How long

Hi, here's my experience with getting started with PHP/MySQL

Back in 1999 (beginning of the dot-com boom) I worked as a UNIX tech support guy on phones for a webhosting company (back then called WebHosting.Com) - eventually I insisted on being moved to the programming department and was given a nice trial by fire: boss walks in one day and asks if I heard of PHP before - I said no. So he takes a 60 page print-out of the customer control panel we were using (which was mostly broken) and says "you have 2 weeks to bring it up to par" - and he left ....

The fun part was trying to decipher german comments in the code (the CP was written by a german exchange student the summer before)

Anyway, I think it all starts with hands-on-coding. First you learn how to make things just work - you don't care about how they work, you just want to make sure they work. This part takes about 1-2 months if you do it every day.

The next part, writing / designing code that looks like art ... that part takes years

Enjoy!

Mike

Originally Posted by ThinkMinds So he takes a 60 page print-out of the customer control panel we were using (which was mostly broken) and says "you have 2 weeks to bring it up to par" - and he left .... The fun part was trying to decipher german comments in the code (the CP was written by a german exchange student the summer before)

Holy crap... What a trip! I bet THAT was fun... Ha!

Originally Posted by ThinkMinds The next part, writing / designing code that looks like art ... that part takes years

Well said!

Originally Posted by infinivert Do you ever stop learning? I mean, I've been using PHP / MySQL for about 3 years now, and I still have a ton of learning to do. I don't suppose that I'll ever feel like I've truly mastered it.

I have to agree. You never stop learning with PHP and MySQL - especially with each new major version. IE: Now there's PHP5, and soon to be PHP6.

I started learning in '05, and have been using it ever since. I honestly learn something new everyday.

Probably the best thing you can do when learning PHP is to read over the PHP manual.

I started around '03. I still learn new things in PHP often, but it doesn't happen quite like it used to. The more familiar you get with the language, the less you need to look at php.net haha.

4-5 years now and still learning. I agree with others that one basically doesn't cease to learn PHP and MYSQL. The php docs are immense and many functions have very useful comments from experienced php programmers. I'm starting to get heavily into OOP design using design patterns. Check this resource out when you get to the point in learning PHP that there must be better, prettier, tidier ways of writing php: http://sourcemaking.com/design-patterns/php. Of course, not every time will there be a specific design pattern for a specific problem and you'll have to brainstorm and come up with a solution which progressively will change once you've noticed that you could improve upon it.

PHP / MySQL is one of many components of a course I am doing. I have been learning the language for several months now, it has a very similar syntax to Javascript which made things easier. I found using books that provide practical examples help the best.

I've been doing this since I was 13, so roughly 5 years now. You never really fully learn PHP due to all the functions, you just become better at certain practices and learn new, more effective ways of reaching a result. It'll talk you 2 weeks if you really sit down to learn it.

Learnt php back in the day when I was about 16/17. Stuck with it for 8 months and gave up. Was learning with a company at the time.

Then just got back into it again a few months ago, (20 now), and i'm coding complex object orientated systems. All good fun.