How to become a good PHP and MySQL programmer?

Hi all,

Got any tips for an aspireing PHP/MySQL programmer?
It's gonna be a month now and I still forget the syntax of some of the functions, whenever I program I must have a book to act like a reference..

thanks in advance for the tips!

Get used to it - but as you get better it won't be a book you keep nearby - it will be the PHP manual (bookmarked and downloaded).

As for tips - learn the basics - logic flow (learn how to think with flowcharts or psuedocode), procedural and OOP basics, good coding design (design it before you start coding), writing easily readable, well commented/documented and maintainable code.

If you have a solid foundation you will be able to work in any language (PHP, C, C++, Java) no matter what the current trends. "A language is a language is a language"

As for MySQL - learn basic ANSI SQL, basic database design and normalization as well as some of the basic DB theory. At the basic level all Relational Database Systems are the same - after that it's just learning syntax.

For you to get a solid grasp of all of that - take you about a year maybe 2.

Only other thing I can say a beginner should also keep in mind and learn - security. Learn basic coding security (see the PHP Security Guide). It is easier to learn good new habits, then unlearn old bad habits.

Practice practice practice

Keep reading tutorials, even if you think you know how to do something, someone may have a better way to do it. Download some open source programs and work at understanding how they did something and why they did it, learning from people more experienced is one of the best ways to learn alot of little tricks.

And don't stress about the manual thing, I've been coding in it for a little over 3 years, and I still use the reference, same with most other languages (or an IDE with code hints), I don't think people really actually know all the function parameters, names, and things like that, the more you code, the more you remember those things

hai lot of things work on copy paste at the same time it is not so simple to master the art. In some ways it does the job faster and u don't stuck up most of the times.

all the best anyway hard work pays.

I have a friend who has been coding PHP since php3, and he also helps write the documentation for PHP. Guess what - he still has to look things up in the manual. It is perfectly normal to do it so don't even worry about it.

What you do is more important than how you do it. You might know how to use PHP but that is not to say you know how to make good sites/applications.

If can make good programs/sites, you can work in any language and do well. It is absolutely normal to refer to the reference, that's what the reference is for. Another good idea is to build a 'library' of code snippets you use alot, then you just copy the code and modify it, you won't need to read the manual then, you'll know from your previous code how it works.

amen, every tiem i finish a project i send a zip file to myuself and stiore the entire thing in a "code reference" forder"

half the projects im doing Now mix and match the past