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Quick question for Chris Boulton, where did you learn php? and can you recommend any decent books about the subject, starting with beginners and evolving up to practical uses?

I can answer a good place for learning php.net has all you need to get going with many different code examples and techniques.

I started pretty much when I was back with XMB. I learned by studying the code in correspondance with the PHP manual, learning what things did, how things worked and what doesn't work. That turned in to developing hacks and code for XMB and submitting it to Nick (the original owner) before myself and others took over as the actual developers.

Pretty much what i have been doing then, must have searched a thousand websites learning different snippets of code then trying them out. I downloaded the php manual from php.net but boy its huge.
I find its a steep learning curve. You realy need to concentrate and be in the mood for it!

There's one book I always recommend in threads like this, and that's "PHP and mySQL for Dummies" by Janet Valade. It's full of useful information and it's very easy to follow. The PHP manual is also a very handy tool if you have the time to read it.

It turns out that I started playing with PHP in a very similar way to Chris, except I was tinkering with MyBB instead of XMB. Between playing with real code and reading the dummies book I learned fairly quickly.

Actualy Musicalmidget i did buy a book the other day called "php and msql for dynamic web sites" By larry ullman. Ran several of the scripts that was in the book and none of them ran successfully on my testing server. So yesterday i ordered the book that you mention plus "Beginning PHP, Apache, MySQL Web Development" By Michael K. Glass, i am expecting them to arrive tommorow. Will see if they are any better than the first book!

can i suggest not buying books, everything in the books you can get for free on the internet, it is a big waste of money.

It's not a big waste of money, books generally are of much higher quality. Here are several I recommend:

- Larry Ullman: PHP for the World Wide Web
- Larry Ullman: PHP Advanced for the World Wide Web
- George Schlossnagle: Advanced PHP Programming

They are all very very good, much better than online tutorials.

I have to agree with Kilroy that books are generally of very high quality.

When I first started out with PHP I spent months looking for online tutorials for beginners. There were loads out there but very few were really useful. When I picked up the book I mentioned before, I started learning things quicker and in a much more logical order.

Combine the book I read with playing with "real" code and I learnt so much more in a shorter period of time.

Can anyone recommend a book that i can buy in the UK preferably using amazon.co.uk.