What should I learn?

[Guv]

I am a retired mainframe programmer who has been doing fairly well with straight forward VB (No Active-X, OOP, or API interactions).

I went to Barnes & Noble to buy a book on creating WebSites and/or doing other internet-related work. I was overwhelmed by the number of books available. Some of the prices were not underwhelming.

First, what should I learn? There were books on HTML, Java, Jave-Script, Jscript, Active-X, and various titles suggesting that they were related to the subject.

Which one does what? Do I have to learn all of the above? If one can do it all, but is difficult, I would like to start with that one and try someting else if I have a problem.

My MicroSoft Visual Studio has J++, which I did not install. Is this some Java dialect? Perhaps I should find a book relating to J++, since I already have the software. If so, what book should I buy?

I hacked VB, using a MicroSoft Language Reference Manual without reading any tutorial-like book. A friend recommended this approach, saying I would need the Language reference sooner or later anyway. Can any of the above be hacked as easily as VB? When I tried to hack C++, I decided to leave it alone until I bought a tutorial.

[kovan]

it all depends on what you want
if your a db dude
here is order of operation i woudl go
vb, ado, xml, sql
if your a gammer, commercial app developer
c++,
if yoru a web developer (database)
vb, asp(using vb), sql, xml
if you wanna make a cool web page
dhtml, flash

hope that helps

[Dim]

Some of the best languages to learn:
1)C++
2)PHP & MySQL
3)Perl
4)ASP
That's how i would go about if i had the time. C++ is something you should consider if you are planning a carrer in programming. PHP is one of the best server side languages.

Gl,
D!m