How to go from being a n00b to becoming a real good php developer

jwagner

I have posted this in another forum, but I guess I will have more success here.

I was wondering if anybody out there could please provide advice on how to go from being a beginner to becoming an advanced php programmer using only books and material that is available online.

I am a beginner in PHP, and I want to become a PHP superhero. Please help me to accomplish my goals. I really appreciate it since I really respect all the great community out here, with all of the knowledgeable people willing to help each other.

P.S. I got the following books.

Beginning PHP6, Apache, MySQL Web Development - Wrox, written by the guys on this site
PHP and MySQL: Create - Modify - Reuse - - Wrox publishing - Author: Timothy Boronczyk

dagon

practice.

NogDog

Do not just concentrate on PHP syntax, but learn some general programming theory as well as database design concepts (e.g. database normalization).

jwagner

First, thanks to all of you guys who have taken the time to answer my question. I really really deeply appreciate it.

I value your advice, and I hope I will be able to implement it.

Still, I would like you to please address the question of "Which books should one use to really master the php language".

I would love if you could recommend some sort of a path. Like for example:

[FONT="Courier New"]Great Begginer Book > Intermediate book > etc > ect > advanced book.[/FONT]

Currently I am starting out, using a great book called "Beginning PHP6, Apache, MySQL Web Development" By Wrox, written by the guys on this site.

I really enjoy the book, but I would love to know where to go from here. I really would appreciate some good book recommendations.

Thanks so much.

slick101

the WROX books do rock.

I did get
PHP and MySQL: Create - Modify - Reuse then i went and got PHP Professional 5.

If your on unix/linux base system i strong recommend getting a Lamp book as well.

Like the other said, keep practicing everyday and learn the theory of programming.

wjgilmore

Having worked a great deal within the educational side of IT over the past 10 years, particularly in regards to PHP, this is a very interesting question. Everybody's preceding comments are indeed spot-on, however dagon's rather concise response of "Practice" really hit home.

There are quite a few great PHP books out there (I won't mention any in particular, as having written five and edited probably 15 others, I'm biased), but reading these alone and other learning resources aren't the final solution; they are tools which will help you learn in a fashion that counts the most: by building your own PHP-driven websites.

That said, I suggest just trying to build a website based around a topic that interests you; whether you want to build a simple e-commerce store, or your own photo album, it doesn't matter. Just try to build it. The lessons you'll learn along the way will prove to be invaluable. Also, keep a notepad nearby (virtual or otherwise) when writing the code, and take detailed notes regarding what you did wrong and how you fixed it.

Also, peruse great discussion boards such as this regularly, learning from the mistakes of others, and when you can, chime in with your own suggested answer.

Finally, choose a popular PHP-powered open source project, download the code, and read it!! You'll gain a tremendous amount of knowledge simply by reading the code of your peers.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with your learning!

Jason

==
W. Jason Gilmore
http://www.easyphpwebsites.com/

NogDog

One thing I would like to suggest is to not put off learning object-oriented PHP as some sort of advanced subject to be learned later. The earlier you learn to work with objects, the sooner you'll learn to really organize your applications and start thinking like a web application developer and not just a PHP coder. Learning OOP should not just be learning the syntax of writing and using classes, but spend some time learning OOP theory and patterns. Also, many of the newer PHP extensions are object-oriented, so you need to have some OOP knowledge anyway to make full use of them. (Thus my suggestion in your other thread to get hold of PHP5 Objects, Patterns, and Practice.) I also like to recommend these web tutorials, in this order:

jwagner

slick101;10918018 wrote:
the WROX books do rock.

I did get
PHP and MySQL: Create - Modify - Reuse then i went and got PHP Professional 5.

If your on unix/linux base system i strong recommend getting a Lamp book as well.

Like the other said, keep practicing everyday and learn the theory of programming.

Thanks for your comment.

Two things:

What's a LAMP book, and why would I want to get one?
Will you recommend a real good book on programming theory?

Thanks so much again, I deeply appreciate your help.

jwagner

Thanks so much fore your input.

I'm sure that you, being in the education side of it all, know much about the problems beginners like me face.

I prize your advice, and I hope to implement it.

Thanks.

Kudose

LAMP is short for Linux Apache MySQL PHP (sometimes Perl) ... a good book is Setting Up LAMP

I've been very fond of my Gang of Four book: Design Patterns, Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

I also really like Martin Fowler's Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture.

A good refactoring book is Refactoring to Patterns by Joshua Kerievsky

#edit
NogDog mentioned PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice ... I used to own this book and while it is good, I found that the Gang of Four book covered all of it plus more, but without the PHP syntax.

jwagner

Thanks so much for your input.

I guess there is more to programming than just learning the syntax.

I'm not really sure what is the difference between "design patterns", algorithms and all the other buzz words, but I hope I will find out by reading some of the books you mentioned.

I really value your advice, and I just want to say thanks to you.

Weedpacket

jwagner wrote:
I guess there is more to programming than just learning the syntax.

Indeed; that's the easiest part.

jwagner

By the way, searching for "design pattern" Mr. Google pointed me in this direction

http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/

Does this have anything to do with the Design patterns you guys are talking about, or is it just the name that is the same?

laserlight

jwagner wrote:
Does this have anything to do with the Design patterns you guys are talking about, or is it just the name that is the same?

The name is the same, the concept is the same, but the focus is different. That website is talking about patterns of website functionality whereas here we are talking about patterns of software (code) design.

Kudose

An example of some design patterns are the Factory pattern, Singleton pattern, Observer pattern, Strategy pattern and lots more.

IBM explains 5 common ones here: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-php-designptrns/

Weedpacket

Generally, though, "Patterns" is just recognition of the fact that the same situations arise over and over again: the idea is to recognise them when they do, and draw on industry experience to handle them.