How can I get into programming?

I am kinda new to programming but have a bit of knowledge of the basics. How can I get over the following hurdles?

• 1  after learning the basics of html/css/javascript from online websites like codeacademy/w3schools,what is the way forward to enhance the same ? 2. Is it better to study algorithms and data structures prior to diving into server side programming languages like php? 3  what are the other topics to be learned in depth apart from client side programming,server side programming ,data structures and algorithms to develop and maintain products from scratch. 4  what is the role of tools like adobe dreamweaver and how should i start using it ?  can i start with basic  knowledge of html/css or is it advisable to not use tools like dreamweaver untill i am fairly strong in programming? FYI : i am not learning these for job purpose or mere inclusion in my resume,so it would be highly helpful if you could answer keeping the same in mind.:)

• Answer:

  First, this is a fairly limited class of programming you are talking about, though in theory, you could go anywhere if you get deeply enough into server side. So I'd suggest at some point getting some experience with other kinds of programming, too. Still, I'll try to answer your questions individually. Practice, really. Hack together some local pages on your machine. No, not really. Basic web pages, especially with something like PHP, aren't going to require a lot in the way of fancy algorithms and data structures. However, I would recommend studying some different programming languages before getting into PHP. PHP is a pretty ad hoc language, and there are a lot of pitfalls if you don't know what you're doing. Javascript is a bit tighter, but only a bit. Learning something with a bit more formal syntax and semantics, even something fairly simple like basic C, will keep you from getting poisoned into sloppiness, which is a good habit to learn early. Once you get into more complex programming, like maybe games, where the computer has to do some heavy lifting, then you can work on the algorithms and data structures. On the other hand, study finite automata yesterday, if not sooner. This one is huge. I'd say that everything you have mentioned is as nothing compared to design. Unfortunately, that's almost impossible to teach. You can jump-start a bit, though, by looking at design patterns. Don't think "these are the patterns I need to know." Think in terms of thinking in terms of patterns. Dreamweaver is a pretty good product. You can use it without much programming, and that is its main point, but that is also its main danger. So I would suggest delaying it.