Learning PHP

[thuxen]

If your going to learn PHP, might as well give yourself a useful project to learn on. For ex, take a affiliate datafeed, drop it into a database and make a website display the shop.

 

[youssefedward]

w3schools.com is a good place to begin.

 

[finspin]

Here's an EXCELLENT starter for ya: In the Woods – Diving into PHP: Video Series

^ this. After you go through the whole series start working on your own project (e.g. to-do list application) and build it from scratch. You'll learn stuff along the way.

 

[gutterseo]

Also check out the no starch press books. I find them probably the easiest to read of all programming books as the author norm. has a good sense of humour.

 

[Bofu2U]

If you can find it... try About.com's step by step for creating a script to interact with a database... I believe it was called the beginners guide to php and mysql.

 

[kblessinggr]

Back when I start all I had was php.net, course in the years prior I was working for a web firm doing ASP, VC++, VB6, etc. And it was shortly after everyone got laid off, and I had a new client who couldn't afford a windows based server (this was back in like 2002 a couple months after 9/11), so over the course of a month, I learned basically what I needed for that particular MySQL driven solution. Course the concept between ASP and PHP were very similar, just different syntax, Just kind of went from there adapting and reading php.net plus eventually some other resources.

So it was a combination of
- php.net + comments
- short w3schools.com samples
- http://www.tek-tips.com/ help (I actually have a coffee mug they mailed me for best tipster of the month, lol)
- And IRC channels, back when they didn't ignore you so often or do RTFM

 

[blackrizo]

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor is enough