Best way to learn PHP?

J

John_graphix

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You can go to school for PHP. You can read an e-book. You can get tutoring, you can read tutorials and you can just mess around. So which method do I invest my time in? I want to learn PHP but I'm worried that I'll be using the wrong method and waste my time and effort. So it'd be great if I could get some advice. How did you learn PHP? Would you recommend the method you learned with? Have you heard anyone else saying which method is best?

Thanks for any advice you can give me, guys, this is such a helpful forum :)
 
I learnt all my programming languages myself basically from trial and error.

Best way to learn is install Wampserver on your PC, then you can find free PDF's of PHP & MySQL dummies guides. That is all you should need to get programming. :D
 
Yes i have found some books on learning PHP and ordered them and have set up the Wamp as you told and i am already on my way to learn PHP.
 
I have found that by reading books that guide you through an actual example working with PHP has worked the best for me. I have bought a couple books by Larry Ullman where he explains the different features of PHP then he guides you through an example using the features he explained. He also provides all of the code to use for free on his website. I have even coded my own forum and CMS using his help.
 
Realitytvaddict said:
I have found that by reading books that guide you through an actual example working with PHP has worked the best for me. I have bought a couple books by Larry Ullman where he explains the different features of PHP then he guides you through an example using the features he explained. He also provides all of the code to use for free on his website. I have even coded my own forum and CMS using his help.
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Reading through books can take forever, because they typically go through everything, and when you're not coding anything practical that makes it boring to learn how to code. I think video tutorials is a great way to learn PHP, and a good site for PHP video tutorials is TheNewBoston - Free Educational Video Tutorials on Computer Programming, Adobe Software, Computer Science and More!.

I learned PHP from Tizag, Google, and trial and error. It wasn't the best way to learn PHP, but I also learn how to code a long time ago when there wasn't as much tutorial sites available.
 
This wholly depends on you. Other people are very visual learners and video tutorials is definitely the answer then. Other people learn better by reading.

The most important thing is to have motivation and not give up. And do not just read the book but do all the exercises the book has because this way you learn much easier.
 
This falls back to personal opinion and the usual two paths. Either a person can learn more efficently if they can look at diagrams, pictures, etc. OR they can learn better with written examples, straight out instructions, and something being read to them.

I'd choose to dig into the basics of PHP from millions of videos on the internet and then look at some examples on the written tutorials on sites and then move on to official documentation from PHP.
 
First make sure you have a great understanding of HTML/CSS and Javascript wouldn't go amiss. Then I find it easy to come up with a project you want to create. Learning from w3schools and tutorials from youtube help you start getting something down. The most important bit, is you keep at it. The more you do, the better you'll get at it. There will be times you will get stuck or fail, just learn from it and continue. Also make the project your doing, something fun related to your own interests rather than a business site. Good luck :)
 
Hmmm does anyone know if there is a pastebin with a couple links like these that can get me on track? Just a general place that has links to a couple sites I could visit and read for a while about it? Thanks in advance.
 
I know of only one way to learn anything and that is learn by doing. So log in to any of those sites whick offer php tutorials. There are plenty of such sites. Here are a couple I have used:
PHP Tutorial
PHP | Codecademy

Then get hold of an editor. Here are two which I have tried:
Bluefish Editor : Home
Amaya Home Page

After that? Start practicing what you learned, of course.
 
w3school is best website of learning the php and other subject fully covered with the w3school.com.This is easy way to learning the code of the php.
 
I am learning PHP right now step by step because of Wordpress.
There are just some functions that I need which can only by done by editing the php files of Wordpress. I have no clue whatsoever what is that basic function calls so whenever I edit something I use tutorials and also make some scratch and test it out.
This way I am gaining more knowledge about PHP slowly since I am not really in a rush to become an expert of it.
 
best way, by person experience, is to experiment with all those buttons. grab up your favourite picture (or least fav, doesnt matter :p) and try to fix it, add stuff to it, go through all the effects, or adding a border. figure out all the stuff on your own that way you'll remember it better.




The best way to learn PHP
 
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