Where can I learn?

[TUFKATH]

I see all these neat scripts and I always wonder how people make them. The php ones that is. I want to know how to make a small website that has the option of registration and logging in, and then posting something in a certain section. Not a forum though by any means. Just basic stuff. Where can I learn how to do that?

 

[Hitch]

Just learn by looking at tutorials and code.

It doesn't nessaraly mean looking at a Registration System, just any type of code, and "peice" it together.

Though, to make what you want, you should really read up on MySql, and Cookies (Or Sessions, but Cookies are better. :p)

You can find alot of tutorials at www.pixel2life.com
And, good MySql ones at www.spoono.com

It require logic to be used, you just have to think what MySql structure would be best, and how to exexute conditionals. :tu:

Adrian

 

[TUFKATH]

I also need to learn mysql as well it seems. and cookies cant be that complicated can they?

 

[Matthew.]

I'm 15, mildly dyslexic and have an extremely short attention span. And i can do it, rarely with any trouble.

Everything you need can be found on two sites,

http://pixel2life.com - as mentioned by Hitch
http://manual.php.net - (all php programmers will use this at some point as a reference)
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/ - MySQL manual (i don't use this so much personally, i would strongly recommend using pixel2life to lookup database integration)

I did it the only way i learn, but taking other peoples work and tearing it to shreds finding out what i broke and why it broke.

Take your time with it as well, you can learn a certain extent over a few days however nothing like what comes with a few months, or years in my case, experience. One ting is for sure, you never stop learning. :P


Matt

 

[Peter]

Personally I would advise you to get a book to learn the basics even if it is just borrowed from your local library. A book or a mentor will give you a much better foundation than learning from tutorials scattered around the internet.

After that you will have a much better grasp and will understand the manual much better.

Though, to make what you want, you should really read up on MySql, and Cookies (Or Sessions, but Cookies are better. :p)

Why do you say that? Surely he would be better learning using sessions more especially since you can use the standard session handler to handle the cookies for you or get it to decide wether cookies can be used or if there is a need for an appnded url.

 

[Barrucadu]

It took me a few days of looking at basic scripts to figure out how to make a login/registration system with mysql and sessions (then again, I live on the computer =P), what I did was look at different form and database tutorials, then I found sessions when looking for a way to keep people logged in.
I would say that www.php.net is the best resource, however you need to be able to make a reasonable guess as to the function name when looking up new ones.

 

[YesBrilliant]

Another great resource is http://www.w3schools.com/

Not only about PHP though...

Enjoy.

 

[Matthew.]

Personally I would advise you to get a book to learn the basics even if it is just borrowed from your local library. A book or a mentor will give you a much better foundation than learning from tutorials scattered around the internet.

I would advise it against it actually, why? Many of the books are outdated and written by coders who have a poor or "sub standard" coding method. I know i never found books any good and when this has come up before most have agreed with me.(also online tutorial are much more versatile, while it may be you have to pick out the betters ones - each persons unique coding style will aid someone with their own imo)

Having said that each person knows how they learn best.

Why do you say that? Surely he would be better learning using sessions more especially since you can use the standard session handler to handle the cookies for you or get it to decide wether cookies can be used or if there is a need for an appnded url.

:imho: that sentence is a classic case of over technical crap. Lets go back to laymen's terms especially when dealing with begginers. You want a basic login system? Go for cookies, for obvious reasons (i.e. they can keep a user logged in as opposed to session based logins)

And I'm going to say something controversial lol:
Ignore the rubbish you read about cookies being less secure than sessions, most who write that are merely incapable of validating the cookies contents and writing secure enough code to ensure cookies do not cause issues

Matt

 

[Peter]

:imho: that sentence is a classic case of over technical crap. Lets go back to laymen's terms especially when dealing with begginers. You want a basic login system? Go for cookies, for obvious reasons (i.e. they can keep a user logged in as opposed to session based logins)

Why try reinvent the wheel when php has already done it. PHP can perfectly satisfactorily handle sessions. For a beginner he may go and design a piece of code that works perfectly if cookies are enabled, he will then spend just as much time wondering why it is not working for someone else who incidentally just has cookies turned off.

And I'm going to say something controversial lol:
Ignore the rubbish you read about cookies being less secure than sessions, most who write that are merely incapable of validating the cookies contents and writing secure enough code to ensure cookies do not cause issues

I agree that cookies are no less insecure than sid sessions if used correctly and no sensitive information is stored in them (beleive it or not but some people store passwords etc in cookies).

I would advise it against it actually, why? Many of the books are outdated and written by coders who have a poor or "sub standard" coding method. I know i never found books any good and when this has come up before most have agreed with me.(also online tutorial are much more versatile, while it may be you have to pick out the betters ones - each persons unique coding style will aid someone with their own imo)

Having said that each person knows how they learn best.

Of course books can go out of date but that is why you should check reveiws of the book before using properly, it is also worth looking into who the authors actually are, if for example searching google you can only find them with regards to that book then they are unlikely going to be valued leading members of the community but for example if the book is written by Chris Shiflett you know it should be fairly technically correct (especially in security as he seems to specialise in it). A good book will teach you better about security such as validating user input. If you rely on tutorials if you do not know about something you are unlikely be able to find a tutorial about it. So if you do not know about validation how would you know about searching for a tutorial on it (and beleive me alot of tutorials for brevity reasons do not even touch subjects like this nor subjects such as database poisoning etc).

 

[TrafficSecret]

Hi Taylor!

There are some nice PHP books you can buy online at amazon.com or what helped me the best is to learn from examples... If you dont know how to do something.. find a script that has that.. rebuild it from scratch.. you will soon learn how things function.. It takes time, but its worth it!

 

[BoutiqueMusic]

I was looking for some advice. This should get me started.

 

[Eric]

Thread closed, seeing as how this member is banned. However, this thread will remain, just in case someone can find the info useful.