How do you like to learn new programming skills?

[micha8l]

Hello,

 

Just wondering if you php freaks would like to share some of the ways you learn new things. I'm here 'cos half way through reading a reference manual for the Zend Framework I suddenly stopped and realised I had partially lost the will to live  . I'm no stranger to reference manuals, but they aren't very concise and generally takes me a long time to get through one - even if I go through the contents and decides what's relevant and what's not to me and read from that.

 

So when it comes to programming, what methods of learning do you have?

[ignace]

Any learning is pretty much hands-on, skimming through the reference manual when my test say's WTF?! Zend framework assumes that anyone taking it on has strong roots in OOP or at least knows how to make his boat float!

[Anti-Moronic]

I echo what ignace says: learn through practice.

 

You can learn so much by building a complex application from the ground up, then optimizing the application, then redesigning the application, then extending the application..testing, utilizing etc etc

 

You might also try some quizzes. One on w3c is easy, so make sure you can do that few times over (questions are random somewhat) with 100% correct. Read the rest of the tutorials. While doing this, have a dev environment setup ready to run any php code you throw at it. This will allow you to make use of what you're learning immediately and you'll have lots of fun customizing things.

 

Download some source code for a well designed framework/application w/e and read through that. Try to understand what does what, try to improve on it.

 

Take a class, read a book, search for 'learning techniques', play programming games (they exist).

 

Always try to validate what you're reading. Ensure it is up to date and good/best practice and is objective.

 

If you almost lost the will to live reading ZF documentation, maybe programming isn't for you? Bad documentation and overly technical mumbo jumbo is part and parcel of what we do.

 

practice practice practice.