PHP Tutoring?? Ideas & Thoughts?

Ye' old general discussion board. Basically, for everything that isn't covered elsewhere. Come here to shoot the breeze, shoot your mouth off, or whatever suits your fancy.
This forum is not for asking programming related questions.

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
gabosgab
Forum Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:27 pm
Location: Columbus, Ohio

PHP Tutoring?? Ideas & Thoughts?

Post by gabosgab »

Hey guys. I'm a noob on this site but I've always found stuff on here when I get stuck. Great SITE!!

I wanted to get some opinions from people. I've currently been developing with PHP for a little over 4 years now and I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to train people in how to use PHP for job purposes. I was thinking that for my local computer groups here at The Ohio State University I would host free classes on how to program PHP. But on the side I would charge for private tutoring in PHP. I know when you're starting PHP and you don't have a book, it's a daunting challange to get started with PHP.

What's your take? Good idea or bad?
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

Having a decent grasp on C and C++ made learning PHP a cinch. So I'd suggest to people to find great resources on learning C, like: Pointers on C (ISBN 0-673-99986-6) ... I wouldn't trust any of those "Teach yourself C in 21 days" or whatever type books, they are trash from my experience.

this can give you some more books I've recommended in the past for learning C and such...
User avatar
Weirdan
Moderator
Posts: 5978
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2003 6:13 pm
Location: Odessa, Ukraine

Re: PHP Tutoring?? Ideas & Thoughts?

Post by Weirdan »

gabosgab wrote:I know when you're starting PHP and you don't have a book, it's a daunting challange to get started with PHP.
Starting PHP wasn't that big deal for me as I had strong background in C, C++ and Pascal. Seriously.
PHP is very simple language, and very similar to those I mentioned. Most of the 'complications' we're seeing at the forums are not from PHP being complicated language but from the fact that many of the PHPers aren't programmers (aside from those who are just lazy). Web designers, graphic artists, system administrators - a lot of people use PHP nowadays. So I would recommend you to teach your students programming, not PHP per se.
User avatar
CoderGoblin
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1425
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2004 10:03 am
Location: Aachen, Germany

Post by CoderGoblin »

I agree with Weirdan, teach them more programming. On the side make sure they understand the need for design beforehand. Get them to understand the three normal points of view... The programmers design considerations, the clients and the system users. Each has a different way of looking at a problem.

You also need to teach them how to debug, common mistakes, where to go for help etc.
User avatar
phpScott
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1206
Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2002 6:51 pm
Location: Keele, U.K.

great idea

Post by phpScott »

I actually did some tutoring in PHP but that was more by fluke then plan and only lasted a couple of months but it was a real help to reinforce my ideas as well as be challanged to learn ideas and ways of doing things from the tutoree.

Give'r and let me know how much you make and I might have to do the same thing here. :D

But they're right a reasonable understanding of C goes a long way to understanding PHP.
User avatar
CoderGoblin
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1425
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2004 10:03 am
Location: Aachen, Germany

Post by CoderGoblin »

As an aside, before they start, make sure they know HTML Sounds silly I know but often people learning PHP do not know the basics of building an HTML form.
gabosgab
Forum Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:27 pm
Location: Columbus, Ohio

C++ is good

Post by gabosgab »

I agree that understanding c++ is a great start and that is mostly who I would be teaching to.. OSU students learn Java or C++ the 1st quarter and it should be fairly easy to pick up. Most of the time, when I'm teaching people they have a hard time understanding the compenents of PHP such as:

Environment variables: $_REQUEST, $_SESSION, $_SERVER, etc.. You know what I'm talking about.. The werid quirky things PHP has.

I guess I think it's a good opportunity to hone my skills and help others at the same time!! And a good source of pizza & beer money!
Post Reply