How did you learn PHP?

Hi,

I already know HTML, but I am looking into learning PHP, how do you recommend I do so and what worked for you?

 

I bought a book. Any book will do, depends on how complex you want it to be, and how much coding you will be doing.

 

I've learned it wit ha book too. I don't like tutorials so much ^^


dispy

 

You will find good tutorials on google. Try to search with these keywords: php beginner lessons. I also recommend you Php lessons in videos

cheers,
xcelent88

 

Tizag.com is where I learned. I'm now competing against them for tutorials now though. No PHP ones on my site yet though.

 

http://www.webdesign.org/

Is where I learned most of mine. Books weren't meaty enough for me, they'd start with the

$variable = "this is a variable";

bullcrap and then they'd go into explaining why it was a variable, and who the first person in the world was to create a variable and blah blah blah. I got fed up, slammed the book shut, and started reading advanced tutorials and trying to rip them apart and piecing them back together (much like taking apart a toaster and putting it back together as a young kid)


Though, i do believe that it depends souly on your learning style. Do you memorize stuff from reading? or do you like to get your hands dirty?

 

If you know any other programming languages it shouldn't be a problem(HTML not included as that doesn' really count).
However, php.net has some great examples on how to use each function.

 

dont go by books
it wont help u
google is ur best companion
take a project or some exercise
and begin to work on it
learn wat s needed for that project
soon u ll master the most impo concepts

 

I learned by taking apart my site and putting it back together, changing different things here and there. I just know the basics though, haven't taken too much time to learn it.

 

^ BING!

Learn the basics (syntax) of PHP on a website, such as php.net or Tizag.com. Then do what the guy above said.

Also, looking at existing code, trying to understand and trying to modify it will help you a lot (this is pretty much how I learned). I didn't read a single book...

 

I learnt from tizag.com and refer to php.net when I need to figure something out (once you have the grip on syntax, learning new functions is cinch).

 

I learned through a range of things. E-books, google, random websites. I think the easiest way for you to do it though is to do some simple tutorials so you can see how things are used. It took me quite a while to get my head around php but once you get to a certain point, it becomes a very useful language.

 

How I learned: Through thoroughly reading php's online guides and through trial-and-error.

 

i learnt via w3schools.com then moved onto youtube!

they set myself targets etc..

 

you should start with
w3schools.com

 

i really dont know why anybody not mentioned about

Lynda.com.PHP.with.MySQL.Essential.Training

the video tutorial is the best i ever seen.. the guy will teach you up til developing your own small CMS..

 

I will give you one on one teach if you need it. Check the link in my sig

 

^ Can I have my time back if your promise of making thousands a month fails?

 

Couldn't have said it better. Books are great to teach you the basics but really the best way to learn is to get stuck into some example projects.

I wouldn't waste money on books when google is a far more comprehensive resource (and free!).

 

honestly I think any online tut for coding is garbage, they leave too much out. I would say either learn from video tuts or buy a book like some of the other people suggested.

Don't buy php for dummies, buy a book from a well known PHP professor