A Good Start

I feel I have made a good start to this unit and am already getting to grips with the basics of PHP.

Learning this programming language has been pretty unstressful so far, though if I’m being pessimistic no doubt this will come when the deadline starts to loom nearer and I’m encountering problems with the functionality of my site!

However, I’m confident with what I have learnt so far, even if it is the very basics. I possibly need to try to work quicker through each section to allow plenty of time to build my site, but at the same time I’m trying not to rush myself and ensure I’m taking things in rather than trying to overwhelm myself with too much at once which I would likely forget the next day.

I have found the homeandlearn site particularly useful so far as they explain concepts like variables in layman’s terms making it easy to understand. On the other hand, I’m wondering if the book I chose was perhaps not the best one for me, or not as a standalone book.

It is full of source code which may prove useful when building my own site but at present it doesn’t really mean anything to me, and the explanations as to what it does make me think what’s the point.

It often seems the examples they give could be done without the use of PHP. I’m struggling to connect how it could be used practically, whereas with homeandlearn I could see straight away variables would be useful for creating say a login for the site.

However, I am sure this will come with time. Otherwise I’m confident I’m taking in and understanding what I’m reading and re-creating through practical exercises.