Re: How to move forward -- MIDRANGE-L

Jeff Crosby wrote:

Don't laugh when you read this.

After some number of fits and false starts over the past few years, I think I am finally at a point (meaning I have offloaded some non-IT tasks) to truly expand my knowledge in IT by building an internal web site and/or 'htmling' some internal paper reports or something along those lines.

I need to learn some or all of the following (I think): HTML, XML, decide what to run as a webserver on an iSeries, learn how to run it and administer it, how to generate html from some programming language, decide how and where to store it in the IFS, etc etc etc.

In short, I need to learn everything. What do I start with? Where is there a roadmap? Do I need to take a college course? Do I need to 'go away' to a class for a week or 2 to get started? Do I need a bunch of books? I have asked a similar question here before and was told since I am a single person shop, to forget Java and forget Websphere. There is so much out there that I have read that it is very confusing. To give you an example of how confusing some of it is too me, listen to this question: Since I can put .html file(s) in the IFS and open them by clicking on them, what does a webserver such as the http server do for me?

Thanks.

I'll start with the latter question - what does an HTTP server give you? First, it allows you to run CGI apps. Second, sure, you can use a FILE: protocol to access the HTML files in the IFS, but you can only go so far with relative path names. Third, you'll need to know how to work with an HTTP server when you build an external web site anyways, so you might as well learn that right away.

Regarding the rest of your note, there's no one roadmap that's right for everyone. There are a lot of things you can learn, lot's of paths up the mountain. For me, here's more or less the path I've followed over the past five years or so: Java, HTML, HTTP server and Linux, Perl and CGI, Python, XML (to name just a few).

Others will certainly provide iSeries-specific recommendations. But if you can, try to learn things that have applicability elsewhere, as well as on the iSeries. Others may disagree (some strongly!), but here are my specific recommendations:

When learning HTML, go straight to XHTML strict and CSS. Better to learn how to do things right, right from the start.

If you want to learn CGI, learn Perl. It's the most gawd-awful language out there, but the best CGI experience is among Perl programmers. If you have a question on CGI and serving up web pages, the best answers are often described in terms of Perl. You may not actually want to or have to use Perl, but whatever language you actually do CGI programming in, understanding Perl is a definite asset. (Who knows, you might actually LIKE Perl!)

Remember that you can run Apache on your own PC. (At least, you can on a Linux workstation.) So, you can experiment all you want with it on your PC before deploying a web site on your iSeries.

If you want to have *fun* programming, learn Python. It's probably also the best way to learn OO, if that's on your longer term wish list. It's the language I use at home for almost all of my casual programming, since my spare time is very valuable to me. I even occasionally use it for some things at work.

For all of these things, there are good web sites that offer introductions, tutorials, and FAQ's.

Cheers! Hans