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New hey there..
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:18 am
by sniperx
Hey my name is kyle im 17 yrs old . And i really am gettting into php

. I want to learn it so if anybody can give me some tips i really appreciate it thx.
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:22 am
by delorian
http://php.net/manual/en/tutorial.php - start here.
I also recommend reading some articles on:
http://phpbuilder.com
http://zend.com
and of course google seach "PHP Tutorials"
BTW: Buy yourself a good book.
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:25 am
by sniperx
rofl , thx for the advice delorian i already started there im just confused on what i should i read there so much information in the manaul should i just read the whole thing ??
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:29 am
by delorian
Step by step

Not everything at one time.
BTW: Read my signature
OT: Nas rulezz.

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 3:32 am
by cactus
IMO, it's always best to have a project in mind, and then learn around that. You will pick up PHP (and other languages) quicker if you have something to focus on.
Have you got something in mind ?
Regards,
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 4:58 am
by m3mn0n
finally someone who likes hiphop! [
see here]
heh
welcome to the community~
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 2:36 pm
by sniperx
IMO, it's always best to have a project in mind, and then learn around that. You will pick up PHP (and other languages) quicker if you have something to focus on.
Have you got something in mind ?
Regards,
When u mean projects what are u talking about ?? please explain like i said before im total noob to php .
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2003 2:42 pm
by cactus
Something you intend to use PHP for, such as processing your form submissions, or creating a "form to email" handler.
You will find it hard to learn any language with out actually trying things out, was there a particular reason you chose to learn PHP ?
Regards,
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 2:46 am
by sniperx
yes to make my very own hacks for bulletin boards.? Got any suggestions to start me out.
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 3:11 am
by cactus
Writing mods/hacks for BB's will require you to have a sound understanding of PHP and obviously detailed knowledge of the BB you intend to write for.
Most BB's these days have database interaction as well as some kind of templating system.
As advice, I would first start small, understand the basics of the language, the
constructs and variable syntax.
Get yourself
a good PHP book that has examples that walk you through these basics.
Have a look at the BB site you intend to write for, there are usually tutorials etc. on these sites to aid developers create their own mods/hacks.
Regards,
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 3:12 am
by phice
My 5-step program for making successful programs
Theory - Think about what you need to complete this project, be it the process of which you plan on making the program work, to how you think others would use it in everyday use.
Discussion - Discuss your ideas with others (such as us) quite a bit and make sure it's a great idea or not.
Build - Use the PHP Manual every step of your way to creating your program, and be sure to leave yourself small notes in between each 'section' of your PHP coding.
Design - Design the outcome of the script, format the code so that anyone else could read it (if needed, and if you plan to share the source).
Complete - Make sure, atleast, 99% of it's bugs are gone, have a few people beta test your program, and put it into business!
Hope this helps,
Don
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2003 5:09 am
by m3mn0n
Nice guide. I use the same method only I base a lot of my projects on time investment and income potential...if it's not for educational reasons that is (learning a new mod, or testing a new function in a web app).
If a program has no earning potential or if I don't see a huge market for it, it's never leaving my development server.
If you're just into all of this for a hobby or if you are being paid to make a program for someone else then don't mine this little tidbit.

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2003 11:34 pm
by McGruff
There are a lot of free resources on the net - php.net and google should track them down. The downloadable php manual with user comments is highly recommended - essential really imho.
Have you got a local test server? There are several solutions you can download with php/mysql/apache all in one.
Tripod.co.uk have free webspace with php.
You need to be able to debug your scripts when they don't work. Echo out vars to check they have the values you expected or print-r($arrays). Stick a die('your custom message'); in to stop the script dead at a certain point. Echo mysql_num_rows($query) to check if you actually got any results returned in a query.. etc
As a rule (and all rules are made to be broken..), don't write functions that don't fit on a single screen without scrolling - split them up into their separate tasks instead. Makes the code easier to understand and maintain.
Don't skimp on the OOP tutorials. Once you start getting involved in more complex projects, classes (and specifically inheritance) can be the key to organising code efficiently, allowing you to share common blocks of code between several different tasks.
Like any new language, it's just a case of having the patience to learn all the jargon then you're flying.[/list]