As many of us are now aware, the Internet is the forefront of business, friendly connection and just plain entertainment. What does it take to make a website? With all of the technology advancements made in the past ten years, not much. A simple drag and drop editor, or one of the thousands of sites offering free layouts or pre-made templates for a fee.
In the beginning it wasn't that easy, some of us, my self included had to use minimal tools like notepad. That's right, notepad was the main coding software used in web development and many of us old school designers still use it today. You had to know so many codes that are at this point almost obsolete. There was also the issues in regards to cross browser compatibility as new and more complex web browsers hit the scene. This is not so much a problem today as it was then. Let me tell you I can't begin to stress the amount of headaches involved with trying to code for Netscape, that browser was the devil.
Then came flash, and swift movies and web design became more about looks than content. It gave us as web designers a better opportunity to express our own creativity. So not only are we sharing information and ideas, we are sharing our visual perspectives.
The only real downfall in regards to web design advancement is the fact that almost anyone can do it now, limiting the actual market for paid designers, unless your working for an actual company. Freelancers now have to go out and receive a formal education. It used to be just hey I can make a website let me charge you two hundred dollars. With that education came the rise in price. There are still a few of us out there that do offer them for free just because we think its fun to code the darn things though.
Right now I think the biggest software requirement for any designer though is Adobe. It has every thing you need, to making your own graphics, to creating your whole design in photoshop. Next up is macromedia, although I personally cannot stand dream weaver, it seems to be the choice program in colleges these days for teaching web design. (Needless to say I was sorely disappointed the first time I took a web design class)
As far as tutorials go, the best site for that and coding information would have to come from http://www.good-tutorials.com/, it is the best resource I can think of for learning something new. They have everything from html, to how to make an entire layout in photoshop. After doing a few of their tutorials you can even cross ideals creating a whole new one of your own.
Now, if your truly new to this and want to make a site all your own, http://www.lissaexplains.com/. A web site that is primarily there to teach your kids how to make some creative simple web sites. Its still a great resource for those just starting out and its been around for a long time. It shows you what I was talking about earlier, coding in notepad.
I'll add some more of my own resources after I have a chance to look through my notebooks, mostly because a bunch of these sites have phased out over the years.
