Learning PHP

[Vinny V]

Hey everyone. I want to start learning PHP I was wondering what people thought were some good reference sites or tutorials to follow. I have recently been looking at the Zend Developer Zone, but I was wondering what other resources there were out there. Thanks in advance for the help.

To clarify: I want to first find some tutorials that set up the basics, and then start working with more intermediate lessons. Any help is appreciated.

[Xemnas]

W3Schools is a very good place to learn PHP - it's where I learnt it. You can view their PHP tutorials at www.w3schools.com/php

[sunils]

yes w3schools is the best place to start learning any web technology.
You can also try this http://www.tizag.com/phpT/

[Vinny V]

I will definitely check out both of those, thank you.

One other question though: Since I will be uploading the files to the x10 servers and working with them there mostly, I wont have to set up my own Apache server or install the PHP tools on my PC, will I? I can just write the code using notepad, or some similar app, correct? Thanks again for the help.

[sunils]

Yes you can do that, but its better always to have a local installation of it so that error free pages are uploaded to the server. (this is my thought)
and you can work more time on a local machine than directly on the server. There are also various other factors like the time to download and upload the files. So better do it in local system then finally upload it after all bugs are removed.

[exitnow]

When i was starting out with PHP I used the documentation at php.net alot and I belive that sitepoint.com is a good startingpoint whit alot of examples and exlaining guiding comments.
I can also recomend taking a look at php-editors.com where they review editors that makes coding so much more easy that using Notepad.

[Hazirak]

One other question though: Since I will be uploading the files to the x10 servers and working with them there mostly, I wont have to set up my own Apache server or install the PHP tools on my PC, will I?

I would personally recommend Dreamweaver for this if you have access to it, or another similar application that will let you work directly on the server though FTP. This has the slight advantage that, should you design a page which uses functions restricted on your account, you'll know about it ahead of time because they simply won't work when you try to test your script out.

As for where to go to learn, the best places I know of have been mentioned already - W3Schools.com for tutorials and PHP.net for reference... though W3Schools also has its own PHP reference, if you're determined to stick with just one website.

[taekwondokid42]

yes w3schools is the best place to start learning any web technology.
You can also try this http://www.tizag.com/phpT/

I think that tizag is a great place to learn the language (everything is very well organized, and easy to understand), especially if you are just starting.

If you already know the basics, then you should probably move on to another site.