Learning PHP

Have you found learning PHP kind of hard? How does it vary against HTML? It sometimes confuses me. I don't get it. Does anyone know of an easier way to learn PHP? Maybe even books? I'm not sure. I'm pretty interested in learning I just need a teacher or the resources to do so.

i found php quite easy to pick up the basics (but i did have a lot of background knowledge from past programming languages i've known such as pascal). PHP's function library is absolutely huge though and i'm still learning stuff

. I picked up the basics at tizag.com. I can assist you on MSN if you wish (add my address by going to my profile). It does help if you know some basics though. Against HTML php is a lot harder imo.

Best of luck
Anthony

I'm learning some now

I'm learning the $_POST and Text forms like strcasemp and trim() and strlen(). Simple, easy, things as of now. I can't wait to take on some harder type things

I picked up PHP quite easily buy looking at a few simple CMS systems, phpBB included, and with the help of a few forums/communities and friends who knew php

Reading books and spendling lots on guides isn't going to make you an instand php master - i'd reccomend once you have learnt the basics, maybe through looking at a cms, or talking to people who use php on a daily basis, then buy a book or two for reference where you get stuck

pfft books

i never needed a book lol. looking at other coding sometimes doesn't help. it can just confuse you more. one of the first things to do is read up a bit. test it out somewhere, localhost (i recommend xampp) or on a server if you have one you can play on. then if you run into any problems don't hesitate to contact someone you know uses php (me for eample lol) or you could just use the forums.

Haha, I'm a book person. Books really help me a lot. Especially when I combine book with hands on tasks.

I have never read a book to learn anything, I usually just see others people code, and look up the functions i dont know back at php.net. And if by then i dont understand the overall concept, I go to some of my friends that know php and ask them, why?

BTW, I recommend wamp, i didnt like xampp too much, gave me too many errors and junk

I have space on a linux server so I don't really need the WAMP thing. So you think theres a way to practice coding? Chu told me to try to make mods on phpBB but I don't really get how phpBB works or how to implement my ideas.

modding phpbb can teach a lot imo certainly did for me, im sure its the same for kevin. certainly getting mods into the moddb teaches you to stick to strict guidelines and watnot. also it gives u a software to work on. its a lot harder to just build cool php scripts from scratch

also in terms of using wamp/xampp/other localhost server sometimes its better cause well you don't ned FTP or even a working internet connection

plus your the only one who can see it

. i actually use xampp i just deleted all teh bull off of it. i too have a nice dedicated server (off someone ... i forget who gave it to me ... i think his name is sam

) anyways i don't usually test on it. its just a hassle

Awesome man. I just don't get where to start. What should I try to change or add? I don't know, I have trouble with it.

start by learnng SQL, this will help you on later on in your coding career, you'll find most clients looking for a script require some sort of SQL or database work to be done. once you've learnt the basic SQL idea then read over the phpbb DBAL and how it works. Some of the tutorials at phpbb are a bit rubbish but yeah, you'll also learn the typical mysql_ functions (note their different from DBAL, DBAL is cross database). THen make some random mod that takes something from the database and displays it or somink lol.

@Noobarmy: I dont agrre with you Anthony I think he should go on an even easier approach, because if you would have told me that at the beginning of learning php, I would have been super confused.

@Knockout: Do not listen to Noobarmy, he forgot how hard it was at first when he started learning php. I actually struggled very hard with php at first, and im still learning

, but I recommend that you dont ftp things up to your linux server, and download wamp5. There, you can easily edit and view your php files.

A great place to go for experienced tutorial makers is kirupa.com. I actually started learning Flash here, and they put a php section up . This website is very popluar, though not very high in searches, i think its the best!

I dont recomend starting at the top of that page though. I think you should start OOP, XML, and SQL after you learn the basics of php. And remember... WAMP5

c now ur almost saying the same as me now kevin lol. few arguments to be brought forward though. why learn oop or xml so early on? oop is one of those things you learn as more of an advanced programmer as it brodens your approach and technique toward programming not really helpful as a beginner wondering wtf the tutorial is going on about

. Then xml that has nothing to do with php mate!!, in fairness even i only recently bothered to learn xml. i do agree with learning sql as i myself stated. sql is a good base and most php scripts will rely on connecting to a database through sql in order to store and retrieve data quickly. how you go about practicing is a different matter but i personally find that modding phpbb is a good way to implement skills.

kevin does have a point i dont actually remember the days where i learnt php, but i did use tizag.com as i've mentioned beforehand on IM. It covers basics at a basic level

. Anyways everyone learns their own way. Just try cover all basic techniques then you won't have to listen to me or kevin. YAY!

, Thanks both Noobarmy and DualFusion you guys both were wonderful helping me. I'll post back when I need a little more help, (be expecting it)!