I want to be a web developer

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What skills/attributes do you need to be a web developer? Im trying to learn html/css at the moment

A bad developer that does nothing special in life can get by with copy/paste and bragging skills. A diagnosis with Narcissistic Personality Disorder helps.

A good developer requires tenacity, an everlasting desire to learn new technologies, a logical way of thinking and some modest social skills to be able to work in a corporate environment. A diagnosis with Autism or Aspergers Syndrome helps.

A knowledge of html and css is essential if you want to work in a web environment, but you'll really need to focus on one area, there are no good developers who do everything. If you're more artistic you can stay with the "front end", and focus on design skills, crafting html and css, possibly also some javascript coding. Then there is the "back end" jobs which involve interacting with databases and other services, code running on a web server that does the actual work (eg you hit "post" on a forum...code has to take the data on the page, store it in a database, then show you a page with the updated thread data on it).

If you want to do front-end work then html\css\javascript is all you need. If you want to do back-end work then there are more decisions to be made, namely which technology to you focus on as again there are no good developers that do everything. One of the two major schools is "LAMP" which is Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP; these are all old technologies that have far been surpassed by much better things but people still use them because they are free. The other major school is .net which is the Microsoft stack of Windows, IIS, SQL Server and asp.net.

Most people's route to becoming a developer is a university degree. If this option isn't open to you then you can still make it self-taught, but I think the front-end side of things is more open to the self-taught root as people just want to see something that looks pretty and works. With back-end work there are a lot of concepts to grasp that are hard to get from programming books which is why people often seek people with either a degree or a lot of previous experience (which you'll struggle to get without a degree).

First of all, learn to code in HTML, rather than just copying and pasting code into DreamWeaver. Also, learn to use something other than Wix to make websites. No one takes Wix sites seriously, except for other Wix users.

Already some very sensible answers in this thread. I will just quickly add that its a really good idea to learn by doing. Make your own website about something you are interested in. It makes learning these skills more fun, and its always good to start building a portfolio of work to show future employers.

Last year Comcast pulled the plug on all hobby websites and suggested wix as an alternative. I already had functioning html, css, and JavaScript on my pages but found out quickly that wix doesn't host sites the user can update with ftp.

Have since moved to godaddy but learned there was a lot to learn just to get to client-side only and haven't done anything server sided. I have only one suite of related pages (supports a music notation software) thus far.

P.S. (edited) When looking for the programming job I have now (shop offers consumer loans) my boss ran my loan calculation webpage. My calculation was one cent off but I knew exactly what the reason was.

I wanna be a web developer , too

I have been working as a software developer for more than 4 years and have worked on some web projects during that time.

There are multiple routes one can go. Mine is more of a general software development role, but I've worked alongside co-workers who were web developers by title. At both places I have worked a web dev position and interview is treated essentially as a general software development one, though there may be specific questions regarding web in addition. Regardless, a strong background in computer science or related field is generally a prerequisite before a candidate will even get interviewed. Being proficient in general programming in a common language like Java is essential because most interviews involve coding problems and require you to write real code. This is true even though web developers might not write Java (rather Javascript), but think of having this as your foundational background and your web skills as a field you are specializing in. The foundation is just as important, if not more important, especially in entry-level positions. At least in attaining them, that is.

And while one can perhaps be entirely self-taught, I have rarely seen, at least nowadays, someone getting hired without a 4-year degree in some field. Work experience would suffice, but given the chicken-or-the-egg nature of experience, having the educational background is often the gateway into a first position. Given that the overwhelming majority of candidates hired at companies of all different sizes will have a degree, you will be at a significant disadvantage otherwise. I know some I have worked with had degrees in fields such as mathematics or various non-CS engineering fields. Having a degree in computer science or closely-related field, and at a university known in your country/area with a strong computer science program are bonuses but are by no means requirements.

Good luck!