| Re: Books? [message #177351 is a reply to message #177350] |
Fri, 16 March 2012 20:17   |
Call Me Tom
Messages: 9
Registered: August 2011
Karma:
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Junior Member |
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On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:07:15 +0100, Erwin Moller
<erwinmollerusenet(at)xs4all(dot)nl> wrote:
> On 3/16/2012 1:53 AM, Call Me Tom wrote:
>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:36:34 +0000, Tim Streater
>> <timstreater(at)greenbee(dot)net> wrote:
>>
>>> In article<snq4m7djqvu4em424v5bs5rj7qjbv7o5ta(at)4ax(dot)com>,
>>> Call Me Tom<noemail(at)nowhere(dot)com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:54:41 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
>>>> <tnp(at)invalid(dot)invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> [SNIP]
>>>> >
>>>> > I am not 'generally against books'. But...if you already know how to
>>>> > program, a language reference is all you need, and if you don't already
>>>> > know how to program, is PHP the place to be starting?
>>>> [SNIP]
>>>>
>>>> Fair Enough. I am interested in learning how to program. I want to
>>>> learn from home. Where do you suggest I begin?
>>>
>>> You mean you know nothing at all about programming?
>>
>> Tim,
>>
>> I have created a website with PHP/MySQL ( corporateairamerica.com ).
>>
>> I would say I did it by manipulating portions of the language. Good
>> programming techniques would be coincidental. While the site works,
>> I'm sure a professional programmer would see many problems. I do this
>> as a hobby, not a profession. However, I would like to do it right.
>>
>> Tom
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> I think you can do thousands of roads.
> It really depends on what you want to achieve.
>
> A few considerations for you that pop into my head that are general in
> nature:
>
> Pick a language:
> Are you sure you want to study PHP further?
> Why not C or C++ or Java or etc.etc.?
> If you want to focus on webtechnology, there is also MS dotnet and Ruby
> On Rails, and etc.etc.
> Not that I want to send you elsewhere. :-)
> But why do you pick PHP? Because it is easy?
> I know it is very hard to tell upfront what language is good for you
> (since you don't know the others), but it certainly is worth some thought.
> PHP is very web focussed. You will never write a device driver in PHP,
> or a cool piece of 3D graphics software.
> But for the web, PHP is very good.
>
>
> Framework or no Framework?
> These days many people work with frameworks. Frameworks have the
> advantage of hiding complexity, but they add bureaucracy, in some cases
> to the level that programming is no fun anymore, a situation that should
> be avoided at all costs.
> If you want to learn, I suggest you do it without frameworks. Later on,
> when you made a lot of costly mistakes, you will be in a much better
> position to decide if you need one (or even write your own.).
>
>
> Try to work modular/components/objects.
> I express myself vaguely on purpose.
> Bottonline: If you think you solved some particular problem do the
> following:
> 1) sit back and take a cup of coffee.
> 2) Try to describe what you just did. What kind of input are you taking?
> What problem did you solve? WHat types of output can you produce? etc.
> 3) Pull the thing OUT of your code, and make a class for it, or a
> function, or whatever suits your needs.
> Then use that new component from within your code.
> Also: Document it, store it somewhere where you can find it, preferably
> with some clear description attached to it.
> You don't want to wander through your "clever classes" directory and see
> names like:
> Test23_ver2
> MyGodmodule
> MyEmailer_ver2(I think)
> myEmailer
> Emailer
> etc.
> If you do this right, you will end up with a bunch of classes and
> functions you will be proud of. You can even add funky stuff like
> unittesting later on.
>
> And last:
> Let others review your code.
> Let others review your code!
> (3 times more)
> Simply post in here a function, even a whole script, or some approach
> you have just finished, and ask for opinions.
> Don't use an online forum, most I have seen are poor and filled with
> people who want to score karma-points or some other useless nonsense.
> This group is pretty good.
>
> There exist as many programming-styles as there are programmers.
> Nonetheless, you will make rookie-mistakes, and more experienced
> programmers will catch them easily (mostly because they made the same
> mistakes themselves earlier.).
> Don't be shy and remember most experienced programmers became
> experienced by having their OWN code reviewed (in a public forum or in
> private, doesn't matter).
> For example: Do you really need to have your website screwed up by some
> SQL injection to learn to escape your input? Of course not: if somebody
> tells you how that works, and you understand it, it comes natural. But
> first you must have heard of the concept SQL injection.
>
> Oh well, I talk too much. :-)
>
> Good luck.
>
> Regards,
> Erwin Moller
Thank you Erwin. I will be staying with HTML/CSS/PHP/MySql. Plenty
for me to learn there. You have given me a direction. I'll let
others decide if you talk too much. :) However, I assure you that
your post was far more helpful than TNP's contribution.
Tom
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