By Anonymous (not verified) on

I HATE being that guy who posts stupid questions that have been asked a thousand times, but I can't find the answer using search and I'm tired of clicking "next."

I am a highly experienced Coldfusion/SQL Server developer. I can do HTML in my sleep and stumble through Javascript and CSS. I've learned how to download and install Drupal with binaries (and WAMP/XAMPP). I'm not sure what skills I need to start building websites with custom looks and any functionality beyond those selected in the administrative panel. I'm not talking about developing modules of my own, just real-world websites which never match "the usual choices." I prefer to work on a mac, and know nothing about linux. I hate Windows.

I was thinking I need to brush up on Javascript, learn HTML5, CSS3, PHP, and MySQL. But I don't want to spend months of my free time learning things that won't help or are tangential, while missing something I really need to know. This is a career change and the start of a new life (on my own eventually).

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Chris

⋅ Categories: Drupal 7.x

Comments

nevets’s picture

nevets commented

You left out one very import skill, learning Drupal. If you understand Drupal and the contributed modules (particularly the most installed ones) you will be in a better position to achieve a particular website.

Out of your list for HTML and CSS it is good to have a good grasp of both. For PHP if you want to do any custom template files it is useful to know at least the basic syntax. While knowing mySQL is useful, if you use Drupal and the modules, it is possible to do much without writing any sql. The views module provides can display a number of object in a variety of ways. Understanding sql is useful for using views, since it is in essence a query build paired with output formatters. If you understand sql, the UI will likely be more intuitive.

john_b’s picture

john_b commented

Just to back up nevets, developers who are good often come to Drupal badly underestimating the value of learning Drupal, and how much time they need to spend on it to get the returns which are possible.

Digit Professionals specialising in Drupal, WordPress & CiviCRM support for publishers in non-profit and related sectors

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented

This sounds like wise advice. I will heed it. And this also helps me put the technologies I want to learn in order: Drupal first, PHP second, since I know nothing about it, then the usual web suspects with which I am already pretty familiar, if out-dated.