There’s a HECK of a lot to learn to be able to do web development effectively. Just to be ABLE to do it, you have to learn:

• HTML
• CSS
• PHP or some other server-side language

To do it EFFECTIVELY, you’ve got a lot more to learn:

• SQL
• JavaScript
• libraries and frameworks
• a bug tracking system
• Subversion or some other revision control system
• IDEs
• other tools
• Apache
• Linux command line

[ad code=1 align=center]
To do it WELL, there’s even more:

• usability
• unobtrusive JavaScript
• separation of concerns (MVC, etc)
• testing
• customer relations
• HTTP protocol
• AJAX

I think that skipping PHP and the others and going straight to Rails is a good idea. Maybe. At least if he’s talented. But he’ll still have to learn a lot of things before he’s any good at creating a site. (Don’t forget that we found Rails easy to learn because we already knew a lot about web development.) He’ll still have to understand HTML and CSS. The Agile Web Development with Rails books is excellent, but it takes a lot to get through. If you’re the type who can read a manual to learn how to do something, then it’s fine. But if you need to start out with a tutorial, then you’ll need to start with a different book. If you do go this route, I’d recommend learning in this order:

• HTML
• CSS
• Apache (as little as possible to get 2 virtual hosts running)
• Rails
• Subversion
• Test-Driven Development
• Ruby
• SQL

If you want to make a living at it, I’d expect it to take at least a year of full-time (self-)education. Everyone learns differently, so it’s hard to recommend learning materials. I’ll offer some ideas though:

• books (my favorite; I look for conciseness)
• formal training classes
• (community) college classes
• local user groups (attend if topic is pertinent)
• online videos/screencasts
• podcasts
• web tutorials
• blogs (hard to get the basics though)
• personalized training
• mentoring

If he just wants to play around, I suppose the order is not as important. Learn things as they interest you. Eventually, you’ll find you’ve learned a ton and enjoyed doing it.

Related posts:

1. How to become a Web Designer