Hello everyone;
I just got a job. Actually, I just got my first job, that I'm actually interested in, (I'm 19 years old) assisting in the development of a [deep breath] massively-multiplayer browser-based textual game created in PHP. Fortunately my employer does not mind that I'm just learning such things as programming and is willing to fund my endeavors. Let's face it -- I'm taking university-level courses through Athabasca University -- leading to a Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems-- and I have a lot of extra time on my hands (first project is a [shivers] an Access database utilizing four relational tables for a imaginary, and simplified, video rental store). So I have the time to learn and procrastinate.
Now I have dabbled in PHP before as well as things like: LISP (Scheme), C (++), FreePascal, and Python; However, dabbling as fun as it is, does not provide me with the full skill-set that I likely require. What I need is a list of "must read" PHP and web site design tutorials (and books if possible). I have read quite a bit on the PHP home page as well as some stuff taken off of search engine results but I may have (and likely) missed something important.
So, any suggestions?
But, I must ask you: if you are using/learning PHP on the job, why not try something better/more interesting off the job (like I do)? PHP was my first web language and where I a learned lot of real world software development strategies, but I definitely wouldn't recommend learning things the PHP way to a beginner.