Learning PHP OOP: where to start?

[Galago]

Hello RageZone,

I want to start coding in PHP in an OO way. But I really don't have an idea where to start. What to learn first and how to use everything.

DO you guys have some tips, speaking from your own experiences? How did you learn it, what did you use for it or perhaps what place (a site, for instance).

Many thanks in advance.

- Galago

 

[NubPro]

This is how i learnt.
http://forum.ragezone.com/f690/addons-feature-character-display-script-1041661/

It really seems tough and confusing at first. But, once you're used to it, you can finally code really nice, clean and fine procedural codes.

Start up your own project, for example creating a GD image generator. Like I did.

 

[Caustik]

PHP docs and general stuff on OOP

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< - C# oriented but it could be useful

 

[Doctorate]

PHP docs and general stuff on OOP

You must be registered to see links

You must be registered to see links

< - C# oriented but it could be useful

PHP Docs is a bit too boring for me :/
I learnt from thenewboston. It's recently updated and has a new UI.

 

[NubPro]

PHP Docs is a bit too boring for me :/
I learnt from thenewboston. It's recently updated and has a new UI.

they may be boring, but they are really useful and well described in terms of functionality.
i never came across with any silly teaching sites, mainly because i'm lazy, plus i rather learn from my own and gain experience.

 

[Doctorate]

they may be boring, but they are really useful and well described in terms of functionality.
i never came across with any silly teaching sites, mainly because i'm lazy, plus i rather learn from my own and gain experience.

Entirely agree. People just have different methods of learning. I combined a little bit of both though. I used the teaching sites and other people's projects to learn OOP. Galago I would recommend that you take a look at a variety of resources and then just choose whatever floats your boat.

 

[Galago]

PHP Docs is a bit too boring for me :/
I learnt from thenewboston. It's recently updated and has a new UI.

I used to watch tutorials on TheNewBoston, but forgot about the name. I'm going to use that.

And thanks all! I am going to try a few sites you guys said to me.

 

[s-p-n]

I think the best way to learn is to find a mentor. Somebody you can look up to whom can answer questions and give you direction. By posting here, that is essentially the path you've already taken. You don't necessarily need 1-on-1 coaching (a forum is n-on-1), but tutorials and documentation on the internet is a 1-way communication- the web-sites give you information. You can ask google questions and it will give you answers, but having a real person to talk to is probably the best way to learn. Google will not tell you what mistakes you're making, or whether a given tutorial is out-of-date or using the latest techniques for the latest, cutting-edge version of PHP. Some tutorials are even teaching not only out-of-date information, but bad practices. Having a real guru you can call to show off what you're doing or ask questions- or even get you out of sticky situations- is a huge advantage.

 

[Manova]

The tutsplus PHP courses are pretty nice. You should look it up.

 

[Taiga]

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[T0W3L]

Here's my little intro to OOP.

If I have any suggestions to you, it is to use the PHP docs as said above:

You must be registered to see links

But before you get into documentation and examples, you should know exactly what the difference is between OOP and Procedural PHP, and some general knowledge on objects, classes, and functions.

OOP is a great way to practice DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself). It also helps immensely with keeping your code clean, modular, and easy to maintain.

Objects, Classes, and Functions.

<?php

class foo {

    public $var = "";

    function bindParam($param) {called.

        $this->var = "Hello World!" . " " . $param;
        
        return $this->var;

    }

}

$bar = new foo;

$myString = $bar->bindParam("My first OOP script!");

$myOtherString = $bar->bindParam("My second OOP script");

echo $myString . "<br />";

echo $myOtherString;

?>

So here we have a class called foo, with a function that adds a parameter onto the end of a preset string.

What I'm trying to show here is that you can use the same code (function bindParam) multiple times, for different objects. (I.E. $myString and $myOtherString)

 

[Galago]

Thanks you all for your help!! I found a mentor, like s-p-n said. And I am watching tutorials on YouTube from Codeacademy. It isn't really hard to understand I am learning very fast (although I am the one who says that. ).

 

[ashleymeah]

Well if you already know PHP - i think the main part about learning Object Oriented Programming is the mindset. You are hiding a lot of functions and code in a abstract object, from there its much simpler to see the bigger picture because instead of 10 lines here and there doing one goal, you have two or four lines of code, you can then also see what is going on before and after since you can fit it all on your screen.

A good mentor can point you in the right direction, but actually playing with your own projects and making mistakes is when you learn the most.