I want to start learning PHP (Where do I start?)

Okay I’ve wanted to start learning PHP for a while now ; I’m 16, I know Visual Basic (I know it’s easy, but I did it for fun and I learned it pretty quick) - so I do have some background with Coding.

Problem is, I don’t know where to start learning PHP. I want to create my own site using only Dreamweaver and PHP, and I’m stuck on the PHP part… Where do I go so that I can learn simple PHP coding and database, (Like registering an account, Logging in, Profile) – I tried youtube videos but I mess up every time I try to follow what they do and It’s so frustrating because they can’t help me

Hi VegazPuppi welcome to the forum

Do you have a localhost server that can run PHP on your computer already?

If not, and you’re just starting out, IMHO a packaged option like XAMPP, etc. would probably be the easiest to install and get up and running.

This could be a good place to start
http://php.net/manual/en/tutorial.php

For writing code, all you really need is a good text editor. Though you may eventually want an IDE (if you stick with DreamWeaver, please avoid using design view)

And eventually you may want a good Virtual Machine

But you don’t need to worry about more advanced things to get started.

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A good resource is http://www.phptherightway.com/

Maybe you can find any paid tutorial, there are some good tutorial sites for low cost (I’m afraid I can’t tell you the url, just google it), usually the tutor would be glad to provide some helps if you have any questions. I think it’s good for a start, then you can learn deeper by discussing any obstacles, techniques etc in a forum like this.

My thought for learning stuff is to think of something you want to do, think of a site you want to write, then figure out how to code it until it does what you want. I can never get on with tutorials in the form of lesson after lesson of stuff, attempting to achieve a goal makes it more focussed. Just my opinion.

Paid tutorials might be a good option for some, but the OP might get on just as well with a free web-based one, then maybe expand to something paid-for later on, if required. Trick is knowing which are good and which are not - there are many web-based tutorials out there (and college courses, if the kind of questions that appear regularly on here are anything to go by) that are still teaching out-dated methods such as the old no-longer-supported mysql library calls.

Probably the most efficient and practical learning is Codecademy PHP stack.

  • 4 hour course
  • Beginner Knowledge Required

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