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

[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

[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]

[high]* nuno only knows that PHP stands for Personal Home Page. [/high]