On the internet, there are really only 3 groups of people when it comes to programming. We have all the people that don’t know how to program, we have the people that know a little bit about programming, and then we have people like me. People like me spend large amounts of time programming, and end up on sites reading about how to make a bunch of words output the next Twitter. This column, RTFM, will eventually delve into topics that will most likely interest all 3 groups of people.
For all of you people that don’t know how to program, this is the post for you. For all you people that know a little bit about programming, this is the post for you. For all you people that look at this post an ask how many ‘<p>’ tags it is composed of, the post next week will be for you.
PHP
PHP is a very popular programming languages as it is a very easy languages to start programming. It will actually be the program I primarily talk about on RTFM. The only caveats are that you must have access to a web server that runs PHP, or be able to run PHP on your computer. To do that for free, look at WAMP.
http://php.net
The PHP Documentation is a good place to get started with PHP. It is one of the friendliest manuals of any programming language, and I go back to it constantly while developing an application. Learn to use it and your coding will be better for it.
http://www.w3schools.com/php/
W3Schools is an excellent place to learn almost any programming language that deals with the internet. PHP is one of those languages. It gives step-by-step instructions on the basic concepts of PHP.
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/PHP_Tutorial_for_Beginners
According to some people in the programming community, Web Monkey is another site that offers some great tutorials on how to get started with PHP.
http://www.slipszenko.net/tutorial:Beginners+PHP+Part+1
The people at Slipszenko put together a nice tutorial for people who want to learn PHP. It has 3 parts to it, and is sure to get you up and running in no time.
Other Resources
Along with PHP comes all the other parts of the web. To learn about things like HTML, CSS, Javascript, and more, check out some of these links:
http://codepunk.hardwar.org.uk/
This is the same website that I began creating HTML and CSS from. It has a large amount of tutorials of HTML, Javascript and CSS, and they are all laid out in easy to read tutorials, with exercises in case you want to practice it yourself.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/01/26/tutorials-round-up-ajax-css-javascript-php-mysql-and-more/
Smashing Magazine put together a great list of tutorials ranging from all sorts of web-related languages.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/391523/what-are-some-good-free-programming-books
StackOverflow has a great list of free online programming books that cover a variety of subject.
http://stackoverflow.com
StackOverflow is an amazing resource for anyone who is getting into programming. It is a simple question/answer site that lets you ask questions to millions of professionals. Chances are, the stuff you are having problems has already been asked and answered, so search and see if its there. If not, just click “Ask a Question”, and type in your question.
Advanced Resources
If you want to delve a little deeper into programming, here are some resources specifically for you:
http://24ways.org
24 Ways is a web design blog that is set up like an Advent Calendar. Every year, on the 24 days before Christmas, they write one post everyday. This is a blog for more advanced users, but it is still a great resource.
http://smashingmagazine.com
Smashing Magazine is a online blog that focuses on Web Design and Development. They post a single, high-quality article everyday, and have networked with other high-quality blogs to create a great network of content. I check SmashingMagazine for all sort of things when I am designing a website.