Step one: Learn a programming language. I'd recommend Python, as it's a pretty simple language and used in many web applications. There's a number of good Python tutorials—for kids, or adults who want to start at the most basic level, there's
RUR-PLE, a graphical program where you learn to use code to move a robot around. A more formal introduction to programming and python is
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist, a free online textbook by Allen Downey.
Step two: Learn a web development framework.Sure, you could teach yourself about data structures and SQL and random Python libraries and other stuff so that you could build a web app with your existing knowledge from the ground up. But that's hard. Frameworks such as Python-based
Django take a lot of the nitty-gritty out of web programming so that you can build something interesting quickly. Django's website has a
tutorial, which I recommend, including the tutorial's
unofficial part five on testing. You'll also want to consult a book on Django, most likely. There are many; the one I've used is
Python Web Development With Django by Forcier, Bissex, and Chun.
Step three: Learn about web program design and think about what you want your program to do.This is something I'm still learning about myself. One resource I'd recommend is online course
Software Engineering For Web Applications. Mainly, though, this step is a lot of seeing what other web apps do, exploring how they do them, and talking to more experienced programmers (and hopefully finding mentors and tutors among them). It's also evaluating your own goals, determining who your hypothetical web app's users will be, and talking to those users to see what they need. This step is ongoing and never really ends—needs and goals change over time, after all!
This is hardly an exhaustive tutorial by any means, but hopefully the linked resources will be of interest!
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