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Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 7:06 am
by m3mn0n
Everah wrote:A lot of code from the early stages of a new developers projects seems nasty. Unless that developer comes from a programming background. But in many cases people happen across PHP and begin to use it because it is fairly easy to get a hold of, conceptually. The problem is that most people use PHP to achieve a very specific purpose, something that they cannot do with javascript, HTML or other technologies. And they can get it to work the way the want it to work not understanding that there is probably a better, more efficient, more secure way of doing it.

I know I am guilty of that. My early code was all about getting done what I wanted done. As long as the syntax did not error, I was fat and happy. But as a developer begins to take development more seriously we begin to look for ways to make our work better. Then we can go back and look on what we have done and see that it was absolutely bitter-beer-face nasty.
Well said.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:43 am
by Obadiah
geez i feel really bad....i expected php to be a smooth transition since ive worked with other languages in the past but as of late i havent been "getting" anything...just kinda in the beginning stage where your just writing code and dont really know what your doing with the exception of the small lightbulb every 10 post or 20hrs...i suppose because in all the other languages with the exeption of vb and c# ive never had to mess around with a database and you guys are like, "dangit obi its so simple this goes here and that goes there" and my brain goes this does not compute...switching to veggie mode...lol...i cant wait until i get to the level where you guys are at to be able to say geez i was a newb....thanks again for all the help guys....but on a similar thought i saw one of my old websites from geocities when i just started to develop and that was some pretty funny stuff

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:47 am
by Ollie Saunders
Buy a couple of good books Obadiah. PHP Anthology Part 1 or Learning PHP or something.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:05 am
by Obadiah
im using 2 now...one is a "php and mysql everyday apps for dummies"(i think its a bit too simplified) the author in the book tends to stay off subject and the problem im having with alot of the apps in it is that they seem altogether incomplete and for the most part incorrect. the other book is called "teach yourself mysql, php, and apache, all in one" and its a rather thick book...but ive not found any errors and it seems to be much more reader friendly than the other....honestly i think my big problem is im having to learn it all on the fly so the book im using to complete my current work project is the "dummy" book...it requres that you have a knowledge of php before using the book...i think im shooting myself in the foot...at least it feels that way...lol

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:16 am
by Ollie Saunders
for dummies
There's your problem :D
teach yourself mysql, php, and apache, all in one" and its a rather thick book
There's another problem :P
much more reader friendly than the other....honestly i think my big problem is im having to learn it all on the fly
I learnt PHP using O'Reilly's PHP cookbook, maybe you could benefit from that. Its a great book, a bit out of date now though. I'm utterly shocked there isn't a second edition yet :(.

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:21 am
by RobertGonzalez
Keep plugging along. Download some apps and sift through what other developers are doing. Review some of the tutorials in this community, maybe look through past posts for code samples. You'll get it. Just keep your head up and keep trying. Failures and mistakes are not always bad if you learn from them (like many of us have).

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:22 am
by Obadiah
ole wrote:
for dummies
There's your problem
i take it you don't have much love for those dummy books either...bad experiences too eh?

Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:30 am
by Ollie Saunders
There aren't written by experts so they usually spend ages explaining simple stuff and then skip quickly over the more complex stuff which often has mistakes in it.
Such is the way in life you have to evaluate the legitmacy of everything before you read it. I have PHP and MySQL for dummies and it doesn't actually teach you anything about either in any great depth or quality. Instead it tells you how to plan a web application (badly) and has page after page of example code that isn't particularly good and has plenty of security holes in it. I have UNIX for dummies too and that's not too bad but also not very complete and is structured a bit randomly overall.