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Not your normal question.
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:17 pm
by Infamy
This goes out to anyone who has taken time away from PHP, or anyone who may have any insight into my question(s).
I used to have a couple of websites, all which were coded in PHP. When I was coding on a regular basis, I got pretty damn good at it and could tackle about any project and not have any issues developing the code and making fast, secure, and user-friendly scripts.
However, that was a couple of years ago. I have not coded much in the last couple years. I'm wanting to start working on a couple of sites again, and I have completely lost my ability to code.
It has taken me a considerable amount of time to code a fairly simple registration script. I am having issues remembering how to do even the smallest things. lol.
The site I'm beginning development on would have taken me only days to get out a crude design, but the infrastructure would definitely had been in place and everything would have been stable and secure.
So on to my question-- has anyone here taken a significant amount of time away from coding and had any trouble getting back into it? If so, what did you do to regrain your skill and knowledge? Do you have any suggestions for me?
I'm really wanting to get back into this and I'm starting to get upset that I'm having problems. I know that one of my larger problems is that I've convinced myself that it will be so difficult to get back into it. Another one my problems is that I've written other sites that will be similar --infrastructure-wise-- to the one I'm writing now and I really want to just use that code. I know reusing code is a great tool to use in "software" development, but it isn't really helpful when trying to relearn how to code!
Thanks for any assistance!
P.S. I apologize if this is not the appropriate forum for this question. I had issues choosing which forum to post in!
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:31 pm
by feyd
I'd suggest lurking the forums here, trying to help (even if just for yourself) to find a solution to people's problems. Don't look at the responses or solutions until you've figured it out, or just gotten frustrated. Remember cheating on this only hurts you.
Although I've gone through lengths of time without coding a single line, the programming inside never shut off, it just sat there somewhere fiddling away on code, so I can't really share in the feeling, but I can understand the frustration. Somewhat like trying to learn to walk or feed yourself again after a difficult accident (something I've watched friends and family go through a few times.)
All I can really say is, hang in there, you'll get back up there in time, just don't try to force it. Enjoy what you do, if you get frustrated, switch gears to something else, maybe even not programming related. Watch a bit of TV. I hear "24" is good.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:43 pm
by Infamy
Thanks for your response.
I'm definitely going to lurk around a bit and check things out.
I know eventually it will all start to click again. I'm trying to take it slow.
Usually I'd know exactly what to do next when coding and what I need to do with each aspect of a script, but now I find myself longing to know what to do next.
It really sucks. I cannot emphasis how much I regret not coding for so long. lol.
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:46 pm
by feyd
You can always ask questions in the various forums here. We try to be a helpful lot as you may find out or already do.

(Just don't break a lot of rules rapidly, that get's us in a twist.)
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:03 pm
by josh
I took over 7 months off at PHP and completely lost all ability to code, if I remember I just wrote a forum system or something referencing the manual every bit of the way. That's another thing just give the manual a good reading through, skim over all of the functions, a large portion of being able to program is working out the logic, a skill that is very hard to loose, you probably have just forgotten the syntax like I did after I started up again.
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:17 am
by RobertGonzalez
When I was first starting out about two years ago I would search this community, sitepoint.com and the manual regularly. I also downloaded several applications along the way just to see how those developers did things. phpBB is a nice app to learn off of. Wordpress is another decent app to learn (or relearn) logic, process, project layout and coding habits.
I suppose the best bit of advice is, don't give up. If you were there once you'll get there again. It might not be right from where you left off, but you'll get up to speed quickly enough.
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:53 am
by khaki_monster
hehe... i think i can relate to this subject. wat i can say is reading manualz help a lot and visiting such forums as this. im totally newbie in programming even my english grammars is not that good to ask question . i usually just cook, watch TV, listen through radio, hang around. until a couzin of mind got me curious bout programming
from their it got me interested... found this forum, throwing somes question and fortunately got some answers('THANKS TO THIS GUYZ'). bit by bit i gain some knowledge with PHP

and sometimes answering my own question/ problem and (sometimes)participating to answer common questions from other members of this forum.
hehehe

hope i got you being encourage.
cheerz!
oh... to MOD. please change my Status as "Newbie" coz im not comfortable as "Developer"

if only possible.
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:20 am
by Benjamin
I think that getting back into coding php after you haven't in a long time can seem a bit daunting, but it's really like riding a bike. Just a bit of practice code for a refresher and you'll be back to writing code in no time.
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 4:57 pm
by alex.barylski
Like anything in life...practice makes perfect...
Start writing trivial scripts and gradually make them more difficult...
Not sure I can relate to forgetting everything...sure you can forget syntax...for instance, I'd be damned if I had to program in Pascal or Cobol right now...
But the fundemental principles behind programming don't really go away, at least as quickly as memorizing the syntax anyways.
If you've just lost the syntax memory, then code, code, code...it'll come back pretty quick...
If you genuinely forgot basic principles behind programming, like how to use an IF, recursion confuses you or OOP is completely off your radar...
Start reading articles, books, etc...cuz just coding won't help you much there...neither will looking at others source code...
Cheers

Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:46 pm
by Infamy
I suppose I did not forget everything.
I think a couple people have said what I intended to say: I have forgotten proper syntax.
I suppose I remember the fundamentals. I've been taken it rather slowly, so I do not get overwhelmed and simply quit. But I think the fundamentals have stuck with me.
I used to be utterly anal about all things security, especially when it came to form inputs. It has definitely taken me some time to remember exactly what all I used to check for, regardless whether or not they were necessary or effective in supporting the desire for a secure website.
It'll come back to me, I'm sure. I just need to practice.
I have been going over some books, and I certainly have not forgotten what an IF statement is. I did have some trouble remember how to retrieve multiple rows of data from MySQL, but that's coming back to me, too.
Thanks for the replies, guys and gals!