[oli]

Right programmer people...
How would you learn php and mySQL if you had to start again ?
(from the start, asume only html/css knowledge) (ie.... me)

I have purchased; Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL - SitePoint Books : any good ?
Any websites you could recommend ?

Ta for your help

[genitalia]

I started here. The basics.

PHP from the Ground Up

[oli]

ta, Have things not moved on since "27 Nov 2001" ?!

[haku]

I used the video tutorial from lynda.com. It started with the basics, then moved on to creating a simple CMS from the ground up. I personally learn much better with video tutorials than with books, so for me it worked great.

[pgo]

Honestly, I've learned more from the comments and discussion on php.net than anywhere else. I think that book will do just fine.

[wheedwacker]

I started with a sam's teach yourself php and mysql in 24 days/hours (forget which)

After that, php.net was extremely helpful.

I have heard good things about sitepoint's PHP Anthology.

[haku]

php.net is great! I use it all the time. Ive got it as one of the search engines in my firefox search bar.

[pgo]

The nice thing about php.net is if you want info on a function, you just type php.net/functionname and it'll find it most of the time. Very handy.

[Hunch]

Spend a couple of hours reading up on the following subjects:

PHP:

Imperative programming
Object Orientation
Scripting languages
Algorithms

Databases:

Relational databases
Structured Query Language
Database normalization

Wikipedia will probably be a good friend to you on everything above.

Understand the technology you're using, and why it works the way it does before you start trying to use it. A lot of programming, and especially database design these days is rubbish, produced by people who never studied database theory, or had any basic understanding of the computer sciences. A lot of the code that I see on this very forum is amateurish and poorly designed.

Presumably you studied design at some point in the past, and looked at areas such as color theory, typography etc. If you could just download a torrent of Photoshop and start creating perfect creative work, every kid in his bedroom would be a top designer. The same goes for the technical side of computing. Your grounding in the disciplines of design is what sets you apart from those kids, because you understand the subject better and can apply that knowledge. Once you understand how, and why things work, then start looking at tutorials.

At the end of the day it's down to you. You can spend a few hours finding out how to do things properly, or you can take the shortcut route. But since you asked for people's advice, the above would be my starting point.

[Naatan]

I've tried to teach my wife some php by creating this "learn-as-you-go" -tutorial- for php..

http://www.naatan.com/learnphp/

She never did "get around to it"

[roto]

Hire a code monkey!

[mx]

Originally Posted by wheedwacker

I started with a sam's teach yourself php and mysql in 24 days/hours

Same here. Gives you a good overview of things. Then googling tutorials and php.net for specific problems. Good luck

[Anxious]

Try the PHP & MySQL Visual Quickpro Guide. It's excellent.

New one: Amazon.co.uk: PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide (Visual QuickPro Guides): Larry Ullman: Books

I have the old one: Amazon.co.uk: php mysql quickpro

I need to get the new one.

[agentxcell]

How hard is it to learn SQL? Im comparison to say java or css?

[freelancr]

Originally Posted by agentxcell

How hard is it to learn SQL? Im comparison to say java or css?

All 3 languages do entirely different things, learning enough SQL for web development is about as simple as it gets.

[dtrenz]

Introduction to PHP and PHP from the Ground Up

[Hunch]

Originally Posted by agentxcell

How hard is it to learn SQL? Im comparison to say java or css?

You can't really compare, but you should be able to get a pretty good grounding in SQL in an hour.

Most programmers don't "learn" new languages per se. Once you master the basics of imperative languages and OO you can write code in virtually any modern language of your choice, be it C, C++, Java, Perl, PHP, Eiffel, Modula 2, Python, Objective C, C#, Ruby, Pascal or BASIC. Computer languages are just slightly syntactically different code implementations of a particular programming paradigm.

SQL is a different type of language specifically designed for manipulating data in a database (and ONLY that). CSS isn't a programming language at all.

Back when I first studied programming, we took almost year of study before we actually wrote any code on a computer. Everything was about learning different programming paradigms and approaches (functional, imperative, object-oriented, logic programming) Then we had to implement solutions in every style (if you've ever done programming in either Miranda or Prolog, you'll know just what a horrible experience it is). But the point was, that programming is not about learning a specific set of 'words' to type into a text editor. It's about approach. Learn the basic underlying principles, and you can literally pick up and start using any language of your choice in a matter of minutes.

[MadHat]

I havent touched php/mysql for far too long, I can still crack together a very outdated CMS though. Although i've just bought wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764579665.html

'tis very well written and doesn't go too fast! And ofcourse i'd always recommend Sitepoint books/articles, its a great resource

[shadowdom29]

Originally Posted by Hunch

You can't really compare, but you should be able to get a pretty good grounding in SQL in an hour.

Most programmers don't "learn" new languages per se. Once you master the basics of imperative languages and OO you can write code in virtually any modern language of your choice, be it C, C++, Java, Perl, PHP, Eiffel, Modula 2, Python, Objective C, C#, Ruby, Pascal or BASIC. Computer languages are just slightly syntactically different code implementations of a particular programming paradigm.

SQL is a different type of language specifically designed for manipulating data in a database (and ONLY that). CSS isn't a programming language at all.

Back when I first studied programming, we took almost year of study before we actually wrote any code on a computer. Everything was about learning different programming paradigms and approaches (functional, imperative, object-oriented, logic programming) Then we had to implement solutions in every style (if you've ever done programming in either Miranda or Prolog, you'll know just what a horrible experience it is). But the point was, that programming is not about learning a specific set of 'words' to type into a text editor. It's about approach. Learn the basic underlying principles, and you can literally pick up and start using any language of your choice in a matter of minutes.

Ya I took Visual Basic in high school. It gave me a pretty good introduction into programming. It let me get familiar with concepts, processes, etc. I agree that programming isnt about learning "languages". Its about learning how to solve problems, organizing information, logic, understanding concepts.

You'll notice that alot of the same concepts appear in different languages.

[RaelRode]

This is just a general PHP comment...I've been using CodeIgniter and it's really good. So far I've built the front-end of a blog and an install script in two days. Much faster than when coding from scratch.