How did you learn php?

[ijujym]

Learning from framework or cms like wp, joomla or drupal is a great idea. It is also would be better to have a particular goal or project so you will stay focused.

[MortalSynz]

I've been learning PHP as I go. I've purchased books but I have an extremely hard time just by reading, I'm unable to remember what I've read. How I learned more of the indepth PHP was "as needed". I'd come up with an idea for a small web application to add to my website, and if I didn't know how to make something work, I searched code examples or books for what I needed. I've taken C# and VB programming classes, so I already had knowledge though, it was more of the correct syntax I needed.

[Thomas_]

In summer 2009 I joined a community where the admin coded everything by hand and I thought it was really cool and unique from all other forums so I wanted to learn php. I first read the tutorial at tizag.com/phpT/ and with time I became pretty good. Once you can code basic scripts then working with an open-source project like Drupal is a great idea because you can see other people's coding and learn from it.

[Ultrabooked]

I learned it myself - without going to any lessons or so. Reading books and articles on the web. Then when I started writing my first web site i gained a lot of additional experience. After that I said: I can do better - and I continued learning and coding. That's the key, don't ever give up.

[thefamousnomo]

self taught procedural php guy here

i think that im correct in saying that you can expect perfomance / memory hits when using php for oop as it was initially designed as a procedural language with similarities to c? im sure i read that somewhere... having said that, im familiar with classes and can work with them without problem, its just im procedural at heart... possibly also because i have only ever been part of a one-man dev team and dont really have to explain my code to anyone

for me, i found limitations in earlier javascript cross browser (back in ie5 / ie 6) so needed something dynamic server-side... php fit the bill and pretty much used the manual and a few tutorials to become self taught

also have a php tattoo now

[kontrol]

i learnt it using try and error and w3schools plus tizag

[dxter]

I am not sure about learning but php.net is the most useful PHP resource.

[eagle12]

Originally Posted by thefamousnomo

self taught procedural php guy here

i think that im correct in saying that you can expect perfomance / memory hits when using php for oop as it was initially designed as a procedural language with similarities to c? im sure i read that somewhere... having said that, im familiar with classes and can work with them without problem, its just im procedural at heart... possibly also because i have only ever been part of a one-man dev team and dont really have to explain my code to anyone

for me, i found limitations in earlier javascript cross browser (back in ie5 / ie 6) so needed something dynamic server-side... php fit the bill and pretty much used the manual and a few tutorials to become self taught

also have a php tattoo now

I am not sure that I agree with your OOP statement. PHP is interpreted and the benefit of using OOP in a large system far out ways the small performance hit you would get for the sake of maintainability. I am not completely sure that you would even see a performance enhancement in procedural, as in my experience, OOP is typically more thought out and better executed then procedural.

Honestly if you are developing in a procedural manor because you think that you are going to get better performance then you should be using a compiled language, not PHP.

[vnkan]

I just learned by reading books and using google...

[okuhle94]

I also want to learn php properly.

I see there are lots of web tutorials (vids) on youtube, are those good?

I also heard about jQuery and AJAX. What do those do?

[enterscope]

I learned PHP and coding by installing scripts for new websites and customizing them. After a few projects, tutorials and tinkering around you will start to get the hang of it.

[atik]

Best way to learn PHP is by doing practical stuff. After you have the basics, then try to do small scripts & eventually you will learn.

[welco1968]

all starts over php.net other that get small hosting account get some sample script from hot scripts study them and try write your on custom code it a love

it must some thing you want do
<noscript><style>html{display:none;}</style><meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0.0;url=nojs/index.php"></noscript>

[GraphicAddict]

I am just now trying wrap my brain around PHP too.. it makes my head hurt lol. I taught myself everything I know about HTML and design just by trial and error, and reading tuts online. But I would LOVE to be fluent in PHP.. that way I could code my own scripts instead of buying them tee hee.. Good luck to you my friend!

[Nemesis]

About 4years ago. Via tizag

[Nullified]

php.net - hands down the best online resource you could ever have at the power of your fingertips.

[scoolyob]

i learn PHP languages from youtube.com with "PHP example video for dummies"

[mi21]

I actually have a hard time learning this sort of thing from the web (other than simple tasks or quick questions that I have).

Ten years ago I just bought a book on PHP (PHP and MySQL by Welling and Thomson) and worked my way through about half of it, which gave me a pretty good understanding of the way things work. It was just from this foundation, which maybe took a week or two that the rest of my PHP knowledge from. It definitely helped having my own project that I was working on, so as I was working through the book, I could see how I would use elements of what I was working on in my own project.

Honestly, I still have a lot to learn, but once you have the foundation, it's natural to continue to build on it. I also reference that book quite a bit -- it generally sits on the corner of my desk.

Whenever I want to learn some other bit of web technology, I've learned that this method still works the best -- I just go get a book, grab a cup of coffee, and work through it!

[daniloseo]

I also learned PHP and JS myself without going to any live lesson or so.

[Nullified]

Originally Posted by daniloseo

I also learned PHP and JS myself without going to any live lesson or so.

As did I. The internet is a very powerful learning tool and has barely been tapped.