Before I started getting into code style, I talked a lot of learning PHP. I’m going to be revisiting that topic now. Here’s a list of a few ways that you can learn PHP.

Chances are that you won’t learn using only one of these methods – you’ll have to combine them to get anywhere. This list is mostly relevant to those who do not know PHP (but would want to learn it), but for those who already know it, try to think about how you first learned as you are reading this list.

Methods of learning

1. Classic tutorials

   Tutorials that I classify as “classic” tutorials are the ones that pretty much hold your hand as you first learn the language. They tell you what to do and why you’re doing it and then hope that you remember the reasons and remember how you did things. I’ll be talking more about resources that provide these classic tutorials in the future (I’ll be evaluating all of them to help decide which is the best), but for now check out W3Schools.

2. My tutorials (or similar)

   A few months ago, I tried providing my own tutorials to the community. They didn’t really get that much attention, so I eventually stopped, but a good amount of them already existed. My goal was to try to teach PHP by forcing coders to learn themselves. I don’t really find it that helpful to be told exactly what to do. It’s great when you’re trying to achieve something that is common, but what if you want to do something with PHP that doesn’t have a clear cut tutorial? Instead of providing how-tos, I provided people with a list of what they needed to achieve, and then expected people to search around and teach themselves how to get things done. Here’s a list of the tutorials and their solutions. Also, if anyone has used these tutorials, or wants more of them, please leave a comment!

3. Other non-specific resources

   Instead of using tutorials, you could just teach yourself using other resources. This method is like using my tutorials except you are deciding what you need to achieve on your own. You’re going out to the web and searching for what you need. The best resources here are Google and PHP’s homepage.

4. The assistance of others

   This is probably the least common as a single method but the most common when combined with other methods. Getting assistance from others is very helpful, especially if you have a specific problem. I’m thinking actually talking to them and getting help from them, so reading what others have written wouldn’t fall under this one.

The best method

The best method all depends on your personal learning styles. It also depends on your drive to learn the language and your need to apply the language to what you want to get done. If you are learning the language just to try to expand your knowledge, it might be harder to use the third method since you don’t really have anything that you want to achieve. If you have well defined goals that you want to achieve, you will definitely have the drive that you will need to learn the language using the third method.

Overall, the best method is a combination of all of the methods. Except for the last method, which should be placed wherever it is needed in the process, the different methods could be used in the order above. Actually, I learned using the methods in the order above. I started off using specific tutorials on W3Schools. After that, I started trying to do small tasks that my friend would give me. After I was fairly confident with my coding, I took on a larger project and just used Google or PHP.net whenever I needed something. At first, I was very dependent on these resources, but after a while I was fluent in the language.

If you don’t know PHP and you’re looking to learn it, how do you plan on learning it? If you already know PHP, how did you learn it? Also, if you can think of a method that isn’t on this list (I know that I can think of some), please share. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Tags: Learn PHP, Learning Methods, Web Development