New to PHP need general guidance...

andy_baptiste

Hi People.

I'm coming over to PHP from Java and need to seriuosly fast track myself into it, so I thought I'd ask the experts what I should study so I don't waste any time...

😕 Do people often just code straight into the html page or do you guys normally use a framework?

😕 I used Struts in Java what is the best and most widely used framework in php?

😕 can I mess around with some live code without installing Apache etc, as that seems pretty hard to set up?

😕 Also any good tutorials that you think might be right for me, because theres a whole lot of differences between Java and PHP.

Thanks Guys

Andy :xbones:

tzuriel

As far as Apache installations, it's not as hard as you think. Try this LAMPP package:

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/index.html.

Tons of tutorials on the web. What are you trying to learn first? Just google php and that topic. I found lots of great code that way.

andy_baptiste

Thanks I'll try that LAMPP package.

The main thing that I need to get my head around is the basic syntax and what is the accepted way to structure the applications as a whole in php.

There does seem to be alot of ready made scripts but I want to learn to be able to write my own before utilising existing code.

Thanks again tzuriel.

Andy

tzuriel

Here's a link to coding standards:

http://pear.php.net/manual/en/standards.php

Crowly

I found http://www.w3schools.com/php/default.asp very helpful. But i was used to SQL and PL/SQL before i started on PHP so it wasnt that big a difference for me.

ednark

coming from java be sure to hit into php5 if you can

it has a lot of features that php4 lacks that you will find familiar
like try-catch, public/private/protected variables, and a reflection api

you can also structure your code the same way as java, a hierarchy in objects, each in it's own file, you can even use all those sexy design patterns. So you won't have to dive back to functional ways.

I have not used struts but there are MVC frameworks you can find for php by googling. But one of the strengths of php is that it is so close to the webpage you do not need a framework to get a lot of work done.

kkobashi

There are a few MVC frameworks available for PHP including phpMVC, ZendFramework, Agavi, Biscuit, Studs, and others. Which one do I prefer? None of them. I'd rather create my own (its more fun that way) 🙂

Coding straight into the HTML is a no-no. Its best to separate code from presentation as the norm goes. You can accomplish that by using various templating libraries or rolling your own. You could also consider using PHP with XSLT as well.

Php gives you many options and is extremely flexible. The best way to learn is to start building small applications and then moving common routines into a core framework for reuse.

andy_baptiste

Cool, thanks for some very informed replies.

I'll get stuck in...

Andy

coldfused

Yeh, the way I got into php was downloading lots of scripts from hotscripts.com and these were simple scripts not massively complicated ones and I digged into the code and analysed them and started to code. The best thing to do is buy a book the best one i could recommend is O'reilly php for advanced programs, they have a great bit on strings and databases.

abc123

I quite like this online book. Has a lot of good stuff and you'll find all the stuff you need.

http://www.hudzilla.org/phpbook/

Good luck and have fun.

andy_baptiste

Hehe thanks I will try!

Andy

abc123

Cool.

Happy coding!

Keep posting!

greenie2600

Hi Andy -

Welcome to the stimulating world of PHP.

PHP began as a quick-and-dirty scripting language, and many (most?) people still use it that way - coding straight into the HTML, as you say. For simple tasks, that's often the quickest and easiest way to get things done.

However, people have devised lots of different tools to help keep larger projects structured; some are excellent. Smarty is a popular library for separating application logic from presentation logic, for example. There are tons of libraries for this and other purposes, ranging from simple, lean widgets to full-fledged web programming environments. I guess these latter would qualify as "frameworks", though I don't use them myself.

What OS are you using on your development workstation? Apache is very easy to set up in Windows. Getting it to play nice with PHP and MySQL is a little trickier, but it really just boils down to editing a couple of config files and making sure certain .dll files are in the right places (and making sure you're using compatible versions of the software). Uh, okay, maybe it is kind of complicated 🙂

If you're coming from Java, you'll definitely want to use PHP5 (if you have the option; I'm still stuck with PHP4 where I work). PHP5 has a far superior OOP implementation, and lots of other goodies.

Also be aware that PHP juggles type, meaning that variables change data type depending on context. You can concatenate a string onto an integer, for example, without explicitly converting the integer to a string first. Or you could add a string and an integer: "34" + 7 = 41 in PHP.

This behavior makes code easier to write for newbies, but can get annoying at times - especially if you're used to a strongly typed language. Be aware of the difference between the == and === operators, and their kin! "4" == 4 evaluates to true; "4" === 4 evaluates to false. Personally, I hate this aspect of PHP, but it's probably not going away any time soon.

Lastly, PHP is not designed to enforce any particular structured programming model; unless you're conscientious, it's entirely possible to create hideous abominations that will strike terror into the hearts of all who are cursed to maintain them. It's also possible to create elegant, maintainable, efficient, highly modular, highly scalable code. But it's up to you to keep things neat.

Good luck! Feel free to post questions!

andy_baptiste

Hehe thanks Greenie,

I managed to get Apache set up in the end, although like you say it was a bit tricky to get MySql working with PHP5. I didn't take the LAMPP route in the end because I already had mysql setup and running on my development machine.

I develop on an windows xp machine by the way, but the hosting company I use is Unix.

Will have a look into smarty.

Do you "PHP" for a living then Greenie? Whats the PHP job market like?
Java over hear for server programming seems to be dead so I need to cross train quick!

I'll keep you guys posted how I get along.

Many thanks again.

Andy