Practice make perfect

epicdean

Hello everyone I am new to php I just picked up http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-PHP-Apache-MySQL-Development/dp/0470391146/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237782860&sr=1-3 vary good book so far. I know html and a little css but I was wondering what are some good starter projects I should do to get better at understanding and using php.My goal is to do part time freelancing for car dealerships etc.

Also what IDE dose everyone use for there development I am currently using the php designer trial and liking it so far.

Weedpacket

Hi-ho there. Welcome to the forums. Feel free to check out the FAQs and other stickied threads at the tops of the forums for pointers. In fact, feel free to dig through the whole lot - it's what they're there for, after all.

What sort of programming experience do you have already? If you already have some projects under your belt you could try revisiting them in PHP - that can give you an idea about the sort of things it's a good fit for and what it's not so good for.

Roger_Ramjet

You could also volunteer for an open source project, get to do something usefull alongside some, hopefully, experienced phpers. Have a browse around sourceforge for projects that are in your area of interest. You could pick up some very valuable knowledge and experience to use when working for money.

NogDog

You could add a "guest book" page to a web site. That would give you an opportunity to work with a simple database implementation along with the basics of form input processing. (And then if/when spammers discover it, you'll start gaining experience with trying to deal with them. 😉 )

epicdean

I know the basics of c# and and oop (read a c# book in the past and made a few simple apps). but did not really enjoy desktop development and I was thinking of going with asp.net when I first decided to get into wed development. Due to hosting cost etc thoght it would be better to go with php. Also what is a good IDE to use.

Weedpacket

ASP.NET is a web site development framework - particularly websites that tie in with other .NET and Microsoft technologies; PHP is a programming language.

It is actually possible to get a CLR bytecode compiler for PHP, allowing one to write ASP.NET sites in PHP.

rulian

Weedpacket: Love the signature!

I use Dreamweaver CS4, i've used dreamweaver since forever and am quite comfortable with it even though alot of people swear it's the spawn of pure evil.

Roger_Ramjet

rulian;10908348 wrote:
I use Dreamweaver CS4, i've used dreamweaver since forever and am quite comfortable with it even though alot of people swear it's the spawn of pure evil.

:evilgrin: Nothing wrong with Dreamweevil - provided you can already code the language in notepad 😃

Krik

Hmm, someone found an almost practical use for a WYSIWYG :eek: .

Of course something like WAMP will serve the same purpose when used with a code editor like notepad++.

Weedpacket

There is a long thread of pros and cons about various editors linked to in this forum's FAQ.

Roger_Ramjet

Problem with dreamweaver is that it generates some dirty, ugly code. OK if you know what to edit manually is all I meant.

Yes, lets not get into favourite editors again.

erichnwise

definately overhauling all my websites to php in 2009 as a priority. it might be a MAJOR PROJECT and appreciate this forum for some awesome threads and how-to's.

NogDog;10908178 wrote:
You could add a "guest book" page to a web site. That would give you an opportunity to work with a simple database implementation along with the basics of form input processing. (And then if/when spammers discover it, you'll start gaining experience with trying to deal with them. 😉 )

gotta laugh at this comment - i already got this experience on day 1 of joining this forum & posting my first php form! haha. initiation by fire.