PHP for self-taught newbie

[stevekerp]

Hi -
I need a recommendation. I have a 'guru' who is building a site for me as part of a coaching program. I will eventually (and the sooner the better) take over the management of the site. But it's PHP. So I need to know 1) a good learning site or resource for someone to get up to speed, and 2) a good tool for doing the work.
I write my HTML in Notepad so am very hands-on. Any tips appreciated.
Best,
Steve

[uthus]

I used PHP and Web Development. Cost about $40. Lots of examples. Anything by O'Reilley should be good also.

u

[flann]

I think it is really good to learn using notepad because you really have to "see" the code to fix bugs. However, if you're in a hurry using a good editor is great. I use Zend, however it costs about $300 and a close second is Komodo edit which is free.

http://www.activestate.com/Products/komodo_edit/

The second thing you may want to get is a good book. I would recommend starting with Begining PHP/Mysql 5 from Apress

http://www.apress.com/book/bookDisplay.html?bID=10017

You may also want to pick up the Zend certification guide as it will teach you alot of things you might not pick up from any other book and you'll be well on your way to be certified if you so choose to go that route.

http://www.zend.com/store/book/zend_php_5_certification_study_guide

You can always ask questions from all of us as well. Good luck.

[Xune]

Very Easy...



I use this editor, Might sound Rather Familiar to you.


-Notepad- (just save your files as .php)



And tizag.com
That is a great site to learn PhP

[firmaterra]

Stick with notepad. All these formatters and automatic editors means you might not pick up on some rather basic programming skills.
http://www.tizag.com is a great resource for quick reference. With php there are literally tons and tons of tutorials around!

[Xune]

Stick with notepad. All these formatters and automatic editors means you might not pick up on some rather basic programming skills.
tizag.com is a great resource for quick reference. With php there are literally tons and tons of tutorials around!

Interesting, did you read ANY of the other replys, like the one above yours?

[ecbiz]

PHP and MySQL is a useful book. Eventually you might want to provide dynamic content. So you'll get two books in one with example code. If you have programming knowledge PHP is easy to pick up.
Dreamweaver 8 has lots of useful functionality to test your code on a local host server (win xp etc) or a remote sandbox.