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What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:53 am
by PHP Newbie
Hello,
So I am new to PHP, and programming. The only other programming I know anything about is html, although some may not consider that programming but it is all I know. So, I really want to learn PHP and MySQL, so that I can get started in a career with it as soon as I know enough and can mess around enough to find a job somewhere.
I bought 3 books on PHP and MySQL:
Beginning PHP and MySQL From Novice to Professional - by W. Jason Gilmore
PHP and MySQL Web Development - by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson
Visual Quickpro Guide PHP 6 and MySQL 5 - by Larry Ullman
I've read the intro's to each of those, and the beginning of each chapter 1, and I even made it to Chapter 2 in the one by Jason Gilmore, and they seem like too steep of a gradient. So I was wondering if anyone knew of a book for someone who only knows html, something that is fairly easy and goes step by step. Maybe like a dummies book or something. But I figure people here probably would have some good input, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot!
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:10 am
by jothirajan
w3schools.com
+ some homework.....
With books no one can get the software knowledge....
Thanks
JOE
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:19 am
by Benjamin
jothirajan wrote:With books no one can get the software knowledge
Joe, would you care to clarify that statement please?
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:38 am
by jothirajan
With reading books " a beginner " cant get the entire knowledge.
As a student i started "reading the php books"...but according to me reading books is same like studying in the class room....Which reduced my interest over there.......
So my advice is to learn online and do the homework there in the next tab....
so this will make the interest.......
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:44 am
by onion2k
PHP Newbie wrote:I've read the intro's to each of those, and the beginning of each chapter 1, and I even made it to Chapter 2 in the one by Jason Gilmore, and they seem like too steep of a gradient.
You're giving up too easily.
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:45 am
by onion2k
jothirajan wrote:With reading books " a beginner " cant get the entire knowledge.
The what? What's "the entire knowledge" when it comes to PHP?
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:49 am
by jothirajan
So with books you can get all the basic thing that you want to have?.
Correct?....
allah......
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:49 am
by papa
jothirajan wrote:With reading books " a beginner " cant get the entire knowledge.
As a student i started "reading the php books"...but according to me reading books is same like studying in the class room....Which reduced my interest over there.......
So my advice is to learn online and do the homework there in the next tab....
so this will make the interest.......
The best way imo is to read books and review other peoples code. If you feel that you don't have the discpline to study at home, I'd sign up for a class somewhere.
A book gives you good guidelines and examples of stuff you can do with programming. Only depending on searching the web might give you bad examples of code etc. So even though it's a great reference I would recommend having a book to fall back on.
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:51 am
by Benjamin
I would have to say that a good book will teach you more than 100 average tutorials. I would not recommend using the internet as a sole learning resource.
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:52 am
by papa
jothirajan wrote:So with books you can get all the basic thing that you want to have?.
Correct?....
allah......
Only depending on Internet searches might do just that. You read about PHP but that tutorial or whatever might skip a lot of useful basics just because it's not relevant to that tutorial for example.
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:53 am
by Benjamin
jothirajan wrote:allah......
Say what?
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:56 am
by jothirajan
So reading books is better than online tutorials?....
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:57 am
by Benjamin
jothirajan wrote:So reading books is better than online tutorials?....
Yes
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:57 am
by onion2k
jothirajan wrote:So with books you can get all the basic thing that you want to have?
That really isn't how software development works. You'll never get to the point where you know all the things you want to know and then stop. You continue learning all the time, picking up whatever you need to get the job done. I've been doing PHP dev for nearly 10 years and I'm still learning new things all the time.
Re: What is a good book for a total beginner to learn PHP?
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:58 am
by onion2k
jothirajan wrote:So reading books is better than online tutorials?....
They're the same. They're just ways to learn about stuff. Use whatever suits you. Neither is "better".