Recommendation?

[genieuk]

Hi,

I wanted to know what you PHP programmers recommend.

I am new to PHP and am doing pretty good. I gone to w3schools and tzig but found they only explained so much and not much indepth.

I been watching videos online that has made a huge difference in my understanding.

I am asking as i want something to help me along the way what book( do you recommend for learning PHP programming?

I want something that starts from begining to advanced and something that i dont need to keep buying books to get more advanced.

There are so many out there not sure what is best and wondering if anyone bought PHP/MySQL book(s) and have any to recommend?

Here are some i been looking at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PHP-MySQL-Dynamic-Web-Sites/dp/032152599X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240827560&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PHP-MySQL-Development-Developers-Library/dp/0672329166/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240827560&sr=8-2

I enjoy reading books and find learning from books much easier reason why i am asking your recommendations.

Thank you,
genieuk

[cwarn23]

The only book I would recommend is the PHP5 and Mysql Bible. A great book that explains most of php in depth.

[genieuk]

Thanks will check it out. Anyone else got any please recommend.

I am starting a course next year reason why i want to learn what i can so i can go on course and feel confident that i know something.

The only gripe about that book it was done in 2004 so not sure if that to old for a newbie learning in 2009, not sure

there is a later version http://www.amazon.co.uk/PHP-MySQL-Bible-Wiley/dp/0470384506/ref=pd_cp_b_3?pf_rd_p=212521391&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0764557467&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0CX3X171JRZ1EAM5ZX5V

not sure if that is as good at explaining thou

thank you,
genieuk

[genieuk]

any other suggestions?

Althou i am new to PHP only been doing it for a few days i have still learnt rather allot.

Problem that is irritating me more than anything is that althou i have probably learnt enough to write some basic scripts i can't seem to think how i go to write them if that makes sence,

I mean is that normal for newbies or something? , anyone recommend what they did when they started PHP programming that helped you write scripts?

I find all the websites that i visit that learns you what all the things in the php language means like w4schools tzig tc, althou some explain in depth they only show you basic things, they dont seem to show how you can use things that i have learnt and make it into a script that actually does something.

I am really desperate for someone to advise me if they could. I really want to learn PHP, and next year am going to go on a course but until then i want to learn what i can and hopefully start writing scripts.

I would love to know what books you recommend for beginners but something maybe that takes me into advance

When did you first start writing any script when learning php, you probably understand what i am asking.

Thank you,
genieuk

[ShawnCplus]

Personally I've never picked up a book on PHP and I wouldn't really recommend it. Books take too long to update and are most likely contain outdated information by the time they're published. Especially when dealing with the web. There will be no better source of information for you than the web (along with php.net)

[cwarn23]

Personally I've never picked up a book on PHP and I wouldn't really recommend it. Books take too long to update and are most likely contain outdated information by the time they're published. Especially when dealing with the web. There will be no better source of information for you than the web (along with php.net)

With that being said, there is still nothing wrong with books as some books can give you a great skill boost at php if you are not that experienced. But often to solve a complex problem, I just piece my answer together from google and yahoo results by combining a bunch of smaller scripts and learning from that so ya don't need to google or yahoo the same thing again. From using that method (lots of googling and yahooing), I can now answer most of my php problems and am now working on much more complex problems such as converting 100 year old hand writing to a text file with an advanced algorithm with a matrix like setup (not to be mixed up with the movie). Of course nobody has tried such a thing so it's fun to try new things.
So perhaps visiting a local or state library might be a great option since you won't need the books for ever.

[genieuk]

Thank you,

your advice helps.

Regards,
genieuk

[BzzBee]

dont focus on books. try to work practically.