Professional PHP Programming

[Snoop Dogg]

I ordered the book awhile ago because everyone was recommending it... but I still can't grasp the language. Are there any special chapters that could be pointed out for me?

[JimF]

You're talking about the big red Wrox book with all the freaky looking people on the front?

And you're a beginner?

It's called Professional PHP Programming for a reason .

Start off with any of the books by Julie Meloni. One is called PHP Essentials and she published another one within the last 6 months. Trust me - start off with a book geared towards beginners. Prof. PHP Prog. is a great book, but only if you already have a decent grasp of the language.

HTH

-jim

[Mark Hensler]

when reading recommendations for books, always consider the source
and always try to get more than one

I own 'PHP4 Bible' by Tim Converse and Joyce Park. Nice book. I learned PHP before I bought it, so I got it mainly for a desk reference (great index ). I use http://php.net a lot, but I like to have something on paper so I can make notes in the margins.

Happy Hunting,

[pedro_gb]

Hey, I've also got the big-red-book-with-all-the-freaky-people-at-the-front! In fact, I got it on Wednesday. Great book so far.

Well, the best way to learn PHP from scratch (and trust me, you need hardly any knowledge to follow it) is Kevin Yank's famous "building a database driven site using PHP and MySQL": http://www.webmasterbase.com/printTemplate.php?aid=228.

[JimF]

As good as Kevin Yank's tutorial is, I think it is still too complex to learn the language from.

Julie Meloni's books are great, because she gives you little scripts to get the hang of the syntax and possible uses of PHP. Check out her site at http://www.thickbook.com - it took me a week of playing around with some of her examples to begin to feel really comfortable with the language.

-jim

[Dark_Wizard]

Why not "Beginning PHP4" by Wrox...that has alot of little scripts as well and they take you through each line in detail. I found it to be a great book....now I'm using "Professional PHP Programming" and The Bible as stated above...these are all excellent books IMO.

[Kier]

I would have to agree that ProPHP isn't for beginners, but once you have the basics of the language it's an excellent book.

[mrlister]

i ordered a few books from the library. i took a php 4 bible, those php essiantials by m____ something and learn php in 24 hours.

[Snoop Dogg]

Originally posted by JimF
As good as Kevin Yank's tutorial is, I think it is still too complex to learn the language from.

Julie Meloni's books are great, because she gives you little scripts to get the hang of the syntax and possible uses of PHP. Check out her site at http://www.thickbook.com - it took me a week of playing around with some of her examples to begin to feel really comfortable with the language.

-jim

Which one of her books did you buy?

[JimF]

I bought PHP Essentials, ISBN: 0-7615-2729-X

It's good because it starts at the *very* beginning, discussing the origin and future of PHP, installing a webserver, php, & mysql (all which presumably you already have).

Then it takes you through basic "Hello world!" scripts, all the way to working with databases, user authentication, user tracking & session management, and gets as advanced as developing a phpMyAdmin type of script & building an ecommerce site.

The most important thing is that it's written in a human way. There is no assumption that you've had any programming experience.

But you'll want to keep the Wrox book around for once you get the hang of it, trust me!

-jim

[Snoop Dogg]

Thanks for your help Jim, I'm going to go buy the PHP Essentials book in 2 hours. After I finish it, do you think I should move on to Professional PHP Programming or I should get an intermediate book. If so, which book?

[Snoop Dogg]

Ok, I just came back from the bookstore and I'm ready to get started

[X-PhoeniX]

Originally posted by Snoop Dogg
Ok, I just came back from the bookstore and I'm ready to get started

Have fun

[JimF]

Originally posted by Snoop Dogg
Thanks for your help Jim, I'm going to go buy the PHP Essentials book in 2 hours. After I finish it, do you think I should move on to Professional PHP Programming or I should get an intermediate book. If so, which book?

After I read PHP Essentials, I went out and got "PHP3: Programming Browser Based Applications" by David Medinets, and that was a good next step for me. From there I went to Paul Dubois' MySQL book. I think I read Professional PHP Programming after that.

For me, it was the first programming language I had ever learned, so depending on your situation, different books may suit you better than others. I have a tendency to "skim" more than actually read, so it takes me 5 times as long to learn something, because I have to keep re-reading it .

-jim

[tubedogg]

Originally posted by JimF
I have a tendency to "skim" more than actually read, so it takes me 5 times as long to learn something, because I have to keep re-reading it .

I find myself doing that too. I can't sit still and read...I have to be doing something.