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Do php tutorials work for any other newbies out there?

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:22 pm
by sansoo
Just want to know if the the tutorials that everyone keeps suggesting all us Newb's take a look are really helping anyone out?

Am i really that dumb or are these tutorials to simplified?

I seem to learn best when i can find some example code that at least somewhat matches what im trying to do. If i know what its outcome is supposed to be i can start reverse engineering it into something to suit my needs.

All the tutorials i seem to find list a few EXTREMELY BASIC examples and no real world implementation.
The main sites ive checked out are Tizag and Zend.

Great for the basics of PHP but when you start getting into more advanced practices you need more advanced examples.

Who knows maybe im trying to learn it all to fast i dont know.

Any thoughts or suggestions from any other Newbies out there?

Anyone find any tutorials or example codes that really helped them out please share?

sansoo signing off

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:05 pm
by Ambush Commander
Well, it all depends on what you're trying to do.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:25 pm
by matt1019
Yep, Helped me alot!!

Also, reading is never enough (unless you are a special person)

Practice what you read... try to make a problem (of your own) which requires you to use what you read, and implement the new techniques that you just learned....


this is the way it helped me ;)

-Matt

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:22 pm
by RobertGonzalez
I learned PHP from several tutorials (Kevin Yank's was the top one for me), from inspecting code (phpBB and WordPress), and from this community. Yes, tutorials work if you can learn from them. If you can't then find the channel that bests teaches you and learn that way.

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:25 pm
by feyd
I've never dealt with tutorials well. Image

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:28 pm
by RobertGonzalez
feyd wrote:I've never dealt with tutorials well. Image
That's because you are superhumanoid mega-processor disguised as a regular guy. Image

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:32 pm
by feyd
Everah wrote:That's because you are superhumanoid mega-processor disguised as a regular guy. Image
shh... you'll give away my secret identity.

Image

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:35 pm
by shiznatix
I use tutorials for specific things. Recently I used one to help me learn how to use ajax to make dynamic select boxes

Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:37 pm
by RobertGonzalez
I recently used one from Sitepoint to read XML files. I learn pretty well by them.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 2:42 am
by Oren
Tutorials are good to help you getting started with a new feature, like the simpleXML tutorial on Sitepoint which Everah mentioned. After reading the tutorial, you are ready to start and really learn how to use the feature and more advanced topics related to it.
To learn a new programming language, you need to read a good book.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:42 am
by s.dot
I learned everything from tutorials, these boards, and trial & error. Tutorials give you the basic knowledge, you should try to expand on them yourself. ;)

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:30 am
by RobertGonzalez
+1 scottayy. I have never read a book on development from cover to cover. Tutorials, these forums and good old fashioned trial and error.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:04 am
by Oren
I actually agree with you guys in a way, but not totally. One thing is sure though: Books are good to get you started, the rest is up to you. Or in other words, books are there to help you master the basics (I know, I know... there are some advanced books, but it's still up to you).

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:12 am
by Benjamin
Plenty of sample code in the manual.

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:19 pm
by sansoo
If a tutorial gives you like 3 examples of how to use something is it really a tutorial?

Take sessions for example. Tizag, Zend, and W3C are worth crap. I had to search high and low on how to use sessions properly. And it boiled down to a whole days worth of work spent on learning sessions thru trial and error.

Im looking for tutorials that are actually meant to teach you something. Not say hey this is a session this is how to start a session. Bye Bye Now.

I can find hundreds and hundreds of pages of tutorials for CSS, HTML, and Anything by Adobe. That take you through a guided process of the most common uses of each feature. Then its up to you to take it further.

Some would argue the PHP tutorials out there do that but i just dont think they get the job done.

And so im back to wasting day after day on stuff thats not hard if i could find the proper learning model.