i had a thought
 

after thinking of 2 great hacks in the past 24 hours that i posted in requests (the confessionary and clubs hacks) *hint hint nudge nudge*, and all the other great requests i got in my sig, i thought to myself, woah, everyones so luck i can't code, i would be like the neo of vb.org

so i've decided in order to read that elevated level i'm gonna buy a book on php

and cos i babbled the thread has two purposes
1/ praise my superior hack thinker-upper ability
2/ recommend a book to learn php

:) :nervous: :neo:

Myself I never read a book, I used to do visual basics and picked up vb due to installing hacks here.

Also php.net is always a good reference.

Books, to me, are only good for reference.

If you're looking for a good reference book, try any of the O'REILLY Pocket Reference books, they're great. I have one for XML/XSLT and Javascript.

Take a programming course. I learned most fundamentals of programming through C++, 2 years ago when I took the AP course in high school.

FWIW, the ap version of C++ is not really C++. They don't teach a damn of actual core C like C-strings (they make their lame apstring class), which is what every ANSI C function takes...and so on.

I agree, the apstring class and other AP-made crap were mostly just diversions. I kept wondering through my course when we might learn some of the more established functions of C++.

But, taking such a class helps establish a good understanding of basic principles and concepts shared throughout most languages. It defiantly made me more enthused about learning other stuff, like PHP.

I've learnt all my languages from books (Except Visual Basic which I took a course for).

Get Wrox PHP4, thats an awsome book.

I learnt C++ via Sams book + CD-Rom. Books are the best if you don't have the opportunity to take courses ot classes to learn it. Like me. :(

for some reason i can't really take classes anymore, i hate learning at other ppls pace and i hate learning stuff i already know, never learned anything from a book really, well not since i left the academic life but i'm willing to try

getting back to hack discussion tho'occasionally i know actually how to go about making the hack, like what tables to define and what templates to make (only stupid little things like that), do any of you find it easier when making a requested hack to have this info or would you all just prefer to be left to it and use your own methods?

Sams Teach yourself PHP in 24 hours :)!

Steve what course did you take at your age?

I took a Visual Basic for Beginners course nearly a year ago (I was 13). I was the youngest there:o