| title | updated | permalink |
|---|---|---|
What is PHP? Where Should I Start? |
September 12, 2016 |
/faq/intro/what-is-php/ |
Dear reader, PHP (which stands for recursive backronym of "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor") is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language for writing web applications, dynamically generated pages and command line interface scripts.
If you want to learn PHP and web development as "right way" as possible and properly, it is very important to gain basic knowledge of mathematics, computer science, programming in general and similar tech fields before PHP or other languages should be learned.
PHP is located and best described on the official website PHP.net with updated and in-depth manual. Reading it is highly recommended to get to know PHP in details. As you will pass through the manual pages you will progress with your knowledge. You can start with the Simple PHP Tutorial to get PHP up and running fast.
Use Google for most obvious issues you will find or ask on forums.
Another important part of being developer is also to constantly learn and be updated about new things either from PHP or development and programming in general. Here are some recommended resources to stay updated about PHP and learn more:
- PHP on Reddit - The latest news in the PHP world.
- PHP Weekly - Free curated once-a-week newsletter, featuring great PHP articles, news and blog posts.
- SitePoint PHP - PHP tutorials and articles.
Recommended, quality and modern guides, videos and tutorials for starting with development and PHP in particular:
- Basics of programming for beginners
- Codecademy - Free course for learning to program in PHP; 4 hours.
- Codecourse - Free videos for learning PHP; 2.5 hours.
- CS50x - Harvard University's introduction course to computer science.
- Devcasts - PHP video tutorials.
- Hacking with PHP - PHP book from beginning to advanced.
- Nomad PHP - What to learn first in PHP?; 16 minutes video.
- OverAPI PHP - PHP Cheat Sheet.
- PHP School - Interactive Open Source Learning for PHP through command line.
- PHP: The Right Way - An easy-to-read, quick reference for PHP best practices, accepted coding standards, and links to authoritative tutorials around the Web.
- thenewboston - Free videos for learning PHP; 200 videos.
- w3clan PHP - Free PHP tutorial.
- Devscreencast - Free Introduction to Programming with PHP Course