
December 20th, 2003
05:40 PM

Question concerning learning php...
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could help me out a bit here with one question I've about learning php.. I've been reading some of the very basic introductions to PHP (where they teach you the very basic php commands and their use, up to arrays..), but I've noticed that there is not really any tutorials beyond that (and I don't mean the tutorials where they teach you how to do something by just giving you the code, because I don't really learn from that kind of stuff), so what I would like to ask you guys is:
Do you know if there is a bit more advanced "introduction to PHP" tutorials, where they talk about php and explain you all sorts of commands and their uses? Also, maybe some tutorial about the relationship between MySQL and PHP would be nice (with explanation of how to create tables with php and the PHP commands that you can use MySQL tables with - retrieving data, adding, editing, deleting, etc..)
I know I am asking a lot, but I felt that it would be the only way I would learn PHP really, because I am not very good at picking up just things from the "Making a working program" type of tutorials, they just give you the code but do not really explain it as fully as it is needed for me to understand.
Anyway, that's all I'd like to know, any help would be highly appreciated 
Thank you in advance,
BlueWhite 
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December 20th, 2003
07:12 PM
Neversidian
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http://www.php.net/manual/en/funcref.php Is the function reference for PHP, assuming that you have learned all the basic skills, just browse through that for anything that interests, you, it generally has code snippets for how each function should be used.
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December 20th, 2003
09:06 PM
Neversidian
Status: Offline!
There are thousands of advanced tutorials such as sites like www.phpfreaks.com and www.codewalkers.com. There are more than plenty of PHP tutorials way beyond basic there.
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December 20th, 2003
11:20 PM

Well sure there are, but the thing is that with those advanced tutorials, they usually just give you chunks of code and leave you with your mouth open if you do not know what the commands do and so forth..
That is why I am looking more tutorials like Accessing MySQL from PHP by George Yohng, because it gives you some background information to begin with, then it starts to explain in more detail, giving examples along the way and actually gives you the syntax of each command. So all in all, it gives you the commands with examples, but does not leave you with your mouth open because it also gives the basic syntax with explanation..
I'm more interested in tutorials of that kind, rather than tutorials that just give you the code, atleast for now (since I am actually trying to learn commands and stuff, not how to code something.)
Anyway, thanks for the links, I will look in to them. If anyone has something to contribute, please do, I'd appreciate it 
Thanks again guys, keep 'em coming 
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December 21st, 2003
06:15 AM
the best way for me to learn PHP was to download a copy of the PHP manual available from their site. I then recommend that you download PHP and MySQL files needed to create a home webserver and set that all up. Its pretty simple 
Then as others have stated go to places such as
phpbuilder.com
and download code that you understand. If you want to know what a function does then look it up in the PHP manual.
For me books were a waste of money.
Thats my 2 cents 
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December 21st, 2003
06:22 AM

Originally posted by LH-Andrew
the best way for me to learn PHP was to download a copy of the PHP manual available from their site. I then recommend that you download PHP and MySQL files needed to create a home webserver and set that all up. Its pretty simple 
Then as others have stated go to places such as
phpbuilder.com
and download code that you understand. If you want to know what a function does then look it up in the PHP manual.
For me books were a waste of money.
Thats my 2 cents
Ok thanks, I'll think about it. Though, I already have web hosting with php and mysql, so I don't think I'll need to set up one @ home, even though it'd be faster testing but then again..
I was thinking about books, but not so sure about them.. Could anyone recommend me some PHP books that would actually teach you some useful commands and their usage (100-250+ commands would be nice) ? Just a thought 
Anyway, thanks for all the feedback so far guys, keep it coming ^_^
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December 21st, 2003
09:08 AM
Neverside Newbie
Status: Offline!
Heh, I don't think 'commands and their usage' is the way to learn PHP... I mean, PHP isn't a new language and most of its functions exist in other languages such as C++, so IMO it's better to learn what kind of functions are SUPPOSED to exist in a programming language, and then learning their actual names in PHP will be easy (from php.net).
For MySQL, I recommend you check out http://sqlcourse.com - everything that's written there can be used in PHP with the resource mysql_query(string $query) function.
Other than that, I'm writing a PHP guide myself right now, hopefully it will include what you're looking for, but only at a later stage as I just started (http://www.ynhockey.net/php.php) and am at basic commands.
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