How did you learn php?

[Psychdrone]

heh I plan to start reading in to php, ( you just wait till my first hack!! ;) )

I just got a book, (see attachment) and got a few online sources!

how did you learn about php, and if it was a book, tell us which one, and what you thought of it?

[Admin]

I learned PHP and MySQL from vBulletin really. :)
Of course I read some online tutorials which really help, but I can't remember which ones I've read. :)

[Action-N]

Hey funny, that was the first book I got. Certianly is for getting started, that for sure. I first started working with php by messing with the content manager called phpnuke. I was tired of trying to run a website manually with just HTML, so I was determined to learn php.

My second book is "PHP and MySQL web development" by Welling and Thompson. It has more advance scripting, but still nothing like what vBulletin is built with.

[Sparkz]

If you know some programming from before, the PHP manual is incredible valuable.
It's the only reference I use these days.

[Lesane]

I'm reading "Php4 Bible" at the moment. Its a good book, they give good examples of the code.

[Gimp]

all from reading the manual + some tutorials online
u mostly learn stuff and gain expirience after working on something big :cool:

[Mark Hensler]

manual + hacking + debuging others' code

I've found that debuging other people's code is a learning experience by itself. You'll get to see all kinds of stuff you may never otherwise see. For example, I work on one project at work. But when I come home, I'm debuging code for several people who each have a project different from mine. This gives me more exposure to different problems and different solutions.

[tbloom2002]

php.net, mysql.com, "php and mysql web development", and just looking over other code to see how everything works.. are your friends :);):D

[slade]

Originally posted by Mark Hensler
manual + hacking + debuging others' code

I've found that debuging other people's code is a learning experience by itself. You'll get to see all kinds of stuff you may never otherwise see. For example, I work on one project at work. But when I come home, I'm debuging code for several people who each have a project different from mine. This gives me more exposure to different problems and different solutions.


Exactly. You don't need to spend any money, in my opinion to learn PHP at all. Like Mark said, the PHP and mySQL manuals are invaluable. Also, find a community devoted to PHP (www.phpbuilder.com or www.tek-tips.com) where you can ask questions and debug other code. It worked for me.

-Vic

[nuno]

* nuno only knows that PHP stands for Personal Home Page. :D

[Mark Hensler]

Originally posted by nuno
* Mark Hensler only knows that PHP stands for Personal Home Page. :D Where did you find that?!? I have looked but never could find it. I've heard that it stands for either "Personal Home Page" or some dude's "Hypertext Processor" (can't remember the name).

[Admin]

PHP today stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"... like GNU stads for "GNU's Not Unix".
It used to be Personal Home Page though when it first started.

[nuno]

hehe
Rasmus Lerdorf, the creator of PHP >>> http://lerdorf.com/bio.php

[Bob Burke]

I had already learned Perl (which, incidentally was introduced to me by another well known bulletin board that shall remain nameless) and then I started reading the PHP Manual aswell a tutorials at SitePoint and Devshed, I still haven't bought a PHP book but I consider myself an experienced PHP coder. One of the most important reasons for me to use PHP over Perl was its' vast array of database functions without requiring extra modules and plug-ins.

Anyway, put simply, in my opinion: PHP > Perl. And the best way, in my opinion, to learn PHP is by reading and consulting the PHP Manual, looking at others code and trying to understand it and just keep at it!!

Good luck!
Regards,
Bob Burke (bob@pixel26.net)


p.s. the "Visual Quickstart Guide" books of which your PHP book is one are a good selection of books and the couple I have bought (Perl & CGI for the WWW, Dreamweaver 4) have been excellent. Just my ?0.02

[slade]

Originally posted by FireFly
PHP today stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"... like GNU stads for "GNU's Not Unix".
It used to be Personal Home Page though when it first started.

Off topic, but in case any doesn't know this, these acronyms are called recursive acronyms. :)

-Vic

[Admin]

Originally posted by slade
Off topic, but in case any doesn't know this, these acronyms are called recursive acronyms. :)
Ahh yes I knew that (really!) I just forgot how you say it. ;) :)

[FOS]

bought a book and the read complete php manual on php.net and the manual on mysql.com yeah but i ain't as good as the people i know..

[Knoman]

for my basic knowledge, i got them from here
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/21/index2a_page4.html?tw=programming

as for the advanced stuff, i opened up vbulletin and studied it.

[Mark Hensler]

Thomas Edison said something to effect of:
1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration