Re: [PHP] how to learn php
http://www.unf.edu/~rita0001/eresources/php_tutorials/index.htm LOL - I remember going to school with Albert. Never knew he got into PHP after I left. -- life is a game... so have fun. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
RE: [PHP] how to learn php
If you like to learn while playing, you may want to look at http://www.webertrivia.com. You can learn PHP, MySQL And Linux while playing trivia :) Sincerely berber Visit the Weber Sites Today, To see where PHP might take you tomorrow. PHP MySQL Forums : http://www.weberforums.com Search for PHP Code from your browser http://toolbar.weberdev.com -Original Message- From: /dev/null [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 2:10 AM To: php-general@lists.php.net Subject: [PHP] how to learn php hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? i am very familiar with html, xhtml, and css. i'm not an idiot when it comes to using computers. i have bought several books and have subscribed to a couple of the php mailing lists, but i feel that i could be doing more to learn php. what approach (and steps) did you take in learning this really cool scripting language? should i look into taking classes or stick with an autodidact approach? any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
I started out by getting a reference manual, one with every function describing what the function does. Just like the php.net online function reference but one that can be read lying on the couch. Now when I need some code to do something I'll remember there's a function for it (maybe) and I go to php.net and search for it. I search for PHP examples online for more advanced stuff than I can do and study it. This gives me some knowledge of proper approach to coding; when to use what. Finally if the code looks funky I send a snip to this list and someone will suggest a better function or approach. Oh yea, this is great, I use Dreamweaver's (grimace) PHP coding abilities to get projects started. Dreamweaver can do the preliminary basic database connection stuff: INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE pages. Then I hack the Dreamweaver code. Doing a MySQL tutorial is a good idea too. hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? i am very familiar with html, xhtml, and css. i'm not an idiot when it comes to using computers. i have bought several books and have subscribed to a couple of the php mailing lists, but i feel that i could be doing more to learn php. what approach (and steps) did you take in learning this really cool scripting language? should i look into taking classes or stick with an autodidact approach? any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? -snip- any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. First, welcome to the language. Second, I suggest that you find a beginner's book -- if not hard-copy, then try this: http://www.unf.edu/~rita0001/eresources/php_tutorials/index.htm -- and go through all the examples. Write a program that deals with each example and get it to work. Now, realize that this is not lost effort because those examples will become your references for future development. Until those examples become second nature to you, you'll be looking back at them time and time again. I've found that as I code, I build bigger and more specialized routines/libraries that I incorporate into other projects. Third, develop a style and stick with it. There are different styles that help us in reviewing code. Some programmers have the ability to look at cryptic code and understand it's meaning immediately, while others require more natural language or verbose syntax. Also, even the way you indent can help you in reviewing code. There are several different ways to do that, but you pick something that makes sense to you and be consistent in it's application. Fourth, and IMO most important, is to develop a manner of documentation. This is simply writing notes to the person who will be reading your code at some point in the future -- which usually is a smarter you. So, do yourself a favor and impress your future self, by documenting what you're doing now. Now, go forth and be fruitful in your coding. tedd -- http://sperling.com/ -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
tedd wrote: hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? -snip- any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. Here's a tutorial I found useful, and would be good for someone without a programming background as it has good explanations of not only the code, but the concepts. http://www.brainbell.com/tutors/php/php_mysql/index.html. I found it when I started to try to learn authentication. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it, and this site took me over the hump!! This is also on that site, but I haven't really looked at this section. http://www.brainbell.com/tutorials/php/ Another thing I did was to download the php reference manual to my desk top so I can easily pull it up. I typically look there first, and if I still need some help, I will google for code snippets. Then I ask for help on one of the lists. I don't remember where I got the manual, but I'm sure someone here can give you a link. Or you can google for it. jimmy -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
RE: [PHP] how to learn php
Btw, if we are talking about tutorials :) PHP 101 (part 1): Down The Rabbit Hole http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/433 PHP 101 (part 2): Calling All Operators http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/435 PHP 101 (part 3): Looping The Loop http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/436 PHP 101 (part 4): The Food Factor http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/438 PHP 101 (part 5): Rank And File http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/440 PHP 101 (part 6): Function-ally Yours http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/443 PHP 101 (part 7): The Bear Necessities http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/445 PHP 101 (part 8): Databases and Other Animals http://www.weberdev.com/ViewArticle/449 More will come... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2006 8:28 PM To: tedd; php-general@lists.php.net Subject: Re: [PHP] how to learn php tedd wrote: hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? -snip- any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. Here's a tutorial I found useful, and would be good for someone without a programming background as it has good explanations of not only the code, but the concepts. http://www.brainbell.com/tutors/php/php_mysql/index.html. I found it when I started to try to learn authentication. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it, and this site took me over the hump!! This is also on that site, but I haven't really looked at this section. http://www.brainbell.com/tutorials/php/ Another thing I did was to download the php reference manual to my desk top so I can easily pull it up. I typically look there first, and if I still need some help, I will google for code snippets. Then I ask for help on one of the lists. I don't remember where I got the manual, but I'm sure someone here can give you a link. Or you can google for it. jimmy -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
tedd wrote: hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? -snip- any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. First, welcome to the language. Second, I suggest that you find a beginner's book -- snip 1. If you can do any learning from books (e.g. you were/are a decent student in whatever educational system you did/are attend/attending), by all means follow tedd's Second, Somewhat contrary to the advise get a book with everything in it, I found Larry Ullman's PHP The World Wide Web (PeachPit Press) to be da bomb when I decided to learn PHP. I'll plug him for readability, his explanations, and he was a fellow Missourian (think he's in California now). I get no money from PeachPit or Larry for that, though ... ;-) Keep in mind that there is no way that books can keep up with real-time development on a language like PHP; the need for the online manual (or the Windows .chm help files) is also great. In particular, I found that Larry's book was mostly written from a PHP3 POV, but PHP4 was out by the time I got my hands on it. There were a few differences; sometimes he made mention of that. 2. Write some code: ?php echo Hello, world!; ? 3. Read the source code of scripts you can download for free at sites like hotscripts.com. Then, write something better (be sure to adhere to any licensing restrictions you find)! Then, you can start reading source code for bigger projects, and see how the big boys work 4. Get involved in a PHP developer community (PHPBuilder.com's forum gets my vote, and, of course, you've joined this mail-list, I suppose...) and read, read, read, and ask sensible questions. Read Eric S. Raymond's essay 'How to ask questions the smart way, if you've not already done so. So, it's read, code, and read code; then, ask for help nicely if you need it! Good luck with PHP, Kevin Kinsey -- Chicagoan: So, wherere you from? Hoosier:Whats wrong with Indiana? -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? i am very familiar with html, xhtml, and css. i'm not an idiot when it comes to using computers. i have bought several books and have subscribed to a couple of the php mailing lists, but i feel that i could be doing more to learn php. what approach (and steps) did you take in learning this really cool scripting language? should i look into taking classes or stick with an autodidact approach? well, this is free... http://www.hudzilla.org/phpbook/ -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
On 2/10/06, /dev/null [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? i am very familiar with html, xhtml, and css. i'm not an idiot when it comes to using computers. i have bought several books and have subscribed to a couple of the php mailing lists, but i feel that i could be doing more to learn php. what approach (and steps) did you take in learning this really cool scripting language? should i look into taking classes or stick with an autodidact approach? any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php I think I won't be the only one that says the best way to learn is by some experience. A simple but effective way is to choose something that interests you, create a small database and then a PHP interface to fill it up and display information out. If you can't think of an interest, ask your friends and family for something they want to keep records of. Load the free (as in beer) software you need on your computer (LAMP or WAMP?) and start making examples. If you can't seem to get motivated on your own, involving someone else who really wants to see results is probably the best motivation. Keep in mind the goal of learning PHP and not making the best display, user interface, database tables, security (at first), etc. Getting some results will probably help motivate you further. Don't wait to finish the books before you start. You won't remember it all anyway, so just skim the books and use as references. good luck, -- http://kimbriggs.com
Re: [PHP] how to learn php
On 11/02/2006 10:10 AM, /dev/null wrote: hello i have been trying to learn php. what is the best approach to learning php for someone who has no programming experience? i am very familiar with html, xhtml, and css. i'm not an idiot when it comes to using computers. i have bought several books and have subscribed to a couple of the php mailing lists, but i feel that i could be doing more to learn php. what approach (and steps) did you take in learning this really cool scripting language? should i look into taking classes or stick with an autodidact approach? any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated. thanks. I honestly believe the best way to learn any programming language, aside from perhaps tertiary study (and then only perhaps), is to start out with a project and ask the questions you need to solve as you build that project. It should quickly become obvious which things you need to learn, as you plan and pursue the project. Some of those questions might be: - I need to access data in a database. How do I do that? - I need to be able to carry data from one page to another, how do I do that? - I need to be able to store 'stuff' at one point in a page (ie, maybe data I got from the database) so I can use it again at another point in the page. And so on. Armed with those questions, you can go through your books, go through helpful web sites (don't underestimate the quality of the docs and comments on php.net) and ask questions in forums like this one. Another useful way of picking up knowledge that might not be relevant to you right now, but will probably be handy to know later, is reading threads in this mailing list. That way you learn about the kinds of problems others have encountered, and the suggestions for solving them they have received. Much warmth, Murray --- Lost in thought http://www.planetthoughtful.org Urban legends, superstitions, ghost stories and folklore http://www.ulblog.org -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
