VeeshanVault

Ok I have a huge project that I have decided to try and do secretly in my spare time to score some points at work, and have some fun and refresh some of my knowledge in the process. There are multiple parts that I am looking for suggestions/ideas for, but I do want to make it VERY clear that I am not looking to steal/borrow anyones code, I'm just looking for some suggestions.

First things first, there are two small (I think, and hope) test programs I want to make. We have pages we use for these at work, but they are just random links I found online, I want to create my own with our companies logo and everything to make it more professional looking when we have a customer go to the sites. The two tools are for these purposes:

1- to test their abillity to load Java, both with and without JavaObject. The site we use for this is:
http://www.w3.org/People/mimasa/test/object/java/clock

I want to create something similar to this, but just displaying the company logo if they are able to view it, instead of the clocks.

2- to test abillity to use IFrames, we use this site:
http://dean.edwards.name/archives/freep ... iframe.htm

Here again I would just like to make something simple like that, involving our company logo.

So here are my questions about this first part:

1- Am I in way over my head as far as writing the code for these? I did go to school for programming, although I have not totally finished my degree, and I am pretty rusty, in fact I don't remember a whole lot at this point. I do have a text book for Java that I never even used that I could use as reference. Keep in mind im a fast learner, but I am not expecting to learn this in a week, I would like to be able to get them done over the next few months.

2- If it is not, any recommendations for good sites/tutorials/books or anything else I may want to check out for help on brushing up enough on Java, and whatever the second tool uses (xml ?) to create these tools.

3- What program am I going to need to do the programming itself? I have visual studio .net , but I do not have it installed right now and do not remember what it can do.


This leads me to the next part of the process, which I hope will be less painless then the first.

I will need to get these onto a webpage after I have finished making them. I am assuming that my Earthlink space I have wont be enough, and I would rather just do it right anyhow. So this leads to the next set of questions:

1- what software would you suggest that I get to create a website.

1b- Do you know of any tutorials I can download/sites for the program you suggest.

2- After I get the page made offline, I am going to need to get a domain name, and get the site hosted. What suggestions might you have for a good service/s for this. I will need very little space/bandwidth as I plan to only have these two things, and maybe store a few photos on it. (I would prefer to just get a good service and pay, not do the whole free with ads thing)

I am not really looking to set up anything elaborate, just host them someplace until I can present them to my boss, then have them transferred to our portal server.

I know this is a lot of information to ask about, but I am fairly confident I can get this done, and I have yet to find a better resource for anything computer related then right here at VV.

So any advice that anyone could give me would be more than greatly appreciated!!

Funk

The first is Java and the second is HTML, so you don't really need anything other than a standard text editor and a java compiler. If you want to move up from there, I use Eclipse for my Java IDE and I like it a lot. As far as HTML goes, there are tons of things you can use for that, I use Homesite when I'm not using nano or notepad.

The IFrame thing should take you an afternoon to learn how to do, writing a Java applet to display your company logo shouldn't be too difficult, but if you're not up on Java, it'll might take you a week or two. I don't really have any good links for tutorials, just google it and spend some time reading whatever comes up.

i use eclipse if i have a crapton of packages i need to manage, but i use textpad for smaller apps or proof of concept type things.

to create a website, i just use textpad again but i'm a c++/java programmer, not a webdev. i've worked with homesite in the past and i'd recommend that. i like the w3 schools sites a lot for tutorials and brushing up on tech that i'm vaguely familiar with. it's more of an overview then you go figure it out than a hand-holding tutorial.

depending on the tech you're using, you might not need to set up a domain and host if it's just something temporary.... you can just send the files to your boss. if you're wanting a domain and some space to play around with on your own, i get my domains through godaddy and i use dreamhost. if you want to play around with development, it's a good host... they support ruby on rails and have full shell access. for my photo albums, i use zen photo, and i love it (better than picasa imo).

dreamhost is relatively cheap for the level of service they provide. i've never had any problem with uptime or support, and they have unlimited domains. there are also a bunch of promo codes with ridiculous discounts from $50-$97: http://wiki.rubyonrails.com/rails/pages ... PromoCodes

with any host though, i always contact support before i get an account to see what their response time is like.