question about the future of php

[silverglade]

WOW this has turned into a GREAT thread about php. i bookmarked it for future reference .LOL. thank you everyone for posting such great information about the industry. i had trouble finding it on the net. so thank you. you inspire me to learn php because right now im earning 9 dollars per hour. to start though, does anyone know a great resource in addition to  W3schools.com to learn php ? the first time i tried to learn i had trouble finding the resources, and when i needed help, they told me to program a contact form and a message board, and someone posted porn spam on my message board because  there was no login process. anyway, if you have any thoughts on where to start learning php as a newbie id be very greatful. thanks again for making this an awesome thread. derek ;D

[Brian W]

this website is a great recourse once you start getting error messages. lol

w3schools is a good place to start, guess you already knew that. I learned by finding tutorials per object I needed with the project I was working on. Another thing that I think was good was that I never copied and pasted the code I found, I always studied it to figure out how it worked, looked up the functions I didn't recognize, and then wrote it myself (often very close to the way I found it, but still I typed it rather than copying it)

[silverglade]

thanks very much Brian , i think that will  get me started on the same path you were on, that sounds like an efficient way to learn, very smart. this is an awesome website. i hope to be on here as i go, the ppl are great so far. thanks again everyone for answering all of my questions, i think this site has been the most helpful one i have ever found. LOL> thanks. derek ;D

[trq]

does anyone know a great resource in addition to  W3schools.com to learn php ?

 

Theres a free book turned wiki in my signiture (Hudzilla) which is where I started.

[Daniel0]

I don't really agree that w3schools is good for learning. It just teaches you the syntax which you should be able to pick up in short time anyway. It doesn't really contain anything else than the PHP manual does.

[Maq]

W3 is for someone who knows absolutely nothing about PHP.  You should just try and create your own website.  Look at what other people have or tutorials and try to develop and integrate it into yours.  You can also learn a lot by just participating on phpfreaks.

[KevinM1]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not a big fan of w3schools for the new learner.  Why?  Because it merely teaches syntax in a vacuum.  There's nothing about thinking how to structure code properly, nothing about best practices, or any of that.  Syntax is only part of the equation.

 

I mean, how many horribly designed code snippets have we all seen on here?  How many failures are a result of shoddy logic rather than syntax? 

 

If you're going to learn PHP as a career move, you should invest in it early.  Getting a good introductory book is a good way to go.  You'll find that the financial cost is mitigated by the lack of frustration and wasted time you'd face by going the w3schools/tutorials route.  I recommend Larry Ullman's Visual Quickstart Guide (http://www.amazon.com/World-Third-Visual-QuickStart-Guide/dp/0321442490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234217850&sr=1-1).  He writes in a clear, easy to understand style.  And, even better, his code works.

 

I also can't say enough about this forum.  It's the best free PHP resource available.  Even if you're not directly involved with certain threads, trying to create your own solution to the problems posted here is a great way to practice.