Tips on Learning

Un4GiVeN

Hi,

I have tried at different programming languages before, but php seems like a good starting point.

I bought a book (PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Websites by Larry Ullman), which is teaching me the basics as well as advanced stuff.

Could you tell me how you learnt php and memorized the sytanx?

Thanks

drawmack

I didn't memorize the syntax. Sure I know the basics but more often then not I can't write ten lines of code without looking up the function syntax on php.net.

LordShryku

Agreed. The ones you use all the time are the easy ones to remember. It's just repetition. But there's been numerous times I've writeen functions and later realized that there's already a function for it built into php. Bookmark the manual. Learn to love it. Set it as your homepage.

sid

Originally posted by LordShryku
But there's been numerous times I've writeen functions and later realized that there's already a function for it built into php.

oh man... i stopped counting the thousands of lines i programmed for nothing due to this... at one point i started looking up if functions exist for most operations i needed before custom coding them... and in most of the cases i was lucky and saved me quite some work...

Shrike

Yep agreed php.net is the best tutorial you will ever have.

Now how about a web service for getting the pages straight into your editor of choice 😃

As far as syntax goes PHP is basically bog standard C syntax with a few exceptions. PHP's function list however is too big to be memorised. If there's not a function that does what you need, you'll probably Find Another Way(tm) by reading through functions/comments 🙂

mystrymaster

trial and error - I just read through a couple of tutorials then found this board and searched for what I needed to do here.

Sharif

I didn't memorize anything or know all the functions by heart (only the ones I always end up using). Basically, when I have a problem, I first go check the manual (www.php.net), and THEN come to this board if I can't solve it. In PHP, there is always more than one solution to your problem so you have to remember to try them all and never overlook anything, the simplest mistakes end up causing the biggest errors. You just have to know where to look for answers...