code projects for beginners

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mabufo
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code projects for beginners

Post by mabufo »

As some of you know I am new to php. There, I said it! Now, what I propose is that the PHPDN organizes some sort of project that will give the new people some sample projects to work on - to reinforce knowledge that has been gained from various sources on the internet, and in print.

For example, I have bought a book called 'PHP and mySQL Web Development: Third Edition' by Luke Welling and Laura Thompson. The book is nice, except there are no exercises at the end of the chapters that will allow me to go off on my own and see if I have retained anything I learned. I'm only on chapter four, and I'm already worried about forgetting what I've read... because I need that extra hands on experience!

So I propose that we all get together and add a forum (or something) that will hand out 'Beginners Tasks' that will reinforce concepts with the coder, and will give said coder the oppourtunity to work on their skills. An example of one of these challenges could be creating a form that will gather information and email it, or a simple comment system - those are just ideas of course. The challenges shouldn't be too easy ... but should be challenging enough for the novice to gain soemthing from it.

let me know what you guys think of the idea.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

I believe this has been proposed before. I think too, that the question of newbie projects that would help a new developer learn PHP has been brought up before. I'd bet a search of these forums would turn up something along the lines of what you are proposing.

Bear in mind that forums geared toward newbies does have merit, but there is a lot of gray area in something like that. What concepts are considered newbie-ish? What topics and theories? Who would visit/moderate it?

Personally, I think that posting newbie relates issues in the general forums would be more beneficial for both those learning and those teaching PHP.
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mabufo
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Post by mabufo »

I think we sure just add a 'task' forum to phpdn, that will dish out newbie tasks for folks like me, and more advanced tasks for the seasoned veterans. I think the problem with having this sort fo thing in the general php code forum would be that it draw the wrong kind of attention... I mean we don't want the seasoned pros doing the newbie assignments! Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt either! Ultimately where it goes is not up to me, so meh! Also, you were right about similar ideas being posted before, but I am not talking about a new forum for newbies to post, but rather a forum where a moderator could post newbie challenges and then in the threads that are connected to a specific challenge - people could talk shop, you know?

I am worried that something like this would clog up the general php code board even more.
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

What about this? What if a poster posted a project of sorts for anyone to work on, so newbies could take a stab at it while seasoned pros could work on it. Then, as the work is being laid out, the newbies could view what is being posted by the seasoned developers and learn what is going on.
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technofreak
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Post by technofreak »

Everah,

I second your idea. That would be better, as when the newbies see the work of a seasoned PHPian, they can learn more. I have learnt a lot by looking at many of your replies and trying out small codes on my own based on what you have told. If the newbies do comeup with a different logic, then they can post the same as well as post their doubts in the same thread.

But, who will start the threads/topics. The gurus or the n00bs ? I have something more, whoever has some project in hand or even a small idea can post it as a thread with a suitable title for the project/idea. Then the members work on the idea, may be a small part of it or the entire idea and post them. The mods/gurus try to put this pieces together and correct mistakes done by newbies as well (if they are going to try their hands out). So, with time the idea gets converted into a working code, all contributed by the community. In this way, the noobs' learn along with the gurus. :)
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

Why not newbies try to figure out the answer to other posters' questions? That's what I used to do when I didn't know the answer to a posted question. It worked well, I'd say.
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JayBird
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Post by JayBird »

feyd wrote:Why not newbies try to figure out the answer to other posters' questions? That's what I used to do when I didn't know the answer to a posted question. It worked well, I'd say.
Yep, that is a good method...and one i still use to this day
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RobertGonzalez
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Post by RobertGonzalez »

That is a very method. I used to try that when I first started getting confident enough to code PHP without referencing the manual every two seconds. Then, when it came time to answer, I would reread the post and find that like four Guru's already posted. Then I got a little faster at solving, a little fast at typing, and next thing you know, I was answering questions before other people.

It is a great method of learning, especially if you have the same type of question. Plus it teaches you how to do the research needed to find the answers yourself in the event your connection to DevNet is ever broken. :cry:
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a94060
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Post by a94060 »

what i do is check outt he voulnteer forum and see if there is somthing i possibly can do. When i have time,i try to mess with it a little and see if i can do it. At most,you will gain some knowelage and help someone else out
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MrPotatoes
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Post by MrPotatoes »

most of PHP is the same

flat file backed guest book
db backed news authoring
simple login class
simple authenticator class

wicked simple bb code parser class
wicked simple templating class
directory maker/remover class

i think that would cover all the major stuff. after that you are usually in the green and we can help you out.

i was planning on writing some tutorials based on my framework. although it is proprietary and i plan to use it to go proprietary i'd do simpler versions of it. i was thinking of doing a super simpe login class or guestbook/news system
hrubos
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Post by hrubos »

Dear,

I'm too a newbie with Php and I have had a book "'PHP and mySQL Web Development: Third Edition' by Luke Welling and Laura Thompson". Exactly this book is nice but not enought for the newbie. Sometime a newbeginner have "stupid "mistake with coding.And I think the best way to help newbie that somebody in this forum can help them to realize thiet mistake.

Why have I said about it?because I feel like Php and not afraid of it when the beginning day with Php, I have found this forum and I have asked the "stupid" question.Somebody in forum have helped me carefully.

Thanx much
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