Hi,

 

Ive been reading thru some PHP resources, (w3Schools, Tizag.com) but now want to start writing some PHP code to learn.

 

Im a bit confused as where to start tho!?

 

I have a free web hosting plan with PHP support, so do i write the PHP scripts and test them online?

OR Can i test them on my PC?

 

I know you can do this with Perl, thru the command line.

 

 

Do i need to download PHP / MySQL / Apache to my PC????

 

Thanks in advance

What platform are you using? You can use XAMPP for local testing. For windows use this one, this one for mac, and the lovely linux version.

No configuration required, just install, and off you go!

I have a free web hosting plan with PHP support, so do i write the PHP scripts and test them online?

OR Can i test them on my PC?

You'll definitely want to test them on your development PC---especially when you're learning there are going to be many mistakes and corrections necessary, and if you have to re-upload the scripts everytime it quickly becomes a real annoyance (better to use an in-shell editor like vim, but that's still not perfect for issuing many edits). As recommended above, XAMPP is a decent solution for Windows. Many Linux distros provide the required LAMP packages as a group (e.g. "sudo tasksel install lamp-server" on Ubuntu).

Windows (Vista) is what im running.

 

SO download xampp yes??!!

 

What is Wamp then??

I thought that was for windows??

Download an evaluation copy of Zend Development Studio.

 

Then, take a quick look at this and copy the code - it's good fun to get you started.

 

A Short PHP Tutorial

I'd personally recommend Wamp, very handy piece of kit. Set it up, and then use the www folder in wamp as your root for your sites. I basically keep all my sites there. As for learning, work your way through Larry Ullman's PHP 6 & MySQL - IMO a definitive text to learn from.

Windows (Vista) is what im running.

 

SO download xampp yes??!!

 

What is Wamp then??

I thought that was for windows??

 

They are variations of AMP packages depending on your OS...

AMP = Apache, MySql, PHP

WAMP = Windows + AMP

LAMP = Linux + AMP

XAMPP = MySQL, PHP and Perl (several variations of this package for different OS...)

 

So if you download WAMP...you can run AMP on your Windows machine...aka create a test/development environment....and most importantly learn PHP on your own PC.

 

If you want PERL also, go for the XAMPP package for windows...but if you just wanna test out some php...WAMP will do fine.

Well thanks everyone for all your replies...probably be back with some help with my PHP no doubt!!

 

Cheers

After you've worked out what development software you are going to run (my preference is XAMPP). Learn and understand the following;

 

Variables

What are they?

How do I declare a variable?

 

Datatypes

Learn the difference between strings, integers, floats and booleans

 

Array's

What is an array?

How do I declare a variable?

 

Functions

Experiment with built in functions that process variables and produce output. Then learn how to write your own functions.

 

That will keep you going for a while. Just keep asking questions (google is your friend) and keep trying things out.