What languages do a web developer need?

Despite what the others have said, you do not need JavaScript to be a web developer. In fact, the W3C Accessibility guidelines state that your web pages must be usable with or without JavaScript. Of course, I'm not saying JavaScript isn't a nice language to have under your belt, it is.

HTML and CSS are essential for the layout and styling of your web pages. 'Nuff said here.

As for the server-side stuff, there are a few paths you can choose. You can go down the tried and true PHP path, where there are many resources to help you get things set up and running. However, there are other scripting languages such as Ruby and Python you may want to consider. It is really all up to you and your preference for each language's syntax.

As for databases, MySQL is probably one of the best-known, but there are others. Another mainstream database server is PostgreSQL, which I have never used but seems to hold its own. If your application is small, or the data you will be storing is minimal, you might want to look at SQLite. Not to mention, you might not even want to use a SQL-based database server. For many projects, I have used a JSON file to hold data. I like JSON because it is small and easy to access. You could also use XML. Again, it's all a matter of opinion.

You need to know Javascript and also Javascript libraries such as jQuery, Mootools etc.

OK, if nobody else is gonna say it, I will.

If you learn this set:

• HTML + CSS
• C# OR VB.NET
• ASP.NET
• TSQL
• Javascript (minimal, working knowledge level)

You can easily make $60-80K. Before you're any good.

not just maybe java script... you NEED java script. but here is the thing, to be a good programmer you really need to know the architecture and in this case the internet. and you need to know how to make secure programs if you want them to go online.

two other languages are Perl and Python.

Uhh, Why do you have a definite PHP and a maybe Javascript?

I think your priorities need rearranging: I suggest definitely learning Javascript and maybe learning PHP. Alternatives to PHP are C#, Java, Ruby, Perl, Python, etc. Almost any programming language can be used in place of PHP; Even Javascript is an alternative to PHP, so you can definitely develop web applications without PHP.

MySQL isn't a language. It will help to know SQL, though. I suspect one day Javascript will replace SQL, too. HTML, sure. CSS is more for a web designer, though the areas are a bit blurred for some organisations.

I've made a lot of web applications using PHP, mySQL and HTML. I don't write my own CSS as I just get ready made templates.

PHP, HTML, CSS, XHTML, MYSQL .

lol, not sure how many of these kiddies are actual web developers...it honestly depends on what you want to do with it...

HTML is obviously a must, but it's so easy a 8 year old can learn it. CSS is also just as easy. They are your two main languages for design. You need to know them even if you are a php developer or similar. You have to know how to place code in it so that it will work.

PHP imo is a must, you don't have to know it fully but it honestly is needed. It is a server side langauge which is VERY powerful, you need it to connect to databases to create dynamic code etc.

Almost all websites that you use are done in php. For example facebook, youtube etc anything that is dynamic in a sense that stuff changes on the website...e.g. comments

PHP is not difficult to learn, just difficult to master. So many elements in it hard to learn it all.

Javascript, some may argue it's not a must, but imo you should learn it as it is similar to javascript in terms of syntax. It lets you make things do fun and cool things. It's not hard to learn, also when you know the basics you can just use Jquery, a large javascript database so to say. It has many scripts in it which create nice things for you, without much code.

I'm not a fan of JS as much though. I find it causes websites to render too slow, also you have to configure it too work with IE a lot of the time.

mysql, as someone said is not really a language, though the acronym is Structured Query Language, it's not regarded by many as a language, more as an expansion. It just lets you interact with the database to pull out data you want. E.g. if you only want it to create a list of users in reverse alphabetical it can do it.

You will need to know it if you are doing sites with databases, which in todays world is almost every website worth anything.

Some people have been saying XHTML etc, yes you will need to learn it, but it really is just HTML but with web standard rules applied. Go to the W3C website and read about the validation rules. Having a valid website means it should work a lot better than one which is not valid. Also it means it has more backwards compatibility. You should also look into learning how to make websites for people with disabilitys. W3C does help with this. Example images must have an ALT tag in them so that blind people can know what it is.

There are some other websites which help in this, e.g. some people can't read certain colors on top of other colors. (diabetics)

I saw on your profile that you are 16. You should start soon because a lot of the jobs for web development are being outsourced to other country's. If you're not the best you wont be hired. It is a hard industry to break into. Some people will just learn it and create their own websites. If that is what you want to do, it will be hard to create one which will yield much profit. You'll need to grab a niche.

I would consider learning perl, it seems to be very powerful, I have not yet had a good look at it but it may be a very popular language in the future.

Anyway enjoy ;)