W3schools

[TheRefactornator]

I just went and had a look to see if it had improved recently, and the very first example they show uses the document object's write method...

Ah but they have recently introduced some new images and CSS for their website - it's the important things that count.

I must admit I do visit now and again to lookup the odd syntactical thing because I'm not really a web dev bod, but I do usually end up somewhere else in the end like msdn forums, http://asp.net or http://silveright.net to get decent answers and results.

[d000hg]

Been coding for years and still use it

WHS

[NickFitz]

Their stuff relating to JavaScript (the programming language) and the Document Object Model (the environment within which JavaScript is hosted in web browsers) is generally execrable.

Their reference materials (as opposed to tutorials) about those subjects are OK, but are just extracted from open source documentation of the subjects, so http://developer.mozilla.org/ will give you a more recent version of the same material.

I haven't looked at their XML stuff. On the odd occasion that a Google search has led me to their XSLT reference, once again it's just been the XSLT docs chopped up into bite-size pieces, so a visit to http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt and http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath would have sorted me out anyway. Unfortunately Google still seems to have problems distinguishing between a site that recycles the standard that defines the technology, and one that gives you information about applying the technology effectively.

I vaguely remember finding something useful to do with PHP on there a while back, but the example code was pretty dreadful - full of security holes

Of course it's supposed to be an example of how to approach part of an overall solution, not something that provides a solution you can cut'n'paste. The word "school" in the URL indicates as much: I wouldn't expect to build a bridge on the basis of the examples of calculating beam bending under load that one might find being taught in a school.

Their JavaScript and DOM stuff is truly appalling though - well, all the bits of it I've ever seen are. The site is often cited as a primary reason why it's going to be so hard to educate people about how to do this stuff properly. I just went and had a look to see if it had improved recently, and the very first example they show uses the document object's write method. Wake up w3schools people: we stopped using that around the time we stopped supporting Netscape Navigator 3 and Internet Explorer 3

[thunderlizard]

yes indeed. Possibly my favourite place for obscure bits of xpath and the downright sadistic bits of JavaScript.

[weemster]

Been coding for years and still use it

[minestrone]

Used it for years.

[Rookie]

http://www.w3schools.com/sitemap/sitemap_tutorials.asp

Anyone else used this? Being a support guy and a complete noob to coding I managed to get at least an insight into what coders/developers do which I found quite useful, I'm planning to spend a bit more time going through some of the SQL and ASP exercises to gleam a bit more knowledge as I need to branch out at some point.

Good site for a beginner or are there better ones?

Looks good gingerjedi. Thanks.

[voodooflux]

http://www.w3schools.com/sitemap/sitemap_tutorials.asp

Anyone else used this? Being a support guy and a complete noob to coding I managed to get at least an insight into what coders/developers do which I found quite useful, I'm planning to spend a bit more time going through some of the SQL and ASP exercises to gleam a bit more knowledge as I need to branch out at some point.

Good site for a beginner or are there better ones?

Yeah, I've used w3schools in the past. I like their no-nonsense approach of just getting straight down to the detail.

[jmo21]

used the XML ones, they're pretty good.

[gingerjedi]

http://www.w3schools.com/sitemap/sitemap_tutorials.asp

Anyone else used this? Being a support guy and a complete noob to coding I managed to get at least an insight into what coders/developers do which I found quite useful, I'm planning to spend a bit more time going through some of the SQL and ASP exercises to gleam a bit more knowledge as I need to branch out at some point.

Good site for a beginner or are there better ones?