The road to PHP mastery

Duckyboos

Hey people.

I am just coming into the world of PHP, but I am still very much a beginner. I was wondering what you guys would suggest is the "best" route to take to become proficient in PHP. I know this is a pretty open ended question so I will try and narrow it down.

I am wishing to become proficent enough at PHP to be someone who would be able to work as a web developer. I am competent enough with HTML/CSS, however, I know that in order to be able to get a job doing something like this requires being proficent in front end web design, as well as back end programming (although I know many people specialize in one). I would ultimately like to be able to get a job doing this, and hopefully one day do it freelance, so my goal is to get "employment-worthy" at PHP, and have a competitive portfolio of sample applications.

I am under no delusions of how big a task this is. I also understand that it may take several years to be at that level. I have personally alloted myself 20+ hours a week to work on PHP to try and get there. If necessary I would like to up it a bit to more hours (damn jobs getting in the way)

Anyway, as someone coming into this, it is quite a daunting task, and finding somewhere to start can seem pretty hard. I have personally resolved that my very first step is going to be to go through each page of the PHP manual and try out each rule/syntax, and try to fully understand it, and then move onto the next. I have purchased a book "PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition) by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson" Which I hear is a pretty popular book. I have actually read through it once, but that was a few months ago, so I am reading through it again at work (despite the interuptions...but its better than nothing) I can read through the example systems on there and follow the flow of it, in my mind, but I am yet to create something of that level myself from scratch. Basically, my question is, after I have gone through the manual and understood all the individual operators and things, where do you go from there? It seems to me, one of the biggest steps can be from learning and knowing how each little peice works, to knowing how to put together an "application", and knowing where to start.

I would really like it if anyone could suggest a sort of "course" I could follow, which suggests some very basic projects to try out, but as you go down the list of "applications" to create, they get more and more complicated to help build up on my knowledge. Like for example it could start with "basic counter", then move onto something else a bit more complex at each step. Tutorials are also good, but sometimes it can seem like I am just following instructions, and if you were to take it away from me, I wouldnt know where to start. If you have good suggestions of tutorials to look up it will also be good. Doesnt have to be specific ones, but just areas to look up tutorials for and get the concepts "under my belt" so to speak. I think with tutorials I should follow the instructions, but also experiment along the way and understand whats going on at each step, and why it was done.

Anyway, I know this is quite a big post, and I know it is asking a lot for someone to map out an entire step by step course, so I will be interested in any peice of input you guys might have in regards to my situation, and I will collate together your combined wisdoms as best I can.

Cheers.

halojoy

I would try google for this search string:
"PHP Tutorials"

ZEND has got these: http://devzone.zend.com/article/627
They are easy to read and a bit funny, too 🙂

phpfreaks.com has got good things: http://www.phpfreaks.com/tutorials

tizag.com a very good reference with examples: http://www.tizag.com/phpT/

Of course phpbuilder.com has got things: http://www.phpbuilder.com/
See Code Library and Articles

Finally, you can come a very long way teaching yourself, by using internet.
I can say I learnt most from PHP Manual http://www.php.net/manual/en/
and from this forum, where you can get a hint of the more advanced tricks
the experienced people use.

dagon

Duckyboos;10942146 wrote:
I am just coming into the world of PHP, but I am still very much a beginner. I was wondering what you guys would suggest is the "best" route to take to become proficient in PHP.

practice, the research (Malcolm Gladwell) says about 10,000 hours on any skill to become an expert

TenaciousC

The more code you write, the more your brain will start to go to mush. That's not a bad thing. Eventually it will reform you will start to think like a programmer.

Then you'll start dreaming in code. Then you'll start dreaming about your clients chasing your around naked screaming things like "Why is this taking so long?! Why is this costing so much?! My 13 year old nephew Biff has the Photoshopper program and says he can build me a database driven site using The JavaScript!"

So unless you are brave enough to face this (and a whole lot more!) I suggest you look into other occupations.

But on a lighter note, I do agree with halojoy. I've been using PHP for close to 10 years and I think I've learned the most from the official documentation.

Duckyboos

LOL!

Thanks guys for your replies. The stuff you have said has been very illuminating. I will be sure to check back on this post regularly along the way. The links you have provided are very useful too, cheers.

At the moment I am just working through the PHP manual and playing with all the different expressions to get used to it all, and then move into bigger areas. I also have that book with some good projects in to work on, so I will probabaly move onto that afterwards and try to play around with them, and then add my own features on top of it.

johnpeace

I would like to suggest that the most valuable learning experience you can get at this point will come from maintaining, modifying, repairing existing code. There are TONS of neglected websites of widely varying code quality, needing HELP from someone enthusiastic, available, willing to learn and not too expensive.

You could be at work sooner than you think.

I suggest this approach for a few reasons:
1. Position yourself so you can get paid while you learn. This is a professional endeavor and should yield some kind of entry level pay as soon as possible. Earning a little $$ will go a long way toward keeping you motivated

As beginners, we probably don't have the experience to architect a project from the ground up. Doing work on code where most of the decisions have already been made will let you focus on other more grunt-work aspects of programming and give you some exposure to different architecture approaches, from the truly brilliant to the truly WTF?!
Doing this kind of work will most likely result in a wide variety of projects, clients and types of applications. Variety will help you build a more diverse experience and skills base, which will serve you and your clients well. It also lets you meet lots of different people...who will come back to you for more later on.

I've been working with PHP for 10 years now (has it been that long already!?) and the vast majority (easily 90&#37😉 of my experience has been doing just this: fixing broken sites, adding features to or changing the behavior of existing systems, integration of existing systems with some library or API or webservice or something. I guess you can say I've made a career of it...it's good work to.

It seems like it's way easier to succeed and exceed client's expectations doing that kind of work, than it is to try to take their ideas and vision and turn them into application code.

The very nature of it leaves you set up to be a hero: clearly defined goals of a limited scope. That's how you succeed. Maintenance type work lends itself particularly well to those.

Now, some tips:
- Use libraries, classes, abstraction layers as much as you can. This will save you time, help you do better work and give you exposure to new techniques.
- Try a PHP framework. I recently inherited a codeigniter project and discovered that CI is extremely cool! I doubt I'll ever start a new project again that doesn't use a framework as it's foundation
- learn jQuery and use it, it's the smart way to do javascript and ajax
- focus on separating presentation (HTML output) from application flow/control logic from database exchanges. Nobody should ever, ever find database queries surrounded by HTML in your projects.
- write classes, use classes.
- use a templating system like Smarty or Tiny But Strong (again, separation of app logic from display)
- use a version control system. SVN is very popular and there are a number of free SVN hosting providers. It's not so hard that an aspiring programmer can't figure it out and it will save you tons more frustration than it creates and train you in the tools and techniques that professionals rely on.
- learn to use the shell!!!
- practice by writing stuff you can actually use...and re-use...like a class that retrieves Amazon items from it's API...or a class for handling Paypal or Google checkout transactions...or Picasa web albums...do your learning on small sub-projects that will be useful to you later on.
- write documentation for EVERYTHING!! In fact, start each coding project by writing the documentation for it. Document each method, variable completely before you start writing the code. Then, write your code based on your documentation. Use a documentation tool like phpDocumentor

OK...how's that for a load of unsolicited advice?

If you want a project assignment, send me a PM and I'll suggest a small PHP project that you should write, give you guidelines, help you out with hints when you need them and then evaluate the whole thing when you're done.

Good luck, have fun!

sneakyimp

It tends to drive you forward if you have a passion about what you are working on. I would recommend tackling something you've always wanted to be able to do. For me there were a few of these things:
provide password-protected access control to a 'secret' section of a website using a database
charge someone's credit card
* write a socket server to communicate with a Flash client

For each of these items, I would google for relevant tutorials or pages and also post specific questions on this forum: PHPBuilder.com 😉

Duckyboos

Thanks guys for the responses. You have really opened my eyes a bit. I will be sure to reference this post in the future. I may also take you up on your offer to PM you for any additional tasks you may want to set me. At the moment I am just working through the PHP manual and trying out new things, but as soon as I have got my feet wet on there, I will definitely consider messaging you and seeing what you can offer.

Cheers again guys

cretaceous

hey - I'd just like to add that though John Peace's advice is super excellent I really think that you should not try to do too many things at once

so things like jquery, svn, php framework, smarty..
if you do them all at once your brain really will turn to mush

learn them when you need them - then you'll understand why they are useful

I also am not convinced that fixing broken sites is a good way to go..
its a good discipline but figuring out someone else's undocumented and quirky logic can be a recipe for nervous breakdown..
and then you might start to think they've done things the right way..

but this forum is awesome - my first port of call for most things

tommyrulez

I agree with everything these people have said. It has taking me a long time to figure out just to get an already generated login script to work the way I want it to. It really isn't anything I was doing wrong. I just could not figure the documentation and then one day I was messing with another login script and 'ding' the light went on. I rolled my eyes and called myself an idiot.

I see quite a few posts on here and other forums where people are taking existing scripts and using them to create their own site.

If you already have a host, you can use them to test your code. While I also use other programs to write. I can check if { } and () are open or closed on my host. { will provide you some headaches. Expecting T_Variables error, because you forgot a ; in the line above and on. 🙂

But, I have to say I love PHP and soon you will be looking at other people's post and go,'hey, I remember that'.

NogDog

Take some courses or at least read some books on general programming theory and techniques. Even a course in another programming language will help if that's all that is available to you. Virtually every high-level programming language being used these days does a lot of the same things: assign values to variables, loops, conditional statements, data structures, input/output, interact with databases, etc. You can avoid a lot of bad habits, blind alleys, etc. if you learn the basics (and learn them correctly) from the start.

While on-line tutorials are handy and can be useful, few go to the depth that a good book will in explaining why you should do things that way, plus for the most part they do not undergo any sort of professional peer review, so there is no guarantee that the advice they give is always an accepted "best practice."

PS: I suggest not waiting until you've mastered the "basics" of PHP before you start learning object-oriented PHP. IMO, too many people treat this as an advanced subject; but I think it should become part of your toolkit as soon as possible, if for no other reason than much of the 3rd party code you may want to work with these days is object-oriented, as are many of the new PHP extensions.

simn_stv

i'm also relatively new to php, from a somewhat programming environment (a little c, basically) and i find the language as intriguing as it is scalable...
i have found the online manuals very helpful and fun but i also adopt another method of learning which to some extent, has worked somewhat...
I try to, as much as i can, read code and learn about how the pros do it; i have looked a bit at the zend framework (very little) and a few other cms'es and the code they write, looking so overwhelming at first, begins to ease in with time and i realize that all ive read in books and manuals is what these guys are also doing just with much more skill...i then tend to get a tiny feel of self confidence as i go deeper into their code, i kinda see the light 😃

i know i'm a long way to proficiency but i kinda get more confident and it helps...

just my thoughts!!