It took me a couple months to learn enough to build my first database driven website.
Well, after i earned my computer science degree I ended up being a systems engineer designing and writing software for embedded systems, and Win32/MFC framework apps using mostly C/C++ and assembly languages and sometimes JAVA. I happened to take a database course as an elective in college (but forgot most everything although it is quickly coming back to me as I look through all my old books etc) and then happened to get in to web development on the side. So, while having something like C++ on the resume with HTML/CSS/PHP/ASP etc is weird (sort of) it’s not all that strange.
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As far as PHP, I picked it up pretty quickly, the syntax was familiar to me, and I’ve been developing object oriented applications for a long time, and the design patterns that folks are applying to web apps these days are pretty familiar to me too but some things can be fairly complicated. Truth be told though, I still use php.net to look things up pretty regularly. Funny thing is that sometimes I catch myself trying to declare pointers, allocate memory and other things in PHP 
I don’t declare myself to be any sort of web development expert by any means, but I’m working on it one weekend at a time. 
Edit: By the way, this sitepoint is an excellent resource, there are some very helpful and amazing people here willing to answer questions who have incredible knowledge on a variety of subjects.
It took me only an hour to learn the PHP database functionality.
I didn’t say that it’s weird to mention that you know a bit of C++. But my point is that most of the people that proclaim to “master” c++ don’t even know what (fe) sequence points are, what happens with inline virtual member functions, …
learning php will not take you more than 3 days to learn php.
i’ve modified a lot of php scripts for many sites… and i still not good at it
it’s taken me while over periods of using other technology then back to php depending on the porject needs.
My suggestion is get right to the more challenging stuff right away. Try tackling regular expressions. Most importantly, learn about the packages at PEAR (pear.php.net). It will save you SO much time and grief later on and make your code more efficient and robust.
By tackling the more challenging stuff now, you will learn all the stuff you need to learn along the way. Plus these forums are MOST helpful.
which every language you learn you must learn in carefully.
I’ve only ever used sessions when I worked as a PHP developer, they seem too clunky to me but were ideal for the high pressure jobs. All my own sites have to be perfect so I create my own systems, I don’t go near stuff like Pear, as I can’t trust others’ code.
I don’t go near stuff like Pear, as I can’t trust others’ code.
i’m suprised you didnt just go re-write your own scripting language then…
and i sure hope you don’t use java… man that would take forever to do anything if you started from scratch…
How long did it take to write your web server?
Took me a few months to learn my way around php – understand the logic, statements, etc. But I’m only comfortable troubleshooting issues and modifying minor code, not writing things from scratch.
And i’ve written my own tcp/ip stack and installed my own utp wires… I don’t trust the others… Right now i’m thinking about building my own electricity generator because those silly american power suppliers can’t be trusted 
A few months, still learning though, just taking my grand ol’ time.
Oh really? You know most people who proclaim this huh. That’s quite an accomplishment!
As someone mentioned it’s hard to go from php to c/c++. I totally agree with this.
I started programming from Pascal, however after a year I dropped it, 'cuase I simply didn’t like it. Then I had a break and went for php. When I wanted to try c/c++ it was really diffucult for me, however, I found a way.
If you started with PHP you can go like this:
PHP -> PHP5 (stay here a bit longer, learn design patterns, master OOP in PHP) -> Java (It was quite easy step for me after hard working with OOP in PHP5, in fact I could write simple Java program just from knowing PHP5 and a little help from some book)
After this you can try C/C++, but it’s not sure that you’ll have to, you can stay with Java as it is really popular now, unlike C/C++
The true is you never stop learning. Its growing with ever release the best ways to do something are changing. The best way to learn is just start out and when you run into trouble ask around on the better PHP forms and mail list. There are lots of people around that are willing to help you and help you understand the mistake!
You can learn the syntax in one or two days, but as many have said: you never stop learning and advancing your coding techniques. Stick with the right people and your learn faster. My poking at PHP application design forum helped to improve my coding skills greatly.
I jumped into PHP and MySQL about a year ago. I found PHP includes very useful - and generally very simple - from the very beginning, but it’s been a pretty stiff challenge, otherwise. In the beginning, syntax errors drove me up a wall, but I’ve got a pretty good handle on fixing them now.
I have several database-driven websites online, and I tackled content management systems only about a week ago. It seemed pretty overwhelming, but a couple people on these forums helped me figure out the basics, though I still have a thousand questions.
I don’t like books - largely because you can’t copy and paste from a book into a computer. It’s much more efficient to find an online tutorial that you can actually copy. But I’ve just about given up on the Manual, which is written by geeks for geeks.
One thing I’d do different if I had to start all over is to hire someone to tutor me - not continuously, but for one or two sessions. In fact, I think I’d ask someone to come into my home and do all of the following:
- Help me install Apache, PHP and MySQL and configure the necessary files
- Set up virtual servers in Apache
- Create some simple pages with working includes, PHP switches and other basic functions
- Create some simple database tables AND some PHP functions for displaying them AND publish working copies to the Internet
- Create a basic content management system
It took me months to learn the basics of PHP and MySQL and get my first databases online, and there are still some basic functions I haven’t had time to learn yet. Someone who knows what they’re doing could probably set all this stuff up for you in ONE DAY, and you could take notes during the process. Then you’d have working models to study and learn from.
One other thing that drives me up the wall is those Add/Delete/Edit functions. I must have spent a couple weeks working on that before finally giving up. Now I just do everything manually, working up my data with spreadsheets then transferring it to my database via CSV files. I don’t yet feel comfortable putting long articles in my database, so I just put them on webpages that I include in my preview pages.