How to learn PHP

[adwhitworth]

As question. I've tried the Webmonkey guides and I just can't sit reading tutorials on a screen. Any books that aren't too bad?

[Agent]

Google, php.net, and see if you can get your hands on a good book.
The "PHP for beginers" by Wrox is excellent

[adwhitworth]

Thanks

I'll wander over to Amazon to see how much I can get the book for. I can't sit in front of a screen to learn. There's too many distractions.

[MrFlibble]

Originally posted by adwhitworth
Thanks

I'll wander over to Amazon to see how much I can get the book for. I can't sit in front of a screen to learn. There's too many distractions.

Equally, you can't learn it all from a book. A balance of both is the key. Design yourself a project you can get your teeth into, and go for it. The combination of wanting to get the project done and a good book is a winner

[Jonny M]

PHP and MySQL Web Development by Welling and Thomson is also excellent.

[adwhitworth]

Originally posted by MrFlibble
Equally, you can't learn it all from a book. A balance of both is the key. Design yourself a project you can get your teeth into, and go for it. The combination of wanting to get the project done and a good book is a winner

Obviously I expect this is the case but I need to start with a book to get myself motivated to learn the rest. I don't want to do it for a job but I'd like to get fairly pro-ish so I could write a decent site in PHP.

Thanks for the suggestion Caged.

[QueenAdreena]

Originally posted by Agent

The "PHP for beginers" by Wrox is excellent

Quoted for truth.

[Shorty]

Another really good book is

"Build your own database driven website using PHP & MySQL".

I got it via mail order from the US. See link above. Taught me so much!

[DaBeeeenster]

One thing I would suggest is to have a mini project in mind that you want to write. Give yourself a goal, and then try and code up a site that achieves it.

It doesn't have to be complex. Just take a concept and distill it down to something REALLY simple. Examples might be:

A basic forum. No user management, no HTMl editing, just users being able to create threads or reply to them.

A basic content management system. People can edit fields in a management area that correspond to areas of text on a website

Once you have something you are aiming for, the actual learning part falls into place a lot more quickly. If you just say to yourself "I want to learn php" you will drown in the API, as it is huge!

[itsanobscureid]

Originally posted by DaBeeeenster
If you just say to yourself "I want to learn php" you will drown in the API, as it is huge!

agreed - you must have something ur thinkin about PHP for, or you wouldn't want to learn it , then as dabeen says try and break it down into easierly solveable sub problems - then start on the simplest component - you'll no doubt end up coding it more than once but that'll help you learn (and irritate the hell out of you at first)

good luck

[MrFlibble]

Originally posted by Caged
PHP and MySQL Web Development by Welling and Thomson is also excellent.

I used that one, v. good.

What DaBeen said about having a project in mind is basically what I meant, only it didn't come out as clearly!

[QueenAdreena]

Just to agree some more with everyone else, it can't be stressed how useful it is to have a project in mind. It's all well and good learning stuff, but if you're not applying it you'll just forget everything you've learnt.

When I started learning I decided I wanted to make a blog for myself, it was a good learning exercise as I needed to learn to retrieve/update data from/to a database. As I learned more I added to it, so where before it just displayed entries, I can now add/edit entries via a form, change colour settings, display smilies in entries, etc.

Also books are good, but don't forget about all the resources on the net. Google Groups is unbelievably useful sometimes, as are the more usual sites such as Webmonkey, Devshed, PHPFreaks, etc.

Oh and good luck, learning PHP is actually quite fun once you get your head round it

[jcoquillon]

This is my next project as well i was going to go for the buy a book route and build a website for myself and learn as I go method as that's my usual tactic for learning programming langauges.

Thutorials don't help it's playing about with the code that teaches you

[adwhitworth]

Thanks everyone

[MrFlibble]

Originally posted by jcoquillon
This is my next project as well i was going to go for the buy a book route and build a website for myself and learn as I go method as that's my usual tactic for learning programming langauges.

Thutorials don't help it's playing about with the code that teaches you

Yep, that's the route I took. Made Holidayfood.co.uk as an experiment. (Haven't touched it in months, but it was fun learning!)

[BlackTower]

I might try out that Camel recipe this weekend