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PHP

Posted by Curtis Schrum
Curtis Schrum
10,174 Points

Where to go from here...

So I have done everything on Treehouse except a few workshops on PHP. I am not arrogant enough to think, "Great I know PHP now."

So the question becomes, where do I go to learn more? I know practical application is the key, but the more I read the more I get the feeling what I learned is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

So I look at Treehouse as great place to go from nothing to entry level Jr. Programmer so to say. Where is a good stop to solidify those skills and test your knowledge to move into an Intermediate Programmer?

2 Answers

Shawn Gregory
Shawn Gregory
Courses Plus Student 40,672 Points

Hello,

Unfortunately what's already been taught here at Treehouse is enough to allow you to make basic websites. While, I agree, there's a lot more that you can learn in the realm of PHP, keep in mind that a huge chunk of PHP is the Object Oriented Programming (OOP). There will be more classes about OOP in the future (how ever long it takes is beyond me). If you are looking for advanced uses of PHP, there are eBooks out there that you can purchase and download that will teach you most of what was taught here and a little bit more. Most of the books allow you to build some sort of application from scratch following the book. There's a lot of application types you can build using PHP but the majority uses OOP and until you fully grasp OOP, you'll be at an impasse when it comes to building advanced applications. You can still build great websites and applications using the knowledge that Treehouse has taught you so far, but for what I believe you want, your next step would be to learn OOP. You can either wait till Treehouse has put it out or go out on Google, Amazon, or even eBooks and learn about OOP. Even better, If you have an idea of an application, you can look for PHP tutorials about building that application and learn from there or even download an open-sourced version of that type of application and break down the code and learn from it there. Learning OOP will take some time as when I learned it a while back it took some time of fully grasp all of what OOP is all about so take your time. I hope I've given you some sort of push in the right direction.

Cheers!

Curtis Schrum
Curtis Schrum
10,174 Points

Thanks Shawn, perhaps I know more PHP than I realize lol. I've worked with OOP in the past with Java and C# so I am familiar with it. It just seems everytime I start reading about PHP Development it seems there is a mountain of stuff Ive yet to study lol. Codeigniter, CakePHP frameworks for example

Jason Anello
PLUS
Jason Anello
Courses Plus Student 94,610 Points
Jason Anello
Jason Anello
Courses Plus Student 94,610 Points

I would recommend looking at books and trying to find some that are at a more advanced level than you are. Learn how to use some php frameworks as well as look at their code. I read somewhere that the symfony code base is some of the best code to look at. Wish I could find the link. It was a general article on getting to a higher level with php.

Treehouse has a laravel course in the pipeline if I'm not mistaken.

You could follow people that are big in the php community. Read their blogs, etc...