mtb211 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Can anyone recommend a good php book for beginners? Thanks Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiran420 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Can anyone recommend a good php book for beginners? Thanks Matt Yea, a free online ebook kind, or www.w3schools.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb211 Posted December 12, 2008 Author Share Posted December 12, 2008 ah thank you! it doesnt have to be free or online... I live in germany but im sure i could find an english php book! thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mchl Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Do you have some experience in programming, or PHP will be the first language you're going to learn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccabe Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 I got this when I first started and found it clear and concise. http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php-mysql-tutorial/ You can skip the part about how to install and configure mySQL and PHP, as your host will have done that or if your running it locally then you can use something like Wamp Server to install and configure it all for you. However that said it would be worth reading them and having a go just to get a better understanding of how it all comes together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb211 Posted December 12, 2008 Author Share Posted December 12, 2008 i have some experience in language from classes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandman Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 i have some experience in language from classes Hello, I'm learning php, I use: 1) Sitepoint Build your own database driven website 2) download and dissect scripts from the web. This part is important, but never use any scripts without modifying them. This helps in two ways a) Helps understand the script b) Advances you own php knowledge DG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccabe Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 i have some experience in language from classes Hello, I'm learning php, I use: 1) Sitepoint Build your own database driven website THats what I said above too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandman Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 i have some experience in language from classes Hello, I'm learning php, I use: 1) Sitepoint Build your own database driven website THats what I said above too Hi, It's a good book, but I wish they would go a little deeper in to the subject matter. The joke DB is not quite the best choice, it lacks some of the finer points you need in real life. At present am really struggling with session question, which the book hasn't answered, and the web is not making it very clear either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccabe Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 I think the book is aimed at beginners to give them an introduction to php and mySQL rather an in-depth tome of knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngreenwood6 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 I would check out www.tizag.com. The guy that runs that site has some really good tutorials for php and mysql as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saradrungta Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 try Books from Wrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb211 Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Thank you everyone for the quick responses! Ive found the books move too slow for more.. The echo hello world etc... a senior devolper said online tutorials are far the best.. everyone concur with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth456 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I started out by wanting to achieve something and then googling everything I could. I also downloaded scripts that other people wrote and tried to see how they worked. However, I did find that "PHP and MYSQL for Dummies" cleared up a lot of things I was confused about. Nice easy book which can be read from the beginning or you can easily skip to the page with the info you need to know more about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mick Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Similarly to learning most things, I found there are a lot of good beginners books (I used PHP5/MySQL Programming for the Absolute Beginner) but there is always a problem finding a book for moving to the next stage. At that point you just have to start creating useful sites and setting yourself a goal of a high standard, secure application. You can then use php.net, tutorials and this type of forum to help fill in the gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellReal Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 what I used for php was another beginner php guy, and we just worked on things together.. php.net will explain ANYTHING better than ANY tutorial.. also.. with tutorials.. you end up WOW COOL! and then at the end of the lesson.. copy/pasting the finished code and using it and modifying it.. but you hardly ever think about the functions you use thats why you want to know how to "split a string apart by a character" you'd ask sum1.. how would I do that?! "explode()" OH COOL! *goes to php.net/explode* *reads everything it has to say + UNDERSTANDS IT* tutorials just make you keep going back to it.. reading manuals teaches you.. thats my opinion anyway.. still to this day I go to php.net regularly just to find a new function.. you'll NEVER run out of functions to discover with php.. there is literally thousands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth456 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 @RussellReal I understand what you're saying, but sometimes php.net won't be enough to understand how to implement a command properly. In this case a tutorial is very helpful. Take for example unzipping a zipped file on your server. There's a lot of commands required to do it successfully, I needed a tutorial to get my head round it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premiso Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Can anyone recommend a good php book for beginners? Thanks Matt imho the best way to learn PHP is find a code and disect it. Look at what is it doing and why it does it and research the functions via php.net. What type of program are you wanting to write? Google it and see if a script is already made (or perhaps a tutorial). If so use that script and just read over it. Find out why it does what it does. Then make it better, update it and make it more efficient with different things. The best way to code is to just code. Sure 2-3 years down the line you will learn more and realize your initial code, sucked, and laugh at it. But at that point you are a coder =P So yea. That is my 2cents. I never picked up a book. I just leaped into it one day after finding a cool script while looking for a javascript =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ngreenwood6 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Yeah I agree with sloth456 php.net is a very valuable resource but sometimes it is a little over described or underdescribed. Sometimes they do the most complex examples for something that could be understood with a more basic example. Other times the examples don't seem to fit very well into how to accomplish the end result of what you are trying to get. I love php.net though because you can find out exactly what a function does. then I usually have to come here to find out the correct way to use it(syntax) lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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