Your Review

[LiamProductions]

Can i just say...

 

I am in Grade/Year 9  -HIGH SCHOOL-

 

I do have plans for the future... Either something to do with Computers like Programming or being a Plumber

 

 

[AndyB]

Either something to do with Computers like Programming or being a Plumber

 

Plumbers will never be replaced by machines or out-sourced offshore.

[roopurt18]

I almost hate to encourage you, but I started programming as a hobby when I was around 14 or so because I wanted to make video games.  So here I am now, over a decade later, programming, but not video games.  So there is a possibility that what you want to do now is what you want to do later.

 

However, I did take an extensive break from programming during my junior and senior years of high school to go out and have more fun.

 

Also, you should note that X years programming as a hobby does not count as experience.  The only thing that counts as experience as far as someone who is hiring is concerned are real projects made for real companies and / or clients.

[LiamProductions]

If teens have fun coding we should be able to do it than some adults saying you should'nt do it till your older

[akitchin]

i never meant to say don't do it, i simply said don't do it solely to aim for a job at the end and don't let it consume your life.  do it because you enjoy it, and everything in moderation (this rings true for everything except skiing, wheat-field-frolicking and certain brands of cream of tomato soup).

[jcombs_31]

Can i just say...

 

I am in Grade/Year 9  -HIGH SCHOOL-

 

I do have plans for the future... Either something to do with Computers like Programming or being a Plumber

 

 

 

There's a pretty dramatic difference between those two fields.

[oron]

Hey I'm Also 13 and learning PHP and It doesn't really matter about the great difference between the two 'fields'. If he gets to the age where he is allowed to go to College and decides that he doesn't want to use PHP anymore.. then yeh he may have wasted a lot of time on the computer but if he had fun doing it, it doesn't really matter. Then he can just study what he wants. But then if he wants to go into Plumbing he will still have about the same knowledge anyone else leaving school would have had about it.

 

Nick

[roopurt18]

There is always a small chance that his experience with PHP and plumbing could allow him to create the most awesome, web-based plumbing software on the market.  Then LiamProductions will make millions while the rest of us argue about the benefits of a CSS based layout and all that sort of thing!

 

Buahahaha

[steelmanronald06]

this will sound condescending, but unfortunately most truths that come with age do:  the chances that you know for certain what you want to do when you're older at 13 are slim to none.  as a hobby, go for it, but i wouldn't let it consume your life.  once you're at the age where you have responsibilities and computer use might actually be a part of your everyday job, you'll probably regret not spending more time away from the computer as a kid.

 

Jumping in a little late here, but when I was 8 I got a computer and I was messing with BIOS and MS-DOS when I got it. Then when I was 10 I started trying to learn HTML on Angelfire free hosting. LAME I KNOW!  Anyways, the point is is that since I was 8 or 9 I knew I wanted to work with computers. When I was 11 I knew I wanted to do web development work, and when I was 14 I knew I wanted to be a programmer. I've always known my job would be computers, but since then I've narrowed it down an exact field in computer science.  Futhermore, my best friend has been writing short stories since he was in the 5th grade and he has known since 4th grade he wanted to be a writer and now he is in college for English Writing and has a book that is almost ready to send to publishers for consideration.

 

Not dogging anyone here, but it is possible to know what you want to be at a young age.  ALSO, LiamProductions, if you want to be a programmer or web designer that is great.  BUT, i will tell you this. It isn't easy work, and people look at three things (1) A great portfolio of your work, (2) your ability to do the work, (3) your maturity level.  I've noticed a lot of posts in the MISC that are just dumb random shit (sorry for the language).  My point is, is that the time you spent posting you could have spent working on coding and posting in PHP Help when you got a problem.  You might want to consider avoiding every forum except the PHP Help forum until you get well on your way to programming. 

 

http://www.netgeekz.net  As you can see I also do web development for a living. I depend on it for income.  True my web site is in Drupal, but that is because I don't have time to work on my personal site. Instead I put all of my efforts into my client sites. All I want my site to do is look nice and tell what services I offer.  So drupal works fine.  My point is, though, is that you need to find a project and do it.  If it is a client then work on their site. If it is a personal project, drupal isn't the way to go so do it from scratch and learn.  Here is a few things you should develop:

 

* Forum

* CMS

* Social Networking Site

 

 

Those are just three things but you cover user registration, sessions, arrays, loops, mysql queries, data handling, security, etc.  I know that those three are developed over and over but your developing it to learn. Not only that, but before PHPFreaks there was codewalkers.  But look at it now!  PHPFreaks has grown to be bigger than codewalkers.  You never know who will develop the next ground breaking forum or CMS or myspace/facebook. 

 

Basically, if you want to program go for it. but, don't post pointless shit in the misc. forum when you could be using that time to do productive work.

[LiamProductions]

Thanks for that.

 

But i don't think web design is the way for me to go until im older and can afford PhotoShop  :-X

 

And... This post was suppose to be a review on a book i got 

[roopurt18]

To steer this back on topic, I doubt many people on this forum have read that particular book.  Most of us are college educated or self taught through Google searches or online tutorials.  If you want a review of a book, why don't you look for the title on Amazon.com and then read the user reviews there?

 

I will tell you the very first programming tool I ever bought was Sams Publishing Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days, it came with MS Visual C++ 2.0.  I was around your age when I bought it and it gave me a great step in the right direction.  In general, I think the Teach Yourself XYZ in LMNOP books are great for giving you a quick overview; but most of them avoid complicated tasks.

 

For example, such a book will spend an entire chapter on loops.  What they are, why we have them, the different syntaxes for creating one, explaining how you can use any type of for loop even though one might be better suited to the task, etc.  I don't need such an explanation anymore; I've written thousands of loops, even a few I didn't intend!

 

For me now, the best books are the real thick ones that dive deep into a topic.  They spend a small amount of time explaining the syntax because syntax is easy to learn.  They spend more time on the little nuances of a technique or particular construct within a language.

 

I probably buy on average one programming book per month and read it leisurely just to become familiar with topics.  I don't try to learn every detail because I know I can always pick up the book and use it as a reference when I'm confused about a subject.

 

If you're the type of person that can sit down, read a book, and learn from it, then by all means by that Teach Yourself... book.  Since you're still new to programming, I recommend typing out every single example and ensuring that they work.  This will get you even more familiar with the syntax, teach you subtle things, and make you familiar with debugging.  After that, I recommend working on your own mini projects, whatever they might be.  Create a simple shopping cart where the user can select items and enter shipping info and stuff, but don't concern yourself with details like payment processing.  After you develop a few such projects and gain a better understanding, I then recommend buying a more "heavy duty" book.  Don't buy another beginner book; look at the back of it and make sure it says its for intermediate or advanced developers.  You won't need another Building Websites with PHP & MySQL book, you'll want something more like PHP: The Definitive Guide;  BTW I recommend books from O'Reilly.

 

Other than that, ronald hit the nail on the head.  You spent too much time too soon in the Misc. section of this board posting nonsensical crap.  You're going to find out quick that computer people are an odd, peculiar breed.  Also, most of us are working professionals.  We don't come here to socialize or make friends; we come here to talk about all things related to web development.  Sometimes someone will make a post about an odd topic, but it's maybe once every two weeks per person, if that.  You were running an average of one or two per day.  I would also recommend not responding to help threads if you have nothing new to offer; replying to a thread and just regurgitating what someone else said is a sure-fire way to piss them off to no end.

 

Someone in here made a post about life experience.  You're getting some now.  Try too hard and / or come off too strong and people will shun you.

[steelmanronald06]

Firstly, books are not the way to go.  Sorry, but there are many free resources out there. We don't slave away on PHPFreaks, or our personal sites (http://lampgeekz.netgeekz.net) just so that people will go out and still spend money on books.  We provide this free resource to prevent spending money.

 

Secondly, if you want to do web design use The Gimp. Same as photoshop but free. If you MUST use Photoshop, download a torrent from isohunt.com and get it for free. I think I might have the crack keycode on my computer somewhere.

 

Third, your never to young to start. The younger you start the easier. You can't teach an old dog new tricks...that is somewhat true. I'm having a hard time learning OOP because I learnt procedural first!

[NArc0t1c]

I act mature, except I tend to get cravings to be a hamster or squirrel from time to time. 

 

ronald, I'm disagreeing that you are never to young to start.

Take me, They say C++ is like php, well I have been doing php for about 10 Months now, and I still can't get it in my head.

But then again, I'm not someone to go and sit and read a book, I tend to just get up up walk away.

Like last weekend I bought myself four very interesting books to read, I started with one, but it's lying on my desk atm.

I also bought myself a few cd's/movies that has VB6 tutorials, I stil know VB, but that is just a very easy thing to learn, like HTML, it explains itself.

 

But yes, I myself am a bit younger than most people here, but also older than some, fifteen is a nice age isn't it?

I do struggle with learning some things in php, like GD, never got the hang of it, OOP i'm not to sure about that.

 

I have not written A forum or CMS before, But have done allot of other things.

I gain experience while programing, Like I'm building websites for people I know, not that fancy, like a CMS and thingss, but a basic website, I earn pocket money and learn, what more could I want. 

[roopurt18]

Firstly, books are not the way to go.  Sorry, but there are many free resources out there.

 

Depends really.  When you're a teenager and dependent on your parents, any amount of money can be hard to come by.  I read books not because I don't like online resource, but because after 8 hours of computer time at work, another 1 or 2 at home playing video games, sometimes I want to give my eyes a rest from the monitor.

 

Also, I don't really condone reading online resources from your laptop in your bathtub.  You could always print them, but I've always liked the compactness and longevity of a printed book to that computer paper.

 

Books can also save time after the initial investment of reading them.  For example, you could learn everything you need to know about the different Javascript event models online.  But you'd be hard-pressed to do it as quickly as I can read chapter 14 of Javascript:  The Definitive Guide. 

[akitchin]

i agree about books being easier to read.  i prefer reading paper-based things (i usually even print project specs) simply because i lose my focus too easily when attempting to read long documents on a screen.  i also find it a lot easier to get comfortable on a couch to read something, rather than trying to settle down in a computer chair that doesn't have arms.