PHP Training

lord_spaceman

lord_spaceman

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Howzit all

I currently stay in Durban and I'm looking for a course to do. PHP comes to mind, but I can't find any training/courses available on PHP here in Durbs. Are there any PHP/MySQL courses out there that you guys know of?

Thanks
 
PHP rocks. I taught myself PHP in a few weeks,and have developed a few successful sites with it by now.

I am not a fan of courses - I prefer the self taught method.

Depending on your skills it should be easy. Do you have other program experiences (VB/C etc)?

www.php.net is a good source, as well as general google.
You can also write PHP code for windows / linux, as well as for a web server or command line.

A simple php program

PHP: 
<?php

echo phpinfo();

?>
(or is it php_info(); :p )

it is by far the best language I have used to date for web development and routine tasks. And I have used:
Pascal, C++, C, C#, VB, Delphi, Java amongst others.
 
Yes, I have taught myself and am well aware of the basics. I do like teaching myself, but I would like a certificate of something to show it. I also think it would be interesting to just do.
 
Rather built a couple of reference sites! I personally never look at certificates, since that only means the person is able to learn, but doesn't give an impression of creativeness...

@Moederloos: I agree! PHP is much better than the others you mention... been there, tried them, and went back to PHP! Those languages are very good for other kinds of apps, but not for web development...
 
ettubrute said:
Rather built a couple of reference sites! I personally never look at certificates, since that only means the person is able to learn, but doesn't give an impression of creativeness...

@Moederloos: I agree! PHP is much better than the others you mention... been there, tried them, and went back to PHP! Those languages are very good for other kinds of apps, but not for web development...
Click to expand...

I agree with never looking at certificates. I always tell the person to skip that part, and tell me what you CAN do - especially what you enjoy doing (programming wise) in your own time.
Lord_Spaceman would pass my initial test stage - seems you learn because you want to. That in itself is the single biggest "plus" point in IT - things change too quick for degrees / diplomas.
It is the old adage: "20 years of experience, or one year of experience twenty times over?"
 
ok i understand that courses mean nothing and experience counts but what about a person who has done no programming before - but wants to develop skills in web development. can he learn php on his own - and if yes, how?

my question: will he have to take a course or can he just learn on his own ?

pls advise asap
 
Yes of course you can learn on your own! You just have to find some nice basic guides to go through and learn.

You have to go through quite a few basic guides and maybe buy a book and just go though it and make sure you understand. Once you have the basics you will almost never forget them because they are very similar for many programming languages. Once you have mastered the basics along with a few commands and stuff that you use often you can move on. Then you can write a few programs for yourself and play around to learn about new functions as you need them. By this time you should be able to use the manual so you can check up on all the commands in the manual. After you have a bit more knowledge you can go through different techniques of how to do things. Learn more about what works better and faster and why.

You have to remember that this take a lot of dedication and time and it doesn't happen over night. The most important part is that you enjoy it!

Some people are better at programming than others and just have a knack for it and others don't. You will be fine if you enjoy it and don't give up too soon. Chances are you WILL do better if you enjoy it and taught yourself instead of doing some boring course.
 
I also learnt by looking at some other peoples code, but I found that having a simple book (Sams teach yourself php in 10 minutes in my case) can help with some of the stuff you might have missed ... for example I never really understood how my sql connections worked before that - but i could get one working in dreamweaver, and i finally figured out mail() (no idea why that took so long ...)
 
I taught myself some php, and then decided to do a course through Unisa for the certificate.

Seriously, I learnt more by teaching myself. The only value I got from the course was (a) the peice of paper that said I could do it; and (b) it put a deadline on my learning. But it was expensive and I wouldn't recommend it.

There's plenty of php references out there:

 
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