Wanting to learn Php
 

Okay, I have a simple question. What books/tutorial course can I get to teach me php? I can learn via reading but would like to get something that has some sort of video like instruction. I can write html very well and I have a very good understanding of css. I have never been taught any sort of coding language and I am dying to learn so that I can create my own custom hacks needed for my board.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

I learned it (Do I know PHP? Not sure ...) by reading vBulletin source code and http://www.php.net :)

But I should add that I already knew other languages like C/C++, Perl, JAVA, etc.

If, like Kirby, you know other languages (especially C++, Java, and Perl), then you'll pick up PHP very quickly. However, even if you do, I would suggest any PHP tutorial book by Sams Publishing.

I would not suggest learning PHP directly from reading vBulletin code for several reasons, including you'll make assumptions about coding that may only apply to a specific part of vB, not the entire language. It is, however, a great way to test your knowledge.

I know NO languages at all and would love to learn. What is the best way I could go about this? I have a Barnes and Noble near by but I hate looking through all the books beacuse I don't really know what I am looking at. I need the programming for newbies guide but what would be the best thing to go for?

Everything you will need to know about php is in the php.net manual:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/

What would be the easiest language to learn for a newbie? A language that would allow me to easily learn other languages?

Visual basic is cake to learn, but I am not sure learning the easiest first is best. Some of the easy ones teach you very bad programming habits.

If you are going to do it for more than a hobby at some point, I suggest learning java. (not javascript) The development tools are free, there's lots of documentation online and it's a stricter language that will help you develop better code.

Amy

Well PHP/C++/Java are pretty much identical in terms of syntax. PHP is used just for web applications, so if that's what you are interested in doing, you might as well start by just learning some PHP.

I can't recommended a tutorial...I think any should be good. The main thing with programming is playing around with it. It might be a good idea to set up a server on your local computer. For that, this is a good package : http://www.apachefriends.org/en/

Don't be intimitated, either. Programming is pretty easy, after a little practice. At first, you may be asking yourself "How would I go about doing this?". With a little experience, the question becomes "Okay, what's the best way to do this?".

Okay Amy, I like your idea. When I first started learning HTML a couple of years ago I had no idea what I was doing. I wrote some very crude pages that were a disaster at best.

I very much so like leaving myself notes as to what I am doing comment tags and what not. Are there any java sites that you might frequent that would give me a good head start?

The internet is a great tool, there are tons of tutorials out there that will help you gain an understanding of basic, beginning php by doing a simple google search on it. Once you go through a couple of them you can have an understanding of the basics in no time :)