> Just build what you want to build and look things up when necessary. I did exactly like this. My first application is a forum. It never made it to production, but i learn a lot. And i am glad i learn it this way. It is a bit costly but fun. On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 11:01 PM, David McGlone <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Saturday 24 April 2010 10:46:33 Nathan Rixham wrote: > > David McGlone wrote: > > > On Friday 23 April 2010 07:45:16 Michiel Sikma wrote: > > >> On 23 April 2010 13:15, David McGlone <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > >>> Is there a good strategy to studying PHP? > > >>> > > >>> For instance, is there a way to break everything down into small > > >>> managable topics? > > >>> > > >>> -- > > >>> Blessings, > > >>> David M. > > >> > > >> Just build what you want to build and look things up when necessary. > The > > >> biggest part of learning any language is becoming able to creatively > > >> solve problems within its realm of possibilities, and that's something > > >> you can't really learn just by reading and solving textbook problems. > > >> Hands-on experience is a very important key to understanding. > > >> > > >> Keep an open mind, ask people for answers if things get difficult, > > >> always assume that there's a better way to do something, and in a > while > > >> you'll be able to write perfectly decent programs. > > > > > > This is the route I have been following for the past couple years and I > > > have always assumed there is a better way to do something and that is, > in > > > a way what makes me lose confidence. > > > > > > I always feel like my code is crap and sometimes even ashamed to even > > > show any of it. > > > > Hi David, > > > > Really good to see somebody asking for honest advice on a v important > > matter :) > > Thank you. > > > > > First, if I may, I'd like to suggest that being ashamed to show your > > code is never going to be a productive way to work, rather the more code > > you show, the more feedback you will get on your code, and often with > > examples of alternative ways to do it - posting snippets and > > opensourcing are great ways of crowd sourcing solid feedback. > > This is very true! > > > > > Next, saying your code is crap, we all feel like that sometimes, but > > it's critical to note that if your code does the job it's supposed to, > > then it's a success! A few months ago I was questioning myself again and > > wrote this: http://webr3.org/blog/general/the-wall/ - the point is it's > > a good thing to question yourself, it's a good thing to take everything > > in to consideration, and often I (used to) find myself looking at very > > short procedural ways of doing things and think.. "why am i making all > > these classes"; it's our job as programmers to know when to implement > > something in 10 quick lines that are easy to maintain, and when to > > create an all singing and dancing framework type affair, pros and cons > > to each, and there is no "One True Way" TM of doing things - each bit of > > code is very much dependent on context, scenario and maintenance costs. > > > > Okay, on to your specific questions! > > > > We can break this down in to small(~ish) common junks, and which you > > study, take further and in what order is entirely up to you: > > > > General Coding > > This is the stuff that translates to almost every language, for loops, > > echo'ing, simple code optimisation and basically just how to script and > > program - I'll assume that after two years you've got this nailed better > > than any book can teach you, from here it's just experience and picking > > up tricks on the way, so generally no need to worry! > > > > PHP > > As you know php is a specific language, and the best way to learn > > everything php specific, is literally to read the manual, from start to > > finish, a few times, and keep referring back to it, if you see something > > you haven't actually used before then give it a quick go in a short 5-10 > > line script and have a play, the 2 minutes it takes will be more than > > worth it (by doing it, it'll get engrained in you). > > Wow, I've done this and didn't even realize it. Just a few weeks ago, I was > trying to understand about how $this -> worked. > > I think I posted that over on php-db. I learned it was related to classes, > so > I dug into classes in the php manual and just wrote code and played with > it. I > did get a better understanding of the whole picture, but probably not > enough > to fully feel comfortable. > > > > > Aside: in every project i do, and at all times i have a test.php where I > > literally just try out ways of doing things and snippets of code, once > > I'm done i stick an exit; before it then do the next snippet above it, > > this way i always have one nice file of snippets in every project to > > refer back to - they often come in handy for helping on this list > > actually, and in fact sometimes are from peoples code on this list! > > Great Idea! I probably would have never thought of this. How do you include > these snippets into your actual work to see if they work? Do you just run > the > file or make functions and just include the function in the code you are > working on? > > > > > Coding Standards > > One of the biggest factors of feeling your code isn't good enough, is by > > not using any coding standards, > > This is absolutely what I have learned in the past couple months. I bought > 2 > books called Beginning PHP and MySQL E-Commerce From Novice to Professional > 1st and 2nd edition by Cristian Darie and these 2 books build a T-Shirt web > site from start to finish, and I realized with these books just how > important > organizing your code and following standards is. > > > this is pretty simple stuff but makes > > your life a lot easier, and code a lot cleaner - even crap broken code > > comes across a lot better when it's nicely formatted lol. A good IDE can > > help you here, as for which coding standards that's up to you, but you > > can check you are adhering to them by using "php code sniffer" - > > personally I opt for a slightly modified version of zend coding > > standards with the odd bit of extra spacing around params etc. > > It's sad as long as I've been pushing myself to learn PHP, and studying > anything I can get my hands on, I've never heard of "php code sniffer". > > On a side note: the trick is to make the code look so darn gibberish, that > it > makes whoever had written it look like a genius ;-) > > > > Paradigms & Design Patterns > > A bit of familiarity with programming paradigms is always a good thing > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_paradigm > > In PHP we use Procedural and Object Orientated (Class Based) > > If you do OO then it's also very very useful to read up on all the > > Object Orientated subjects though especially "Separation of Concerns", > > familiarity of Martin Fowler's enterprise patterns > > http://martinfowler.com/ is also a good thing, there is also a Java > > pattern guide that's most useful > > http://java.sun.com/blueprints/patterns/ and many transfer over to OO > PHP. > > > > Other Languages > > Yes :) one of the best ways to get good with your primary language (php) > > is to try out and use other languages, for instance if you were to put > > some focus in to javascript (ecmascript), scala, erlang, c, java and > > maybe something like as3 then I'm pretty sure your code and programming > > would improve ten fold I'm sure - I'm not suggesting you learn them all > > but a bit of focus and playing from time to time would be a very good > > thing indeed! > > My first serious attempt at coding was back when windows '95 was out. I > tried > to learn C++. I remember I was up for days just trying to figure out how to > set > the correct path in the compiler so my programs would compile and work. > Since > then I've only piddled around with C++, but here lately I have been seeing > similarities and differences in PHP with what little I learned of C++. > > > > HTTP and REST > > This is pretty critical if you're making websites, honestly how can we > > create th web if we don't know how it works? REST is the design behind > > HTTP (and not just some weirdy api where you use GET parameters) - in > > fact when i say pretty critical i mean it's entirely critical, the more > > you understand REST and the more familiar you are with HTTP then the > > better your websites, web apps, api's etc will be! > > HTTP: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616.html > > HTTPbis (the updated version, work in progress, probably better to read > > to be honest): http://tools.ietf.org/wg/httpbis/ > > Architecture of the worldwide web: http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/ > > )you can't argue w/ the makers of the web now can ya) > > REST: > > http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch_style.htm<http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Efielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch_style.htm> > > Thank you Nathan! I have bookmarked all the sites and will be reading all > of > them. Your words have inspired me to give it my all once again. > > > > leave it there.. but happy to continue if you need. > > Thank you. You've probably given me enough to chew for months to come. > > -- > Blessings, > David M. > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > >
