Using Lynda.com to learn php?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone would recommend lynda.com to learn php http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=653

Iv been reading books, and web tutorials to try and get a hold on the subject but I’m really struggling :frowning:

Kyle

If you want to learn it, dive into it head first. Figure out things as you go =)

Haven’t seen lynda.com about that. But what can I say is start with the basics and learn HTML. Later on admire to write your first php script. echo “hello world!”; for example. You’ll feel you’ve achieved something higher about that. Then soar high and wonder how to connect to a database. You’ll feel like you’ve graduated from a higher level when you accomplished that. This time raise your altitude of desire and try to do some basic functions like adding, deleting, and updating database records. That could make you feel like you’ve heard a lot of people applauded for your work after you’ve done it. From then explore and learn more as much as you can and you could be sharing your knowledge to other people by then. :slight_smile: Just make sure you have the eagerness to learn and that you are interested with what you’re trying to do. :slight_smile:

As already mentioned, w3schools is a nice place to start with. But don’t forget to always bring in your php manual with you. If you need any other help, you already know [URL=“http://www.sitepoint.com/forums”]where to go :smiley:

To be honest, if books (I’m guessing beginner ones) are giving you trouble, videos aren’t likely to make things any easier… PHP is a code based language so it’s all about the text that’s produced, there’s nothing that a video could likely offer that a book couldn’t in equal measure. But I guess if you’re willing to fork out the hefty subscription price you might give it a go (I think they have free samples so you could poke your nose at one of them to see what it’s like). :slight_smile:

Kyle,

Yes I would higly recommend them. I have not done the beginners one, but did the intermediate one that I brought from Amazon. If you are one of those people like me who hates reading then i’d seriously recommend buying the training CD.

Cheers

Honestly, people learn differently. I learn best by trial and error. “What happens if I delete this line… ah… now i see!”

I learned PHP by reading a book. I then cracked my fingers ready to change the world of web design only to stare blankly at the screen. It wasn’t until I had an application to build that I actually properly managed to learn something.

Once you have the basic’s down the rest is a doddle.


if ( isset ($_GET['code']) ) {
  echo $_GET['code'];
}

The above is pretty simple and encompasses a lot of the basic’s. In your url bar if you have the following. yourpage.php?code=something. The script will print ‘something’ onto the page. If change the above to ?code=123. It will print ‘123’

You use an if statement to check if this ‘code’ exists in the url bar.

isset is used to check the existence of the variable. This is the equivilent of going into a bar and saying “you seen chris?” Most of the time you will get the answer “who’s chris?” The isset function rephrases this to. "If you have seen Chris say yes, otherwise say no.

The PHP documentation is actually pretty brilliant.

IF: http://www.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.if.php
isset: http://uk2.php.net/isset
$_GET: http://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.get.php
echo: http://uk2.php.net/manual/en/function.echo.php

I would also recommend checking out XAMPP. It is a web server that you can install on your computer. It really helps in speeding up the programming process.

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

In my opinion, videos tuts are generally useful for backend administration, graphical works (photoshop) etc.

Regarding PHP, if you want to learn it. First start with the w3schools PHP tutorial and write down the code in notepad.

Happy PHP’ing

There are free video tuts out there that may help.

Also, try youtube for additional videos on php topics.

I guess it all really depends on what you’re having trouble with and why…