RE: [PHP] a question about the PHP manual
Hi, Richard is spot on, but learning (PHP, ASP, Java, ...) programming is not all about reading. Set up small examples that better enforce the ideas in your mind about specific topics that you are having a hard time with. You will loose, roughly, 90% of the information by just reading. Examples help solidify the theories. Regards, Justin Palmer __ KISS (Keep It Simple, SEARCH)! Google::getUri( http://www.google.com ); Archives::getUri( http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=php-general ); -Original Message- From: Richard Lynch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 9:15 AM To: Eakin, W Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [PHP] a question about the PHP manual Eakin, W wrote: > Hello, > As I'm studying, and learning, PHP, I use certain resources again > and again. A few books I've bought, some web sites, this mailing list, > and the PHP manual. I've taken the often repeated 'RTFM' to heart, and > I attempt to google or RTFM before considering a post to the list with > a question, but now I have a question about the manual itself. I've > noticed that most of the replies to the questions on this list, when > they refer to a part of the manual, point to the same few sections > over and over. Such as arrays, strings, sessions, objects, and a few > others. My question is this, when I'm reading the manual, is just that > I should be concentrating on a few sections (and if so, which?), or > should I be giving equal attention to all the sections, including some > (I suppose) I might never use. I would recommend reading EVERYTHING in the PHP manual UP TO "Section VI: Function Reference" All of that stuff is what defines the core PHP Language, and if you don't know it, you're going to waste a lot of time on Voodoo Programming. Voodoo Programming: You do things that "work" but you have completely erroneous beliefs about *why* and *how* they work. If you know the jargon for what you are looking for, Google is your buddy; But if you don't, and can only describe what you want in a paragraph of a question, then re-read all of that, plus the FAQs. You then want to skim through the main page of each "function reference" section. Currently that's 135 (!) pages. Some of them you can quickly dismiss as "irrelevant for all time to me" :-) Others, you'll find out that there's an entire science to something you thought you'd have to invent for yourself. Yes, that's a lot of reading. No, you won't remember all of it. Hell, you might not even understand all of it when you read it. Once upon a time, I even posted an FAQ to the list, way back when, because while I had *read* the FAQ initially, there were FAQs I didn't even understand the Question to, much less the Answer. Six months later, of course, I ran into the question in my own needs, and, well, didn't *RE*-read the FAQ. Take note of the stuff you don't understand at all, and try to memorize the buzz-words or what you think they might be all about. The hair you save may be your own. :-) -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] a question about the PHP manual
Eakin, W wrote: > Hello, > As I'm studying, and learning, PHP, I use certain resources again > and again. A few books I've bought, some web sites, this mailing list, > and the PHP manual. I've taken the often repeated 'RTFM' to heart, and I > attempt to google or RTFM before considering a post to the list with a > question, but now I have a question about the manual itself. > I've noticed that most of the replies to the questions on this list, > when they refer to a part of the manual, point to the same few sections > over and over. Such as arrays, strings, sessions, objects, and a few > others. > My question is this, when I'm reading the manual, is just that I should > be concentrating on a few sections (and if so, which?), or should I be > giving equal attention to all the sections, including some (I suppose) I > might never use. I would recommend reading EVERYTHING in the PHP manual UP TO "Section VI: Function Reference" All of that stuff is what defines the core PHP Language, and if you don't know it, you're going to waste a lot of time on Voodoo Programming. Voodoo Programming: You do things that "work" but you have completely erroneous beliefs about *why* and *how* they work. If you know the jargon for what you are looking for, Google is your buddy; But if you don't, and can only describe what you want in a paragraph of a question, then re-read all of that, plus the FAQs. You then want to skim through the main page of each "function reference" section. Currently that's 135 (!) pages. Some of them you can quickly dismiss as "irrelevant for all time to me" :-) Others, you'll find out that there's an entire science to something you thought you'd have to invent for yourself. Yes, that's a lot of reading. No, you won't remember all of it. Hell, you might not even understand all of it when you read it. Once upon a time, I even posted an FAQ to the list, way back when, because while I had *read* the FAQ initially, there were FAQs I didn't even understand the Question to, much less the Answer. Six months later, of course, I ran into the question in my own needs, and, well, didn't *RE*-read the FAQ. Take note of the stuff you don't understand at all, and try to memorize the buzz-words or what you think they might be all about. The hair you save may be your own. :-) -- Like Music? http://l-i-e.com/artists.htm -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] a question about the PHP manual
On Thursday 09 December 2004 1:56 pm, Eakin, W wrote: > I've noticed that most of the replies to the questions on this list, > when they refer to a part of the manual, point to the same few sections > over and over. Such as arrays, strings, sessions, objects, and a few > others. My question is this, when I'm reading the manual, is just that I > should be concentrating on a few sections (and if so, which?), or should I > be giving equal attention to all the sections, including some (I suppose) I > might never use. Here's a suggestion... Go through Section III on Language Reference thoroughly. You'll need to understand pretty much all of this. Skim though sections IV and V (Security and Features) so you know what's there and come back to them before you use PHP in a real application (specially the Security section!) In the function reference, look in detail at the following sections: - Array functions - Date and Time functions - Directory Functions - Filesystem functions - String Functions - Variable Functions - plus the specific section for the database you want to use The above are all pretty common requirements in most PHP applications. Then skim though the following sections and come back to them when you need to use them: - Error Handling and Logging Functions - HTTP Functions - Miscellaneous Functions - Network Functions - Regular Expression Functions Then dig into the other sections in the function reference that interest you. My 2p - Nick -- Nick Talbott, Powys County Council, UK IT Policy and Strategy Manager/Rheolwr Polisi a Chynllunio TGCh email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] fax: 01597 824781 web: www.powys.gov.uk -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] a question about the PHP manual
At 09:56 AM 12/9/2004, Eakin, W wrote: Hello, As I'm studying, and learning, PHP, I use certain resources again and again. A few books I've bought, some web sites, this mailing list, and the PHP manual. I've taken the often repeated 'RTFM' to heart, and I attempt to google or RTFM before considering a post to the list with a question, but now I have a question about the manual itself. I've noticed that most of the replies to the questions on this list, when they refer to a part of the manual, point to the same few sections over and over. Such as arrays, strings, sessions, objects, and a few others. My question is this, when I'm reading the manual, is just that I should be concentrating on a few sections (and if so, which?), or should I be giving equal attention to all the sections, including some (I suppose) I might never use. Thoughts? thanks, William Well, those are commonly used parts of the language, along with control structures (IF, WHILE, CASE). Once PHP is installed, familiarity with Chapters 10 through 42 would furnish a really solid grounding. Then I'd look at the function list and focus on the functions applicable to your particular database and the error handling and logging functions. After that, it depends on your programming experience, as how one thinks in language "a" may be subtly different language "b". Note that there are both directory and file system functions; the separation is logical, but sent me on a worried hunt a couple of years ago. Thus we reach the land of "it depends on what you want or have to do". In closing, I'd recommend writing little test scripts so that you can do two things: 1. Figure out how to use the various functions and how they behave. 2. Then intentionally break them - knowledge of this behaviour can be just as important. Alternately, like many, dig out the info as it's needed. The problem with this approach is missing out on new and better ways of doing things, and you don't enrich your toolkit. As for "some (I suppose) I might never use" - just how much time do you WANT to spend with your computer? How do the others in your life feel about that? Cheers - Miles -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
