learning PHP

[Cybix]

Just wondering if anyone has some GOOD information on learning PHP? (for someone that doesnt know code)..

I did some simple programming in school, and can do some cut/paste type hacking, but have never really been a coder.

Perhaps some direction to a good source, a good book, a good site, tutorials, anything...

That'd be great!

James

[bousozoku]

There are a few websites plus O'Reilly has at least one excellent book on the subject. Google is your friend. :)

[Mr. Mister]

You're really in for a treat. PHP is simple but really satisfying to code, it's like putting a puzzle together and with each piece you get to fit you really start to understand the language more and more.

I'd just jump into it straight-up and maybe use w3schools.org as a source, they've got some good cheatsheets and guides.

I'm actually going to try to get some basic parts covered right in this post:

A span of PHP is really treated as a self-closing HTML tag: begins with a <?php and ends with a ?>, so a simple span of it might look like <?php print("Macs are awesome!"); ?>. The rest of a PHP document is treated like HTML; the <?php tells the server to start treating the code like PHP and ?> says "alright, treat the rest of this like unprocessed HTML."

Variables are preceded by a $ (dollar sign) and can't start with numbers. You don't need to explicitly initiate a variable; just the first time you use it, PHP knows it's a variable. To make a variable be something, use =, such as $mrmister="thebest". btw, text has to be in quotes to not be treated like a command or something else that might screw the PHP up. To test a variable without rewriting it, use == instead of a single =. Which brings me to if() statements:

An if statement is just a test of whether a condition is true. So if I've stated that $number=5 and then run the if statement

if($number==5)
print("five is an awesome number");

then "five is an awesome number" will be printed. If the statement had been if(number==4), then it wouldn't have worked. You can also include an else statement after it to tell it what to do if the condition isn't met:

$number=6

if($number==5)
print("five is an awesome number");
else
print("the number ain't five!");

In that case it'll print "the number ain't five!".

To print the current value of the variable, just say print($variable); if you want to print some text say print("text ololol blah blah");

I can't explain all of PHP in one post obviously but that'll get you started, also here are some things that'll stump you unless you know them because they're obscure but vital:

If you're printing something with quotation marks in it that you want to be visible, like "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." - Mark Twain, then use ' instead of " to enclose it in print('text');.

If you want to include multiple actions as a result of an if statement, they have to be in brackets {}:

if($stuff="something")
{
print("woooo");
print("thing maybe");
$morestuff="leg";
};


You'll need to install a PHP processor (the part of Mac OS X's webserver that renders the code into HTML); Entropy.ch's PHP install is great. Just remember though if you're not accessing the files through a web browser from your Library/Webserver/Documents folder, they'll show as code and not the post-processed HTML.

I'd love to help you learn, ask all the questions you want and I'll try to answer them.

[Doctor Q]

Mr. Mister, your detailed beginner's lesson reply to Cybix's question is an excellent example of how members here help each other.

I award you my "poster of the day" award (which I never remember to give out more than once a month). :)

[Mr. Mister]

Thanks. :) I might have made a few mistakes in there but as I said PHP is really intuitive and satisfying once you get into it.

[virus1]

Ya, Mr. Mister, awesome post. It has inspired me to use capitals in my post (just this once).

The official manual is here (http://www.php.net/manual/en/), but that may be a bit daunting :eek:.

So, I like this (http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_intro.asp) tutorial much better.

Note: The w3schools tutorial teaches echo instead of the print command that Mr. Miester showed you. They will both work, but have slightly different syntax.

I like to test my php applications locally before uploading them. This requires turning on your web server and installing php on your mac (http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/). First, go to system prefrences -> Sharing. Then turn on personal web sharing. Once it is started, see if it is working by going to "http://localhost/" in safari. If you see the Apache placeholder, it worked. Now install entropy's php module (http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/). Now you can place your php files in Macintosh HD-> Library-> WebServer -> Documents, and it will show up at "http://localhost/" with the php compiled.

I am glad I could help!

Edit: This was my 999th post by the way! I am catching up to mad jew!

[Doctor Q]

I might have made a few mistakes in there...What!? OK, then, change that to worst post of the century. ;)

[whocares]

If you want to include multiple actions as a result of an if statement, they have to be in brackets {}:

if($stuff="something")
{
print("woooo");
print("thing maybe");
$morestuff="leg";
};


:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: bad code :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :p

Remember to always use double equals ( == ) for logical tests. The above is not incorrect, but behaves somewhat differently than you would expect. It basically tests the operation '$stuff="something"', ie if the parser is abble to assign the value "something" to the variable $stuff, then the logical test is true.

To complete this short post, one can also use triple equals ( === )! This is a step farther than ==, as it not only tests the value of the variable, but also its type:

$x = "6"; /* $x is a string */
$y = 6; /* $y is an integer */

if ($x == "6")
echo "true";
// this will print true

if ($y == "6")
echo "true"
// this should also print rue

if ($y === "6")
echo "true"
else
echo "false"
// this should print false as $y is the wrong variable type


Also, not need for semicolon after wavy brackets. ;)

[Cybix]

thanks for the advice.. I'll get reading :)

[savar]

Just wondering if anyone has some GOOD information on learning PHP? (for someone that doesnt know code)..

I did some simple programming in school, and can do some cut/paste type hacking, but have never really been a coder.

Perhaps some direction to a good source, a good book, a good site, tutorials, anything...

That'd be great!

James

PHP is nice and easy, but be careful with it. It's a language that makes it real easy for somebody who doesn't really understand what they're doing to "just make it work"...the downside being that you do dangerous things.