> > Ok? > Great, that explains better than "most" of the tutorials I've read. > It is unfortunate that most if not all reference documentation expect the > reader to have a college degree just on their subject in order to understand > "wot in 'ell" they're saying. > I've done pretty well in figuring out many thing on my own but sometimes ya > just need an expert to chip in and make yer day. > My thanks,
My pleasure. In fact the MySQL manual is a cut above many/most 'out there', but as you say it is a reference manual, ie a set of rules and regulations to describe the functionality - more like a dictionary than an encyclopedia - and not many people's idea of relaxing bed-time reading! By contrast, the tutorial sites are designed to 'teach' the use of such functionality. Taking a PHP example, I noted the LIST() and FOR EACH construct in the manual, and pretty much said "yes, ok, so", but it was only when I worked through a tutorial which put them together that I saw a neat and powerful way to manipulate associative arrays (ok, maybe that says more about me than reference manuals and tutorials, but...). If you have done some programming before, or if you are confident in your ability to pick up the basics, then I recommend "PHP and MySQL Web Development" by Welling and Thomson, SAMS, to you. It has a good tutorial style (beyond presuming introductory PHP/programming knowledge) and presents the combination of PHP and MySQL in a series of practical applications/scenarios. I found it very good - but then I have used SQL before and several other programming languages. If the starting point is not a problem, it should also appeal to your interest/approach. Regards, =dn -- PHP Database Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
