How to become a php expert?

Hey,
So I am a college student and decided to do some freelancing on the side for extra money. PHP seemed like a good bet. I have looked at some tutorials and completed the whole code academy php tutorial, installed xammp, check out the msql admin for it, but I just can't make sense of it all.
Now I know how to make and create stuff like conditional statements, loops ,arrays, and OOP but I can't see how they go together to create awesome things.
Like html/css is easy to understand. You type and it pops on the html, once you have structure use css to design it how you want. Now it is easy because I can see how things go together to create something awesome like having a paintbrush and a canvas. I have been looking on the web and maybe I am typing in the wrong keywords but I just can't seem to find what these things can do together. Databases and retrieving form information I guess.

So here are some questions if anyone is willing and has the time to answer.
1.)I try to look for answers in the next step at becoming better but all the articles and forum answers I have found so far have been "practice makes perfect" or "do small projects". All the answers are very general, and nothing specific. My problem is like I stated above what should I practice exactly and what are some small projects I can do?

2.) I want to become a freelancer so I want to start practicing things that people will later pay me to do with php. Any ideas on what I can start doing?

3.) Is there a specific point where I will know I am at least good enough to begin offering my services; I know many recommend you can learn as you do the job, but I don't want to be a total newbie before I start.

4.) View source for html/css was awesome, I learned a lot from it. Is there anywhere I can see existing code for things beyond simple things they show in tutorials?

Thank you,
NarrowJ

 

Hey NarrowJ,

To answer your question "How to become a PHP expert" there really is no straight-forward answer to that. I'm sorry if that's not what you're looking for but it's much more complex than that. People learn in different ways, at different paces, etc. I know PHP well enough to code quite a few different websites I tried to start up (and never did anything with) including a URL shortening site, an image hosting site, a website that allowed you to upload images and turn them into a single animated GIF, a website that allowed you to spam your friends e-mails and various other websites. I've done small freelance work and made a little bit of money and done some coding for friends which I've made even more money off of. Even with all this I by no means consider myself a PHP expert. But I will tell you how I came to be at the level I'm at where I can write scripts for money and essentially do whatever I want with PHP (within the limits of the coding).

1) Learn HTML and CSS. Many people say they have "learned HTML" because they know how to create a page with a title and colored bold text. Now that was a little bit of an exaggeration but even now I am still learning a lot of new things about HTML and CSS that I never bothered to learn in the first place. HTML and CSS are the entire structure of what you are finally trying to build. If you don't have these two languages down you're not going to go anywhere with it.

2) Learn the basics. Look on W3Schools, learn how to build pages with PHP simply displaying text, experiment with variables and the math functions. Play around with the if else... statements and learn some of the basic functions of PHP and how to use them. Even learning all this stuff you may be having trouble figuring out how you want it all to fit together but keep at it, learn it well before moving on.

3) Experiment using PHP and forms. Essentially everything I use PHP for involves an HTML form at least in some aspect. It's important to know how to combine the two and how to handle data submitted through HTML forms by PHP. Try creating some simple scripts using HTML forms and kind of play around with it as you get the hang of it to do more complex things.

4) Once you feel like you've done a good job of getting the hang of the first three things move along to searching Google for free PHP scripts for various things (hit counters, upload scripts, contact forms, etc.) look at how they're built. If there's a function used that you don't understand, Google it and see what it does. This step is where you really see how you can apply what you've learned to creating actual scripts and being paid to do so.

5) Learn MySQL, MySQL is essential to learn if you plan on doing anything with your PHP language. MySQL is integrated right into PHP databases to input information into databases, retrieve information from databases, delete information from databases, search through information in databases etc. etc. it's essential for creating login/signup portions of websites, saving customer information, etc.

6) Patience is key. It's easy to feel like you've been wasting your time playing around with the basics and jump into the next step when you just aren't ready. Building a good foundation is important and cannot be accomplished if you aren't willing to take the time to do so.

I still continue to learn new things about PHP every time I code a new script. If you need any help as you continue to learn feel free to message me!

 

Keep in mind that people who pay for code are expecting quality. That of course if they are willing to pay more than $5 per hour. Quality comes through knowledge, which you gain through years of learning. PHP can do a lot of things that range from simple things to highly sophisticated programs. So what people want to pay for depends on their projects and requirements. If you're just looking to make a few bucks on the side, you'll probably be fine learning a few things. But if your ultimate goal is to make money, it'll take you years until you're good enough. So be prepared for that.

Go through some job offers online, and see what most of them include. I suppose things like Wordpress and Drupal will pop up often enough, so you could look into that too. Check out other good paying offers, and see what it would take you to create what they want. If you're not sure, you'll need to learn more before applying for an offer.

As for the specific point where you're good enough, it's impossible for us to tell. Maybe you have some programming background in another language that would help you. Maybe you're only going to spend 30 minutes a day learning, etc... So it can be month or years. Just don't expect to be ready in a couple of weeks.

Small projects you can do are, contact forms, password protected areas (user authentication and registration), polls, hit counters, etc...

There's one other really good way to learn. And it's right here. Browse through the forum and take a look at some of the problems people are having. Think of a solution to them. If you can't, then try to Google it. If that doesn't help, wait until someone with an answer replies and learn from it. People here come with a lot of different types of problems that you probably wouldn't encounter on your own. So by seeing other peoples problems and solutions, you can learn a lot. By helping people here you also test your own knowledge. If your solution is bad, someone will probably point it out and tell you a better way of doing it.

 

- Get to grips with a good number of PHP's in-built functions
- Become familiar with MySQL and proper data handling/sanitization
- Learn about modern object-oriented software design
- Get a job in the industry

 

Forget PHP, first learn RDBMS (MySQL most probably). Without it your PHP knowledge will not be on much use, unless you are not trying to go directly into NoSQL Databases(MogoDB likely).

As far as coding is considered you must have the ability to think ahead to be a good coder. If you can do that, things will be comparatively easier for you. I am not sure how good a thinker you are but you will need a lot of that when it comes to coding and not to mention logic, this is one thing that I believe cannot be taught, you have it or not.

How to become expert? Not sure as I am still not one .

Now it depends on you how you want to get started. I have seen people who are happy with Wordpress alone. If that is you then OK. As you say you are a college student, I think that will be enough for you for now.

But you are much more serious, then slowly get into frameworks, I suggest to start with Smarty (much easier), then move on to CodeIgniter, CakePHP and if you are still more curious get into Drupal

Anyways, best of luck with your coding. Hope this helps.

 

Smarty you can skip. It's technically not a framework, it's a wrapper for PHP, and pure and utter crap.

 

Yes, its not a framework, its a template engine. I mentioned it as getting directly into CodeIgniter or CakePHP can be rough. At least its better than scratch PHP

 

Its just like learning a new language . Everybody have a different way to do it.

 

Uh? What? No, it's not. How in all that is holy can anyone say Smarty is better than pure and simple php? Smarty is a bloated, outdated piece of shit, which makes you have to edit umpteen files just to fix minor stuff. Anyone who's tried to do anything with a phpBB installation knows what a pain in the ass it is.