Build Your First Web App
A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP
By Albert Agyei, founder of Codolla Studio
Written for people who have never coded before.
You don't need any experience or an expensive computer. If you can install an app and type, you can follow this book, and every step covers both Windows and Mac.
Complete beginners
You have never written a line of code and want to start properly.
Students
You want to understand what your course only touches on, and build something you can show.
Career changers
You want solid foundations before you choose a framework.
Business owners and staff
You want to understand how the web apps you use every day really work.
22 chapters in seven parts.
Understand first, then build.
Each language is taught on its own with small, focused examples, threaded together by a School Admission Form you improve as you go. Once you understand the pieces, you put them together into a complete application. The examples use Ghanaian names and places, and every screenshot comes from real, working code.
- Part 01
Getting Ready
How the web works, and setting up Chrome, VS Code and XAMPP.
- Part 02
HTML
The basics, lists and tables, and forms.
- Part 03
CSS
The basics and the box model, layout and responsive design, and styling forms and tables.
- Part 04
JavaScript
The basics, then the DOM, events and forms.
- Part 05
PHP and MySQL
PHP basics, form data, databases and SQL, PHP with MySQL using prepared statements, file uploads and sessions, and security.
- Part 06
The project
Build a complete Student Information Management System: planning, login and logout, adding and viewing students with photos, editing, deleting and admins, and finishing touches and testing.
- Part 07
Debugging and going online
Read error messages, find and fix problems, and put your app online.
Appendices: common error messages, cheat sheets, answers, a glossary and an index.
A complete Student Information Management System.
In Part 6 you build the kind of system schools and training centres rely on, from an empty folder to a tested, working app you understand line by line.
- Secure login and logout for administrators
- Add students with their photos, then list and view them
- Edit and delete records, and manage administrator accounts
- MySQL with prepared statements that protect against SQL injection
- Form checks, safe file uploads and clear error messages
Get the code for every chapter.
The companion code is free for subscribers to the Codolla Studio newsletter. Enter your first name and email, and we'll email you a download link straight away.
practice
The code for every chapter, ready to open in your browser.
sims
The finished Student Information Management System from Part 6.
README.txt
Where to copy each folder in XAMPP on Windows or Mac.
One zip file, about 150 KB. The link in the email works for 7 days.
Is the code download free?
Yes. The companion code is free for subscribers to the Codolla Studio newsletter. Enter your email above and we'll send you the link. You can unsubscribe at any time and keep the code.
I didn't get the email. What should I do?
It usually arrives within a few minutes. Check your spam, junk or promotions folder, and make sure you typed your email correctly. If it still hasn't arrived, fill in the form again with the same address and we'll resend it, or email office@codollastudio.com.
My download link has expired.
Links work for 7 days. Fill in the form above again and we'll send you a fresh link straight away.
Do I need Windows or a Mac?
Either. Every step in the book covers both Windows and macOS, and the tools it uses (Chrome, VS Code and XAMPP) are free on both.
Do I need any experience?
No. The book starts with how the web works and setting up your computer, and explains every new idea before you use it.
What's in the download?
A practice folder with the code for every chapter, a sims folder with the finished Student Information Management System, and a README that explains where to put each one in XAMPP.