Learning programming for design purposes?

What's the best way to get started with programming for things like building websites & website graphics? My boyfriend does it for a living (Builds e-commerce websites) but having him teach me would probably drive me crazy

I'm a graphic designer & a lot of graphic design jobs are pretty computer heavy, sometimes including building things for websites which I basically just take a stab in the dark at, at the minute. I figure I can only make myself more employable if I can learn a bit of programming to help with building websites and/or building graphics for websites.

I've heard that learning Java is the best way to go but I don't really know much about it. Would anyone suggest another way?

Also, I'm pretty terrible at maths! I'm not super terrible, I got a B at GCSE but it certainly isn't my strong point & nowadays I mostly do everything with a calculator. Is this likely to hinder me?

Do you know HTML? You might have if you do basic websites, if not, that's where to start.
http://www.w3schools.com is a good place and covers JavaScript, PHP etc too.

Thanks for that link, it looks great! I'll have to start working through it I know very basic HTML but I could certainly learn a lot more so I'll probably start there!

I've not really looked into it but my understanding is you can do some pretty nifty stuff with html5...

html5 might be the first place to start then, thanks for the recommendation

Html and css is a must - as that is the actual code of the website that people access. Then you choose from a language that you want to build the back end with (if the site requires a database) but cross that bridge when you come to it (although it would make sense to use whatever your OH uses - so he can help you if you get stuck)

Ah okay, so HTML and CSS would make the parts that people actually see? I think that's definitely where i'll start then!

My OH uses Java, PHP, HTML and I'm sure some other stuff but he tends to flit between doing front end and back end stuff, depending on what his company needs him to do. I think he'd probably be able to help me with anything HTML related if I get stuck, although i'll be loathed to ask him

Also, this might be a stupid question but should I be writing the code in a special program so that I can preview it as I go? The only program I've heard of that does that is Dreamweaver but I know my dad used that 10 years ago so I have no idea if it's outdated now.

I just use a text editor - textmate (Mac)

You can just drag html files into your browser to see your progress

I tend to do HTML in Notepad (Notepad++ has some funky features that help, e.g. colour coding) and then have the website open locally via a web browser. I refresh the page as I work on it so I can see each bit being updated, make sure the code is working, etc.
Programs like Dreamweaver and Frontpage tend to pad out the HTML with lots of unnecessary coding, but they can be useful for learning on because you can switch between the WYSIWYG mode (similar to using Word/Publisher) and the HTML version and learn what code does what by having the software do it for you and then viewing what it's actually done. But you can pick up bad habits doing it that way around!

That sounds pretty good actually and it seems like they have a free trial so I might download that and have a go!

Thanks for the info, I think i'll probably stay away from things like Dreamweaver then & use either notepad++ or the Textmate thing Azz has suggested I'd rather learn the hard way and avoid picking up bad habits

I'm so excited about this!