Which language to learn for scripts?

[Billy Pilgrim]

I'm a technophobe but realize if I'm going to get ahead I might need to learn to write my own scripts. So which language would be best for me?

[Vita_Vee]

It's not that necessary but it's useful to know how to create your own scripts (or to modify others')

I would go for PHP as it is widely used. (Wordpress is programmed in PHP, and almost all the scripts you have to install on a web server are written in PHP, like Affiliate Prophet, XTreme Conversion, etc...)

VV

[hyang]

PHP is popular and is a must for web-related stuff.
But if you want to learn a "real" programming language which is not limited to web, go for Python. It would open a new world for you.

just my 2 cents,
Yang

[harton]

Hi ...

... they languages and the order i would recommend:
- PHP (Procedural)
- SQL (to work with databases)
- Javascript
- PHP (Object Oriented)
- Java

Knowing those you can achieve great things with almost no limits.
cheers
tony

[Kensamson]

Hey Billy
that is a good question and you should think about what you want to achieve on the web, is it to make money or is it to learn the technical stuff?

I have been in IT over 20 years so I know some of the technical stuff (not all btw). I have also been involved Internet Marketing (IM) for a number of those years and what I soon realized was that to be successful in IM (i.e. make money) you have to focus on marketing, that means leaving programming to those that can. If there a task you want to do buy a tool already on the market to do what you want to achieve, or if you can afford it outsource the task to someone that can do it.

What I'm saying is if you want to be a programmer great! go for it but you will end up spending most of your time learning and leave very little for earning!

Ken

[jackf]

...have to agree with what Kensamson is saying

programmer for over 10 years and while it can make you money it's still only a job and therefore limited

the only good point is, that if you wanted to make your own tools to sell, for example, you've obviously got a good understanding and can direct people more efficiently and also they won't be able to tell you "it can't be done" or "this is extremely complex"

however
1) not knowing the programming language doesn't mean you can't create tools, quite the opposite, it probably means you won't get hung up on the technical side and will rather focus on managing the outsourced team and the specific outcome you want
2) the years of learning and continuous learning would be much, much..... much more fruitfully spent learning the only thing that really counts and that is marketing and managing money... where income is only limited by your imagination... until you retire that is, then you can focus on other things again

[heronfisher]

Javascript isn't really a scripting language. It's just a few extra bells and whistles you can add to standard HTML code - it's clientside unlike the other serverside options.

[CarlosAmigos]

If you want to program some scripts for WP then there is a course from a guy called Robert Plank, he puts out some nice stuff..pretty basic too..to help get your head around.

[beowulf]

PHP,javascript-(ajax,jquery)..that would be all