Learning to code PHP - where to start?

thedesigntribe

Hi all,

I can use the layout scripting languages pretty well but tend to hit a wall when it comes to 'real' programming.

I want to learn to code PHP, just enough so I can install and configer thing like oscommerce & typo3.

The question is: Where do I begin?

Anyone know of any books or websites that start 'this is a line of code'? and continue to build your knowledge from there?

Advice appreicated.

Ph3n0m

Get the manual www.php.net

Get some sites www.phpbuilder.com

Get some open source stuff

Get hacking and learning.

Or do what I did - get 2 books, sit at your computer for a week and start churning out custom php scripts for your clients

Bytecon

Well a good place to start is http://www.php.net .. there you can view the manual for PHP and check out the syntax etc ... To install programs like oscommerce you would not need a vast knowledge in PHP as it usually just consists of editing a file for your database settings.

If you want a few tutorials to start you off you could visit http://www.phpfreaks.com .. I found looking at tutorials/code and seeing how others do it is a great way to learn..

yeraulone

Hello,

If you are thinking about get a book, then you should definetly have a look at this one:

PHP and MySQL Web Development (3rd Edition) by Luke Welling, Laura Thomson. I'm learning PHP myself at the moment and so far this book has been great help. You can get it on Amazon for nothing at the moment.

Good luck.

pork99

I've done a bit in PHP4.3. It's not that hard to get started with - you can get a fairly comprehensive .chm reference manual from php.net as far as I remember.

Anyone using PHP5? If so what you think? Any point for a newbie in skipping PHP4 and going stright to PHP5?

thedesigntribe

pork99 wrote:

Anyone using PHP5? If so what you think? Any point for a newbie in skipping PHP4 and going stright to PHP5?

I just gone and bought a book on PHP5, I'd be interested to here an opinion on the question above also.