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From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 4:59 am
by Baracoda
Hi All,
I am novice to the whole web developing thing,and I want to learn from scratch PHP & mysql, Do I need to have HTML little knowledge first, and Does anyone know books of learning PHP & MYSQL from scratch ?
Tnx all
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:06 pm
by jaoudestudios
I would learn web technologies in this order...
1. html
2. css
3. php
4. mysql
(in no particular order)
javascript, apache, linux
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 6:45 pm
by califdon
I agree fully with jaoudestudios, and would only add that HTML is absolutely critical, since nearly every PHP application exists ONLY to CREATE the HTML, so if you don't know HTML, you can't even BEGIN to do anything useful with PHP. I might add the Javascript right after CSS, but other than that, I agree with jaudestudios' recommended sequence of learning (as a long time teacher of college computer courses).
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:27 pm
by omniuni
HTML, CSS, PHP are your best starting points.
Next, try something like SQLite. I am just now learning that myself, but it's really not too bad. I found some good tutorials online and already have written my first SQLite powered page.
http://tizag.com is fantastic. Just start with their HTML tutorial, and continue on. If you can get through their tutorials, you'll be good to go.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:47 am
by geester1
Baracoda wrote:Hi All,
I am novice to the whole web developing thing,and I want to learn from scratch PHP & mysql, Do I need to have HTML little knowledge first, and Does anyone know books of learning PHP & MYSQL from scratch ?
Tnx all
Hi there,
There are some fab resources online, I even picked an "idiots guide up for PHP" it was only $2 and it helped me understand were I was going wrong.
I hope this helps.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:27 am
by malcolmboston
califdon wrote: I might add the Javascript right after CSS, but other than that, I agree with jaudestudios' recommended sequence of learning (as a long time teacher of college computer courses).
Ive been doing web development for about 8 years now, building, developing, maintaining and pushing some fairly big (in the UK) eCommerce web-sites and i dont know a thing about Javascript, Javascript is not necessary other than to 'improve' a visitors interaction with the site and there's many reasons why Javascript should'nt be used, same implies for flash.
Javascript is what i consider a luxury language, fine use it but if you can do the same thing without it, 99% its more advisable to do it the alternative way.
I think you've got to really consider who your target audience is, if your developing a tech blog for example you dont really need to worry about much as most visitors will be tech savvy enough to understand 'Flash plugin required' means, whereas with eCommerce sites you have to serve your site to the lowest common denominator, support 5 / 6 different browsers, not requiring flash due to SEO reasons, same applies to javascript to some extent.
I would say, work out what you actually want to specialise in and build your skillset from there.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:38 pm
by califdon
malcolmboston wrote:I would say, work out what you actually want to specialise in and build your skillset from there.
I wouldn't disagree with any of your assertions about Javascript and Flash, but for a novice, it is highly unlikely that they have any idea what they will be doing with their web building skills, so learning Javascript is an important part of their kit. With all its limitations, Javascript is still an integral part of the majority of web pages. I can't imagine anyone who has no skills with Javascript doing well in a job search.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:43 pm
by superdezign
I'd say that technically, you could learn CSS after HTML and PHP. I know of PHP devs that have no idea how to work with floats and manipulate the box model, but can create a fine back-end for the CSS-savvy designers and developers to work with. PHP was developed in order to dynamically generate HTML content, so that's really the only requirement before learning PHP.
As for JavaScript, I am biased towards it because I like the little but of functionality that it adds. But in reality, most things that can be performed by the use of JavaScript can be performed without it, but using JavaScript can certainly improve the user's experience. For example, the user is scrolling through a bunch of thumbnail images below an image viewer that displays the current selected image. They could scroll through them by use of a scrolling bar and upon clicking the image, a new page would be loaded that takes query variables indicating which thumbnail to highlight and enlarge. However, for a smoother and faster experience (with less server-load, might I add), you could write a script that automatically highlighted and enlarged the selected thumbnail, as well as make the scrolling automatic based on the position of the mouse rather than requiring any sort of clicking. I feel that even though JS isn't exactly necessary, it's always a good idea to think of the user's experience on your websites when evaluating its usability and JS can potentially improve the experience.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:27 am
by stellar
It would be best to learn a little about HTML first. You won't be familiar with codes in PHP if you have no idea with HTML. there are basic ideas online regarding HTML wherein you can be familiar with.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:45 am
by omniuni
I actually kind of agree with superdezign. I would recommend you learn a little basic CSS still, so that your pages aren't horribly ugly, but don't fret over it. As you learn PHP, your CSS will improve as well. I would generally say being familiar with font and table styling is a perfectly good start for CSS.
Good Luck!
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:32 am
by Paul Arnold
omniuni wrote:I actually kind of agree with superdezign. I would recommend you learn a little basic CSS still, so that your pages aren't horribly ugly, but don't fret over it. As you learn PHP, your CSS will improve as well. I would generally say being familiar with font and table styling is a perfectly good start for CSS.
Good Luck!
Maybe better to learn how to use Divs to layout your pages from the outset rather than tables.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:47 am
by jaoudestudios
Please...I beg you! Do NOT use tables for layout! Use tables only for tabular data

Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:44 pm
by omniuni
Jaoude is correct, of course! If I wasn't clear, my recommendation of what to start with dealing with css including tables was for tabular data, NOT page layout.
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:48 pm
by klevis miho
In my opinion I think that you should first learn XHTML(it is like HTML but more stricter and suits with CSS).
Then you should begin php. After that mysql.
You can learn along CSS too, to make your sites look nice, but i think CSS-ing is really the job of the graphic designer.
Hope that helps
Re: From scratch Learning PHP & MYSQL
Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:50 pm
by winner
klevis miho wrote:In my opinion I think that you should first learn XHTML(it is like HTML but more stricter and suits with CSS).
Then you should begin php. After that mysql.
You can learn along CSS too, to make your sites look nice, but i think CSS-ing is really the job of the graphic designer.
Hope that helps
Thnx klevis miho, it helps!!But you have to practice a little bit in english( Not , in my opinion but TO my opinion)