what does train wreck mean?

If all you want to do is modify PHP/HTML forms with a MySQL database, you need to know PHP, HTML and MySQL. If you want to enhance the user-experience of those forms with instant feedback, you'll need to know a bit of Javascript (which JQuery can simplify for you).

Is this the future of the web? Yes.

A builder with only a hammer is limited to what he can build. Even adding a simple saw to your toolkit won't allow you to construct elaborate structures made of wood, metal and stone. You need many different tools and many different skills, either you learn them yourself or you bring in experienced help.

A chef with only a blunt spoon and a tub of potatoes is limited to what he food he can make. Some people are happy being able to make unburnt toast, others are paid a lot of money to conjure exquisite meals from exotic ingredients.

There is no monopoly, there are more freely available open-source alternatives than ever before. And yet Adobe still provide fantastic value for money for professionals with their software and education.

The Ben's have it. Amen bro.

I'll second that!

@pinobellocreativeit,

Just so you know, your old fashioned server-behavior connections will stop working when your web host upgrades to PHP 5.5.  As many people are already experiencing this shift, you would do well to get up to speed with  MySqli or PDO connections ASAP.  Adobe removed server behaviors from DW CC because they are no longer relevant.  And yes, web technologies are changing at breakneck speed now.  These days, if you stand still, you're falling hopelessly behind.

Nancy O.

Every few weeks or so someone comes to the DreamWeaver forum with this identical complaint, which has two parts:

1. Web technology has become too complicated

2. Adobe is at least partly to blame, for a variety of reasons, but usually because it made DW more complicated than FrontPage was back in 1996.

People then respond to the frustrated poster with a variety of explanations. The responses given to this post are all good.

In the early days of the web, the web really sucked. It was clunky, butt ugly, and stupid, and no one had yet figured out how to keep it fresh and relevant. Fast forward to today--the web is elegant, beautiful, intelligent, fresh and relevant. All thanks to these newer, better, more complex tools that the poster is complaining about.

Those of us who worked on the web back in the mid 90's were not incompetent (most of us had come from successful careers in print publishing), we simply didn't have the tools that are available today (well, also bandwidth, graphic, and other hardware limitations).

Nancy said:"If you stand still, you're falling hopelessly behind." If you are not comfortable working in a field that is complex and changes rapidly, then don't work on the web.

Actually, this phenomenon of changing software and evolving complexity happens in a lot of fields these days. My son is an engineering draftsman, a job that used to involve a pencil, protractor, and a large sheet of paper. Now it requires knowledge of Autocad, Inventor, SolidWorks, and CATIA. Similarly, consider the boom in medical technology.