PHP information

[Chris D]

Does any one know if PHP is really difficult to learn? I'm getting quite interested in web development and I can do HTML in bits and pieces but obviously most people are using PHP more and more.

Is it worth learning and if so, what's the best way to teach yourself. Does anyone know any online resources for it? Thanks.

 

[gh0st]

php is considered pretty easy (at least i do, though i havent really followed through with it.. im using other OO programming languages). the tutorial i used for the time i did was this http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/php, it should help you begin.

and yes its worth learning, i dont really have the resolve to right now though.

edit: though with all new programming languages its best to just get a book, and this is a good one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1861003730/103-4950160-9189419?v=glance

edit2: learn html well before php

 

[Interitus]

Its a very easy language to learn, especially if you have any experience with C-style languages. There are a few things which I find a bit confusing, but its all pretty straightforward. I made a web-based strategy game (now defunct) the first time I used PHP, all in a space of a month and a half. So I'd have to say its easy.

For learning sources, the best would be php.net. I've never used any other sources, besides #php on sorcery.net. And php and html go hand-in-hand, as you'll learn when you start reading on php.net. They have a manual and a quick tutorial to get you started. While you learn, you'll wanna set up a local server for testing purposes, I use the one from here: http://www.firepages.com.au/ Its easy to install and works great.

 

[not28]

Do what gh0st said: know HTML very well before you pick up PHP.
The first PHP tutorial I ever looked at was webmonkey's PHP from the Gound Up. I thought it was pretty damn easy so I decided to take it further...I then purchased PHP for the World Wide Web (I do believe there is a second edition out now) and PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Websites. Both are extremely informative and easy to understand. Now I use the 'official' PHP book, written by the guy who created the language. I made a blog-style website completely out of scratch with PHP, a few months after teaching myself, and I'm not even that big on programming.

(edit) I forgot, you can also find the complete PHP documentation on http://php.net/
the guy above me already stated this, though.

 

[Snakebyte]

You can "do HTML in bits and pieces" ? You definitely want to master HTML before worrying about PHP. You could consider PHP an extension of HTML. I know some PHP and it doesn't seem that difficult, but I haven't needed to learn more and I'm too lazy to do so when I don't have to.

The people before me posted some PHP links, but I would recommend looking at http://www.htmlgoodies.com for your HTML needs.

 

[Chris D]

Thanks a lot for that guys. I'll look into those when I'm not so tired

 

[DreamWraith]

master html. then go onto php. php itself ist to hard to learn, however it can be more difficult when combining it with other languages (html). the core concept of php is fairly simple and logical though.