so im learning web development...

i have been learning some xhtml and css, but i have come across a series of tutorials for HTML5, and CSS3, which i find so much easier to use and to code with straight away!

should i still continue getting the base knowledge by completing a set of tutorials using XHTML and CSS before going onto this?

also i have been advised that i should learn javascript. what are the benefits of this for making a functional site?

i'd finish learning the basics of xhtml and css first. it should only take a few hours max.

javascript is the functional portion of "functional site". it handles all user interactions and any sort of movement you want. pure html will only make a static, non changing site. a server side language will change the state of your website long term. learn these AFTER html/css.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Sep 16 2012 07:54pm

i find it alot easier to write with these, and have no intention of skipping, so would it still be ok to just learn html5 and css3 and then revisit it to make it easier?

I know neither of those versions. It's been a few years since I learned html/css.

i'm guessing most tutorials will focus on the new stuff in html5 (media and whatnot) and css3. so just learn the basics of the previous versions. it won't take long. there's no reason to memorize every tag. just learn how to use tables, divz, header vs body, line breaks, image, paragraph, common encodings, and whatnot. Should only take a few minutes.

as for css, again, just learn the basics. make sure you understand the difference between where to define css (inline, header, separate file). id, class, inheritance. after that, a few minutes of playing around with specific things is sufficient. how to change colours, change alignment, styling text, borders/padding, etc.

these are things you just need to learn the basics for, understand how to use them, then look up specific tags when you need them. based on your goals in the other topic, there's no reason to study so much. if your studies are so long that you want to skip html to learn html5 then go back to it, then you're doing it wrong.in all likelihood, you'll be using software to aid making websites for you. you'll use free skins or something like dreamweaver. the only people who really need to study css in great detail are people who are very big into web design, which you are not.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Sep 16 2012 08:27pm

If I'm not mistaken, CSS3 only adds functionality to previous versions of CSS. How would coding media queries, animated keyframes, and box-shadows make learning css easier?

the tutorial i have is for css3 from scratch, i do not know the difference but some of the things that i have tried, like with the effects, it has come alot easier

also as video tutorials, i have found that this tutorial has been better constructed, so will learn from this i thinks