[swalsip]

Hey all ... I am a creative guy. A designer that is finding that in order to get hired he needs some back-end programming skills. .ASP or PHP. I have created websites using Dreamweaver and Fireworks But now I need to get serious. Can a creative with little desire to program learn to program? Any suggestions?

[dudeking]

Oh yes they can

Learn PHP, honestly once you get really into it its really easy

I love it, have so much fun playing with php, start here http://www.w3schools.com/php

[lavazza]

Yep... the w3schools site is an invaluable resource - but don't try running before you know how to walk, by yourself

www.w3schools.com/php/php_intro

What You Should Already Know

Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following:

* HTML / XHTML
* Some scripting knowledge

If you want to study these subjects first, find the tutorials on our Home page.

They're not saying this just to fill in a bit of white space!

Dreamweaver may well have allowed you to create what you wanted, but unless you know how, then you can't fix it when (not if) it breaks and, if you add any other language - server or client side - to the mix, the potential for bugs will grow exponentially

Luckily, the w3schools site has ALL you need to really understand the fundamentals... of html, css, javascript, php and many more languages

[swalsip]

I do understand and can decipher HTML its the "some scripting knowledge" part that concerns me. I am just tired of trying to find people to help with projects. I am willing to pay reasonable rates (depending on the project) and some can be of larger profile sites. I am trying to get something going but reliability is an issue.

[MMJ]

Introduction to Programming -A good introduction to programming, covers the fundamentals that each language has in common.

Most programming guides/books/tutorials either cover how a language works OR they introduce you to the most common functions.

W3Schools does the latter. And while its better than almost all other tutorials I it could be much, much better.

As for learning; first I would first install a server on your computer (AppServ and WAMP are good choices) than I would start coding.

And although PHP is very simple it does require focus and some logic. And remember, Rome was not built in a day.

[JRWalker]

You are going to have to put in the time coding in order to be a good programmer. You have to have an understand of the different syntax styles, variable declaration, and logic.
PHP is an excellent server side scripting language, and once you understand how it works, you can really do some neat things with it. Also you need to really understand database structure and normalization to create functional tables that can be queried to gather the information that your website displays. For a virtual server I use XAMPP(personal) and WAMP(work), both work well. Another good source of reference is php.net.