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.