need to change something on your 1000 pages you would have to do it individually.

 

[mr-x]

...if you need to change something on your 1000 pages you would have to do it individually.

You've never heard of perl or ruby? let's lighten up, dna isn't building website for customers.

 

[TCK]

You've never heard of perl or ruby? let's lighten up, dna isn't building website for customers.

True. And he did state he is not a web designer. The point is that he is painting an unrealistic picture that can cost someone a lot of lost time and frustration.

 

[BradWilson]

When you say that I am incorrect in saying "You can build a website just using HTML. I have done so"
shows that you are completely dishonest. You have to know that it is possible to build a website just using HTML and you know that Google Adsense and Statcounter are not necessary for any website.

I think you are way off base here saying that I'm "completely dishonest".

I never said you can't build a website using ONLY HTML at all. A website without any CSS would look very bare indeed.

I was referring to the website you gave as an example which is using both HTML and CSS.

That's why you are incorrect because that is NOT what you gave as an example.

Do you ever get tired of being wrong?

I am definitely not wrong here and my 30+ years as a successful programmer is definitely enough to prove that.

So yes let's all move on and be more positive

 

[mr-x]

True. And he did state he is not a web designer. The point is that he is painting an unrealistic picture that can cost someone a lot of lost time and frustration.

I don't know. Anyone using an API or processing data will find the limitations quickly. What works for dna wont work for most people.

 

[TCK]

I don't know. Anyone using an API or processing data will find the limitations quickly. What works for dna wont work for most people.

If he wrote what you wrote I would say that is a reasonable position. Although I doubt what dna is doing even works for him. What I take issue with is the dogmatic stance he takes based on very little knowledge and experience, and the defamatory remarks he makes against those who actually know what they are talking about. That is pretty low.

 

[dna]

Why would you learn only PHP? How far would that get you if you don't learn SQL? Javascript is part of every website. And HTML without CSS is third grade web design.

I never said only learn PHP and in fact have used SQL, Javascript and CSS. I don't know why I bother to correct you as you will only come up with another lie. It must be a real nightmare to your co-workers to have to work with someone like you.

 

[TCK]

I never said only learn PHP and in fact have used SQL, Javascript and CSS. I don't know why I bother to correct you as you will only come up with another lie. It must be a real nightmare to your co-workers to have to work with someone like you.

At this point I am confused as to what your argument is. I think you are just trolling this thread.

 

[BradWilson]

Exactly what do they fail except for the W3 test. They appear perfect to the user in all browsers.

Since you asked...

I definitely like the content on your site but unfortunately this isn't the only failure.

The StatCounter and Google Adsense on all your pages are being blocked because of mixed content errors. That means you are using old links that use http when your site is using https.

You may have noticed that no Adsense ads are being displayed on any of your pages which means you are losing income and probably a lot since you said you get lots of traffic.

Which you might not know about since StatCounter isn't working.

Also, your site is difficult to read on mobile devices because it isn't responsive. Today most people view websites on mobile devices which could be limiting your reach.

And lastly, all the YouTube videos you have on your fiction site are generating warnings for the same mixed content issue but fortunately YouTube is automatically correcting them so for now they're working.

I really do hope you take my comments to be constructive because that is definitely the way I intend them to be.

 

[BradWilson]

Update to above: The videos themselves aren't working just the preview images are displaying correctly.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

At one time I would have tried to create an entire website using a series of HTML documents, but I wouldn't dream of it today because it's against the grain of what is easy, both in getting started making a website and as @TCK and others probably eluded to... maintainability. I can create a website more easily by accepting that websites go beyond just HTML documents now.

Back 10 years ago or longer we used to refer to a website as being "dynamic" when the server returned something different depending on who was loading it and/or when. Of course nowadays that's old hat and not very dynamic because we can provide dynamism in tandem with the server after the page has loaded using client side languages. We no longer rely purely on what is returned from the initial page load because it gives a much richer experience to make additional requests to the server after the page load.

If you throw yourself into a framework or two you may find it easier, because it gives you a lot and shields you from a lot.

For example you don't even need to know what HTML is or why you need a body tag to create a website as a nextjs app, you don't even need to know CSS or how to include it into a page either if you use a template that includes material UI out of the box with all of the fancy styled components (buttons, textboxes, cards etc). Modern framework tutorials get you doing stuff first instead of the barrage of concepts and things you need to know just to create a valid HTML page.

As a dev I might be coming at this from a completely unhelpful perspective, but if it gives someone some inspiration to get going with it then I suppose it may be helpful.

 

[BradWilson]

Being slightly OCD I need to correct the specific details of what I posted before.

Technically HTML and CSS are completely separate technologies based on the W3C specifications, but all modern browsers have decided to use Default CSS Values for HTML Elements.

The separation of HTML from CSS makes it easier to maintain sites, share style sheets across pages, and tailor pages to different environments.

Anytime you use any HTML tag or element you are also using CSS by default.

For example

<h1>Hello World</h1>

By default you are using the following CSS values:

display: block;
font-size: 2em;
margin-top: 0.67em;
margin-bottom: 0.67em;
margin-left: 0;
margin-right: 0;
font-weight: bold;

You can always change the default CSS if you want but that's way too much for this post.

 

[karamakate]

You should stop bickering like children and focus on the main topic.

It is possible to make a domain tool with PHP without knowing SQL. Simply learning to work with XML, TXT, CSV files is enough.
Or you can work with lists by running queries on the database, knowing only SQL.

HTML and CSS required for presentation. If you want to add dynamism to the interface or if you need something to communicate between server and client, JavaScript will be required.

That "I have trillion years of experience! I know everything! So X language is the best!" approach is simply stupid.
It is wise to use the right tool where it is needed.

 

[TCK]

@karamakate, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. You are conflating and misrepresenting arguments. On top of that you have a very condescending attitude. I have no patience for that. I will not engage you again.

 

[dncafe]

Python, Javascript & PHP....but programming is slow grunt work. You're better off outsourcing it for cheap and spending your time on outbound marketing.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

HTML and CSS required for presentation. If you want to add dynamism to the interface or if you need something to communicate between server and client, JavaScript will be required.

Not strictly true, you could use WebAssembly (like Blazor which is c#).

That "I have trillion years of experience! I know everything! So X language is the best!" approach is simply stupid.

I don't think anyone said that, but listening to people that do it for a living is definitely helpful.

You're better off outsourcing it for cheap and spending your time on outbound marketing.

I agree with that. If you don't know what you're doing or don't have the time or patience, which I can appreciate a lot of people don't. I think I'll probably only be able to do it for another 5-10 years then I'll be done and fed up.

 

[karamakate]

Not strictly true, you could use WebAssembly (like Blazor which is c#).


I don't think anyone said that, but listening to people that do it for a living is definitely helpful.

There is more than one way to achieve a goal, indeed.
The JS ecosystem is comprehensive.

I've seen at least 2 users pissing and teasing each other: "I'm a software developer for 20 years!", "no, I'm a programmer for 30 years!"

This is bullsh*t!
Time does not prove experience.

 

[dna]

This is one of my websites.

https://www.html.us

It contains no Javascript. It is just PHP.

The website enables the user to enter a paragraph and easily create
distinctive links for any words in the paragraph. You can see the links
and test them. If you click the "View Text" button it will show you
the basic script with links and you can now copy and paste them
into a notepad file which represents your HTML code.

Wouldn't this be considered a dynamic website?

 

[BradWilson]

I think it's about time we all take a moment, relax and reread or for those who haven't yet read How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Why is it that there is so much hostility going on? It's truly sad when life is so short and we are faced with so many difficulties.

Please let's just try to be nice to each other.

We all make mistakes sometimes and it sure would be great if we could give each other a bit more grace.

 

[BradWilson]

This is one of my websites.

https://www.html.us

It contains no Javascript. It is just PHP.

The website enables the user to enter a paragraph and easily create
distinctive links for any words in the paragraph. You can see the links
and test them. If you click the "View Text" button it will show you
the basic script with links and you can now copy and paste them
into a notepad file which represents your HTML code.

Wouldn't this be considered a dynamic website?

Yes, that is a dynamic website.

A dynamic website is a website that displays different types of content every time a user views it.

And now that is a really good example.

The better term I should have used before is reactive website which is what you get when using JavaScript.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

This is one of my websites.

https://www.html.us

It contains no Javascript. It is just PHP.

The website enables the user to enter a paragraph and easily create
distinctive links for any words in the paragraph. You can see the links
and test them. If you click the "View Text" button it will show you
the basic script with links and you can now copy and paste them
into a notepad file which represents your HTML code.

Wouldn't this be considered a dynamic website?

Apart from this JavaScript

I'm being pedantic and only kidding. But it's setting window.location.href in JavaScript...

 

[BradWilson]

A useful tip to see if you're using JavaScript or not is to go to the browser settings and turn off JavaScript.

If your webpage behaves correctly, your webpage isn't using it.

 

[pchip]

It really depends on what your project is but generally speaking as a domainer, my personal opinion would be to learn HTML/CSS/PHP/SQL. Most of us are trying to build some type of website for our domains so I've found the above very useful.

I have some free time now and I would like to learn coding.
I would like to know what programming language is useful for a domainer and what specific domaining problem can I solve with it?
Thanks

 

[HotKey]

I started out with html, CSS and php. Eventually added java script for different functions. And still, these are what I use, sufficient for my development needs.

Guess it all depends on what one needs to accomplish. This is in context to using the domain names on the www. Organization and management, other stuff can come into play which is not necessarily related to development. Not sure what the OP was looking for.

A great go-to is StackOverflow and its related sites, almost any question regarding coding has been answered with working examples provided.

 

[BradWilson]

I think my goto joke is in order here - ha only old-time BASIC coders will get that

Question: How many programmers does it take to screw in a light-bulb?

Answer: None, it's a hardware problem!