Hi, Richard is spot on, but learning (PHP, ASP, Java, ...) programming is not all about reading. Set up small examples that better enforce the ideas in your mind about specific topics that you are having a hard time with. You will loose, roughly, 90% of the information by just reading. Examples help solidify the theories. Regards, Justin Palmer __________________________ KISS (Keep It Simple, SEARCH)! Google::getUri( http://www.google.com ); Archives::getUri( http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=php-general ); -----Original Message----- From: Richard Lynch [mailto:ceo@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 9:15 AM To: Eakin, W Cc: php-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: a question about the PHP manual Eakin, W wrote: > Hello, > As I'm studying, and learning, PHP, I use certain resources again > and again. A few books I've bought, some web sites, this mailing list, > and the PHP manual. I've taken the often repeated 'RTFM' to heart, and > I attempt to google or RTFM before considering a post to the list with > a question, but now I have a question about the manual itself. I've > noticed that most of the replies to the questions on this list, when > they refer to a part of the manual, point to the same few sections > over and over. Such as arrays, strings, sessions, objects, and a few > others. My question is this, when I'm reading the manual, is just that > I should be concentrating on a few sections (and if so, which?), or > should I be giving equal attention to all the sections, including some > (I suppose) I might never use. I would recommend reading EVERYTHING in the PHP manual UP TO "Section VI: Function Reference" All of that stuff is what defines the core PHP Language, and if you don't know it, you're going to waste a lot of time on Voodoo Programming. Voodoo Programming: You do things that "work" but you have completely erroneous beliefs about *why* and *how* they work. If you know the jargon for what you are looking for, Google is your buddy; But if you don't, and can only describe what you want in a paragraph of a question, then re-read all of that, plus the FAQs. You then want to skim through the main page of each "function reference" section. Currently that's 135 (!) pages. Some of them you can quickly dismiss as "irrelevant for all time to me" :-) Others, you'll find out that there's an entire science to something you thought you'd have to invent for yourself. Yes, that's a lot of reading. No, you won't remember all of it. Hell, you might not even understand all of it when you read it. Once upon a time, I even posted an FAQ to the list, way back when, because while I had *read* the FAQ initially, there were FAQs I didn't even understand the Question to, much less the Answer. Six months later, of course, I ran into the question in my own needs, and, well, didn't *RE*-read the FAQ. Take note of the stuff you don't understand at all, and try to memorize the buzz-words or what you think they might be all about. The hair you save may be your own. :-) -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
