Getting started with PHP is a challenge just like any other programming language, but don’t let that stop you! There are plenty of resources for the experienced programmer looking for a technical solution, but they are too techey for the newbie just starting out. This post is a good place to start with PHP and lists some useful PHP resources to help you.
PHP is a powerful server-side scripting language for creating dynamic and interactive websites. Server side means that it runs on the server hosting the page, rather than the client or browser. PHP is widely used, partly because it is free, but mainly because it provides a fast and efficient alternative to competitors such as Microsoft’s ASP. It also supports database access easily and with much fewer lines of code than ASP. PHP is perfectly suited for Web development and can be embedded directly into the HTML code.
One place to start is the PHP manual, which unsurprisingly has a Getting Started section. My advice is to scan read as much of this as you can before attempting to start programming in PHP. It will explain what PHP is and can do, and then gives you a simple tutorial.
Click here to visit PHP manual
Another good place to start learning PHP is the PHP Tutorial on the w3schools website. This provides a complete references of all PHP functions and some user friendly cross links to functions that you may not even realise that you will need.
Click here to visit W3Schools PHP section
If you are new to PHP programming check out Getting started with PHP