donnagirl asks MetaFilter: “I have two weeks to learn PHP. Help me make a plan! Because my library job is ridiculously awesome, I’m being given two weeks to devote myself to learning php.” Good advice follows from the hive mind.
4 thoughts on “php for librarian”
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There is some good advice in that thread. Since I don’t have a metafilter account, I thought I’d post my thoughts here.
Back in the days when I was just learning programming, I found the books from Peachpit Press to be the best. Now that I’ve got more experience, I find O’Reilly to be my publisher of choice for technical/code related books.
some titles that I’ve found useful:
Writing Basic PHP Scripts
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321481631
PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321186486
PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide, 2nd Edition
http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321245652
Learning PHP 5
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/learnphp5/
Learning PHP & MySQL, Second Edition
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514013/?CMP=AFC-ak_book&ATT=Learning+PHP+%26+MySQL
But, no matter what book you get, the best way to learn is to do. Pick a simple project, define the details of what you want it to do and learn via the books and trial-and-error experimentation.
It is best if the project is real, something that you have genuine motivation to get right — but creating an imaginary project that is needed by a fictional organization can be just as effective.
Most importantly, ask questions! find your local techie and ask — you’d be shocked, but those shy geeks that have no social skills actually love to share knowledge (and some are even good at it). Also, do searches on the web for answers when you hit problems. don’t give up. Remember that when people say that they taught themselves to program, what they really mean is that they found the right resources to ask for help and guidance from as they assimilated knowledge at their own pace.
Hey Eric, thanks for the advice! See, this is why AskMetafilter is awesome – not only did I get great answers there, but I got one here, too.