whats the best way to learn php??

[loudog]

I need some php experience....wondering if I can teach myself  and what's the proper or best way to learn this or  should i pony up some dough for a class?

[KevinM1]

I think you'll find that a lot of us are self-taught.  PHP has a low bar for entry, so you should be able to learn it on your own if you stay disciplined.  You'll need good resources, though.  Since PHP is so popular, there are a ton of free tutorials floating around out there.  Unfortunately, a lot of them are crap.  I find that it's better to have a small, solid library of books than to jump from tutorial to tutorial.  Here's what I'd use:

 

Start with the official online manual: http://www.php.net/manual/en/langref.php

 

Use this book as a companion: http://www.amazon.com/PHP-World-Wide-Web-Second/dp/0321245652/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1305891226&sr=8-17  It's old, but it teaches the fundamentals.

 

Once you're comfortable there, it's time to get serious with this book: http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305891305&sr=8-1

 

For 'graduate' work, see this book: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612/ref=pd_sim_b_39

 

This track should get you from beginner to capable.  Be sure to actually write code while you progress.  There's nothing as useful as getting the concepts and examples found in these resources to work.

 

Finally, stay away from w3schools.  It's not affiliated at all with the W3C, and contains incorrect information.

[spiderwell]

i found when i started learning asp (my first scripting language) i just found a few examples online of simple things like basic if statements, write/read a text file, set a cookie etc.

and just played aorund with them. then i tried a database connection and recordset.

 

http://www.tizag.com/phpT/ is a ggod starting place for beginners

[loudog]

thanks for all the  helps guys.one more thing that concerns me is that lately, i've been coping a lot of php scripts from the web. Now anyone can copy syntax for a search bar but  can you do it with out looking at it. what concerns me is if thats a good way to learn or  should i change somthing??

[spiderwell]

sure you can use other peoples scripts, but i prefer to write my own if i have time it teaches you more that way definitely. changing bits of scripts will teach you how to hack scripts, not how to code for yourself imo

[atrum]

Self taught over here

 

 

The only way to learn is to do it.

 

I started out making simple html forms that spit out what I typed into them and then I started securing those forms, connecting to databases, and before I knew it I was applying for php development jobs.