Newbie group quest

Hi,

I'm a complete newbie to PHP; have created a few simple programs,
modified a few, having decent luck and success. No C or other relevant
background; starting from the ground up. So I hope you'll forgive me is
a couple of these questions aren't as simple as I think they are. My
forte at the moment is VB6.

My current interest runs in the web page generation, forms, using the
GD, and no database stuff. Yet. I will go SQL, just not yet; baby
steps, sort of.

Apache, PHP 4/5 on XP Pro.

-- Is there a decent, free or cheap, IDE available for PHP? I'd like
it to be able to handle/edit/modify multiple files "at once" sort of
like NoteTab does, for those familiar with it. Ideally it'd check
syntax, color code, standard things like that. I've found a couple but
they all only handle one file at a time. I've fiddled with WinSyntax
but it still leaves a lot to be desired.

-- Which newsgroup would be the best one for newbie questions? In
other words, to avoid POing the pros & gurus with "basic" questions?
I've had great experiences right here so far, but I'm getting to the
point now where I have several questions, some of which will probably be
silly things I've just overlooked so far.

-- What might you consider the best sites/resources for a newbie to
learn PHP?
I've been to php.net and have a great tut named "A Programmers
Introduction to PHP4" but I think, as great as it is, it's a lot of aid
code. It's a great read, but a lot of the code has things missing, like
, which are an annoyance and a half to
have to keep looking for and fixing when I'm trying to learn from him!
He needs some serious vetting, in other words.

Feel free to treat all my questions as open ended; I have no aversions
to the littls extras sometimes provided, things like that. Right now
I'm trying to be a sponge.

TIA,

Twayne

Re: Newbie group quest

Twayne wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a complete newbie to PHP; have created a few simple programs,
> modified a few, having decent luck and success. No C or other relevant
> background; starting from the ground up. So I hope you'll forgive me is
> a couple of these questions aren't as simple as I think they are. My
> forte at the moment is VB6.
>
> My current interest runs in the web page generation, forms, using the
> GD, and no database stuff. Yet. I will go SQL, just not yet; baby
> steps, sort of.
>
> Apache, PHP 4/5 on XP Pro.
>
> -- Is there a decent, free or cheap, IDE available for PHP? I'd like
> it to be able to handle/edit/modify multiple files "at once" sort of
> like NoteTab does, for those familiar with it. Ideally it'd check
> syntax, color code, standard things like that. I've found a couple but
> they all only handle one file at a time. I've fiddled with WinSyntax
> but it still leaves a lot to be desired.
>

I use Crimson editor (not an IDE, but a good editor). It has a small
footprint and is good. I also use Eclipse and prefer it, but it's a bit
slower. And, unfortunately, the latest download has a few bugs which
might be (more than) disturbing to new programmers - although
experienced programmers know what's right and wrong.

> -- Which newsgroup would be the best one for newbie questions? In
> other words, to avoid POing the pros & gurus with "basic" questions?
> I've had great experiences right here so far, but I'm getting to the
> point now where I have several questions, some of which will probably be
> silly things I've just overlooked so far.
>

This one is just fine. As long as you're giving something an honest
try, you'll find lots of help. But if you're looking for someone to
just write the code for you with no attempt on your part, you won't get
much (or any) help.

> -- What might you consider the best sites/resources for a newbie to
> learn PHP?
> I've been to php.net and have a great tut named "A Programmers
> Introduction to PHP4" but I think, as great as it is, it's a lot of aid
> code. It's a great read, but a lot of the code has things missing, like
> , which are an annoyance and a half to
> have to keep looking for and fixing when I'm trying to learn from him!
> He needs some serious vetting, in other words.
>

php.net is a good reference. For other things, I would recommend a PHP5
book (sorry, I don't have any titles available - but others might).

> Feel free to treat all my questions as open ended; I have no aversions
> to the littls extras sometimes provided, things like that. Right now
> I'm trying to be a sponge.
>
> TIA,
>
> Twayne
>
>
>
>
>

(SUCK) :-)

--
==================
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Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attglobal.net
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