The Web Squeeze: Learning Code - The Web Squeeze

I saw Luke's post on the pony, and I've been walking around with the thought that maybe I should learn some language. It will not only help me understand the stuff going on behind my designs, but it will also allow me to do some programming on my own, without asking someone else..

Now, I'm and ABSOLUTE novice, or less in programming stuff, so I need to start from scratch.

Now, what's the best way to begin? I've seen Luke being a fan of Django. Let's say I want to learn Django, what are the limitations (my server supports Python, so no problem there) compared to php?
I've been browsing Djangoproject.com, but I'm not sure where to begin.

Now, do I put effort in learning Django, or should I learn something else (first)?

Help..

It's a good question.

One thing you have to understand though is that Django is not a programming language. It is a rapid development framework written in the Python scripting language. Python is very versatile and web development is not it's primary function.

Thinking back now a few years to when I first started dabbling in programming I'm trying to decide whether it would have been a good idea to jump into a framework. I would say that the answer is no. It's true, you can learn a framework, the way it interacts with the database and never have to know anything about the language powering it. You can also get away with never knowing the design patterns and programming principles used to put it together. The question you would ask though is "What if development of the framework ceases, what if I want to build a website on a host that cannot support it and do I want be able to do smaller or less-common things in my applications, things that the framework may not support or would be overkill for?"

To a lesser extent, I would also recommend learning the basics of Javascript before moving to a framework/library. On this point though, libraries such as jQuery let you mix and match normal Javascript with the in-built functions and you would probably fail miserably if you tried to jump into the library with no knowledge of Javascript at all.

Coming around now to the question of where you should begin, it's a tough one. The bulk of my programming experience is in PHP and as I started PHP with absolutely no programming experience, I think it is a good place to start. A word of warning though if you choose to start an odyssey by learning PHP: Stay away from PHP 4 tutorials and, where you can, learn Object Oriented PHP 5 development principles. With PHP 6 not far from a production release (meaning PHP 4 will officially become legacy as development ceases on it) -- I can't stress enough how much knowing good OOP design principles will help you as you progress. It will also be a great jump-start into Python, Ruby and Pearl should you choose to progress further.

I agree with Rakuli. PHP is probably the thing you are looking for but like Rakuli said, don't get fooled by bad examples. PHP is very easy to code the wrong way. I guess it wouldn't hurt to study the object oriented programming in general as well. The first course we had in programming at school back in the day was a general OO course.

Ok, PHP it is then. Where do I start? I don't take it I want to learn all the strings there are.
Are there any good tutorials on the net, or am I better off buying a book? (Why aren't there any php-books in the TWS-bookstore?)

Like I said. I don't know where to begin. I have things in my head I'd like to create, but I know that will take a more advanced knowledge of PHP.
I want to learn from scratch (so I don't want to start making plugins for WP for instance).

I can Google for tutorials, but I won't know if they're good or not, I mean, you can tell me anything and I'll believe it (to a certain extent of course ), so how has online resources for me?

Believe anything hey?

If you add "?=PHPE9568F36-D428-11d2-A769-00AA001ACF42" (minus quotes) to the end of the URL any website that uses PHP, you will get a pretty picture.


I haven't used anything bar the php.net docs for quite some time. In your search make sure you search for PHP 5 -- you can tell if it's PHP4 because you'll see the var keyword in use around discussion of objects (steer clear of these).

Don't necessarily look at PHP, look for tutorials or articles on OOP design patterns to get an idea of what OOP is.

I can recommend an excellent book "PHP 5 Objects - Designs, patterns and Practice" -- this is slightly advanced though so wait until you have a grasp before jumping into that one. You need to to know the basics first though so don't be afraid to pick these up at a simple fundamental level from w3schools.















That wasn't a joke -- honestly, pop that onto any website and you'll get a picture don't believe me? http://mark.poppen.ca/?=PHPE9568F36-D428-1...69-00AA001ACF42 (haxed your site )

Thanks Luke. I've also blogged about it, hoping to get reactions on that as well..

Also, you might want to check out Lynda.com for some video tutorials on PHP.

http://movielibrary....Page.asp?ID=435

I started PHP with a PHP5 book. It was a quick start book and was really good. With some extra practice and some OOP everything fell into place. If you feel that the PHP documentation is a little heavy or unstructured for you then a good book from amazon would be the place to start.

Lynda looks interesting, but paying monthly or annual for only 1 tutorial.. meh...

I think I might get a book..

Mark Poppen, on Sep 17 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

Lynda is awesome!!!They have so many videos on so many different things, graphics, design, development, networking, blogs, etc etc. Its a great deal. And you can pay 25 for a course then cancel it the monthly subscription.

Ok, I went for the Lynda tutorials..

Check my status here.