yes, you have seen this question before. as recently as today!
if i may, i'd like to refine the question. i did skim the tutorial mentioned on the other thread. it is certainly valid, as are many others i find on the web. they are all very similar to the ones i used a couple of years ago when i started learning the language. in the quest for simple intros, they all lead to the same pathetic state i find myself in now:
dependence on register globals;
hard code db calls to a specific dbase (postgres in my case);
zero security;
no oop.
what we need is a whole new set of introductory tutorials that teach current best practices as they go. i did think that i'd just study what seems to be state-of-the-art code, and learn from that. but jumping into say phpBB is a little to big a leap for me.
anybody think the same, or know of places to look?
calvin.
what's the best resource for learning php
Moderator: General Moderators
We are currently working on some new tutorials and FAQ's, so just be patient.
If you search this site, you will find numerous topics discussing Security and OOP, and a whole host of other things to keep you going.
Oh, and always refer to the manual - http://www.php.net
Mark
If you search this site, you will find numerous topics discussing Security and OOP, and a whole host of other things to keep you going.
Oh, and always refer to the manual - http://www.php.net
Mark
Hi,
You might also try http://www.phpcommunity.org as they are thinking along the same lines as yourself. They are trying to get together, in a coherenet format a number of tutorials for beginners, intermediate and advanced. Head on over and click on the 'Content' project and then nose around. Looks like they might be a couple of months away but is something to watch.
They are also looking to syndiacte so maybe the authors here want to distribute to them and vice versa?
You might also try http://www.phpcommunity.org as they are thinking along the same lines as yourself. They are trying to get together, in a coherenet format a number of tutorials for beginners, intermediate and advanced. Head on over and click on the 'Content' project and then nose around. Looks like they might be a couple of months away but is something to watch.
They are also looking to syndiacte so maybe the authors here want to distribute to them and vice versa?
http://zend.com/zend/tut/index.php is a good place to look
still welcoming continuing comments... i forgot to mention in my original list of bad practices how non-seperated my logic is from my design. heck, in places, i can go into and out of php four times in one line 
so...
let's say a guy realizes he has learned many bad programming practices, like the ones at http://www.calvinmitcham.com/golf.
he signs up for free hosting space at dotgeek, just to re-do his application (golf league records / membership), and open it up for others to have/help. he hopes to discipline himself to learn and use at least:
db abstraction;
seperate logic from presentation;
security / user login authentication;
templates;
well first, he tries to read about db abstraction. he starts to see alot about pear, and that really sounds good, like a standard one set of libraries he can grab and learn. but it's not long before he sees several other abstraction classes with large followings. maybe pear is not the best way... but he decides to ignore others, and focus on pear.
quickly, he finds ther are two abstaraction classes; db, and mdb. how does he decide which one to use? he notices an authentication section, and checks there. again, two classes to choose from.
he turns his studies (i hated school and swore i'd never go back, this is hell) to the template engine. again several choices, but decides to plow on with smartie. this opens up a whale of an argument just on whether to use a template class or not!
he thinks (for the billionth time) about writing classes himself; not to re-invent pear stuff, but to handle the application specific stuff. although i understand that all bicycles have handlebars and wheels (the typical example), the whole oop thing hasn't clicked for me yet. i do put functions in included files for anything i find myself needing more than a couple of times, but i don't see how to make that leap to oop programming.
this re-learning exercise seems not so easy.
so...
let's say a guy realizes he has learned many bad programming practices, like the ones at http://www.calvinmitcham.com/golf.
he signs up for free hosting space at dotgeek, just to re-do his application (golf league records / membership), and open it up for others to have/help. he hopes to discipline himself to learn and use at least:
db abstraction;
seperate logic from presentation;
security / user login authentication;
templates;
well first, he tries to read about db abstraction. he starts to see alot about pear, and that really sounds good, like a standard one set of libraries he can grab and learn. but it's not long before he sees several other abstraction classes with large followings. maybe pear is not the best way... but he decides to ignore others, and focus on pear.
quickly, he finds ther are two abstaraction classes; db, and mdb. how does he decide which one to use? he notices an authentication section, and checks there. again, two classes to choose from.
he turns his studies (i hated school and swore i'd never go back, this is hell) to the template engine. again several choices, but decides to plow on with smartie. this opens up a whale of an argument just on whether to use a template class or not!
he thinks (for the billionth time) about writing classes himself; not to re-invent pear stuff, but to handle the application specific stuff. although i understand that all bicycles have handlebars and wheels (the typical example), the whole oop thing hasn't clicked for me yet. i do put functions in included files for anything i find myself needing more than a couple of times, but i don't see how to make that leap to oop programming.
this re-learning exercise seems not so easy.