Learning PHP

[AJW06]

I am reading "PHP and MySQL For Dynamic Websites" by Larry Ullman. very well written i am about quater the way through and i have a good understanding of how a script works so i can anaylse a script and know what the script is trying to do. But i thats about it, when i come to writing my own code i don't know how i can make the script do what I want it to do. Have any of you good people got any advice for me

[Nightfire]

Just practice, practice and practice. Look at example scripts/code you've got and modify them is the easiest way to learn I find. eg, a basic hello world code

PHP Code:

<?php
echo 'Hello World';
?>

can be changed to say the time, date, then add a counter to say how many times the page has been viewed, and slowly work your way up. You'll eventually pick it up and be able to find functions you need to use by google or php.net

[aedrin]

when i come to writing my own code i don't know how i can make the script do what I want it to do. Have any of you good people got any advice for me

This comes from reading the book, and not doing the exercises. You have to do the exercises if you want to grasp when and what you would use.

EDIT: On a side note, I think this book is outdated and you should be looking for a PHP5 book, as there are some nice additions that are well worth the upgrade. Not to mention that some things don't work anymore, or different.

[iLLin]

Yea get the latest and greatest.

[AJW06]

I have the 2nd eddition which is PHP5