Ask HN: Essentials for Web Development?

html 5, css javascript jquery

on the server side either java or ruby on raily or groovy on grails or node.js or whatever makes sense for you there

security issues (client side, server side) accessibility

ux (user experience) - you need an expert for thast

web design graphics

good operations team

experts for performance and scalability

I personally think that PHP and MySQL are essential for making websites that use profiles for users and shopping carts.

A good text editor/ftp client/terminal