Re: ZDU

Vikki:

I took a look at their site and they sure offer many different
courses but I did not see much in the way of guidance for a new
student.

A hundred dollars does not seem like much these days but still
there are some things to consider before you spend it.

The first job is research into the many aspects of "the web".
There are dozens of areas to be studied and all of this need for
knowledge is dependant entirely on what you want to DO with it.
And more important, what do YOU want to do with your life. Is
your interest in HTML because you are an employee connected with
HTML in some way or are you thinking about self employment in web
design, ecommerce, etc. etc. ?? (The list is endless)

Are you just learning about HTML as a hobby and will simply be
creating sites for fun??

Do you want to work with the NT server group and use ASP and
DHTML,

or

Do you expect to use UNIX servers and CGI

or as often happens to most of us--a little of BOTH ??

Plain vanilla HTML is becoming less and less important as new
technology broadens the field unless you are just studying for
the fun of it. The few basic elements of code are often left to
"editors" just as authors leave coding to word processors.

However--And this is a big however -- The relationship between
that simple code and the broader concepts of Java, JavaScript, VB
Script, Active Server Pages, Include pages and files, applying
databases and running actual applications on your web pages
requires a HUGE amount of knowledge.

I would suggest spending some time browsing sites like C-Net's
Builder.Com and reading the broader discussion lists like the one
at LinkExchange Digest. Read the overviews about all these funny
sounding terms and what they do. Hopefully this will aid you in
establishing the nitch or area you want to work in.

Yes--There will be several such areas and that is why I feel you
need to be sure your time is well spent learning the things you
need to know to do the work you want to do.

It is just as if you had never cooked before. Before you study
recipes and cooking techniques, you have to plan the menu. (If
you're going to serve ham, don't waste time learning to stuff a
turkey.)

When you have settled on subjects you want to learn more about,
there are dozens--maybe hundreds of free sites on just about
every subject you could name.

Take Active Server Pages. ASP -- Between Microsoft's free
workshops, their Knowledge Base and www.activeserverpages.com
there must be six weeks of reading alone. You can also spend some
money on a book or two and get a lot of help and examples using
the free CD's that come with these books. But again, don't buy a
book on ASP if you are going to be working with a Unix server.
You will probably be using CGI instead.

And lastly, (thank goodness), if you think I'm long winded, just
wait until you see the stuff written by many of the instructors.

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
http://www.temercraft.com
http://www.newsredding.com/



>Hello Everyone,
>
>I'm fairly new to the list, and this is my first post!  So, this
question
>might be off topic?
>
>I'm really new to the HTML world and I was looking on the web
for different
>tutorials which could help me and I cam across ZDU.com.
>
>Can anyone tell me how good their courses are?  Should I go
somewhere else to
>learn HTML, Java, etc.....
>
>
>TIA
>Vikki

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