How did you learn php/mysql?

[tickedon]

After tripping through (or is it slogging through) some code in different WP plugins, I started to formally go back to the beginning and started watching videos on Lynda.com. Now some of the things that I've been seeing in plugins are starting to make more sense. Maybe this approach was backwards, maybe normal, maybe it doesn't matter at all

Anyway - how did you learn php/mysql? Was it formally or informally? Did you just dive in and write your own scripts first or did you slog through other people's code?

I started off and learnt by hacking away at others' code. I also had a book, and a few good friends I could ask any questions of! Over time, I picked up enough and finally had the courage to try something from scratch. The php manual can also be incredibly helpful

 

[Teapot]

I was about 13 and I had no previous programming experience except some very simple BASIC, which taught me about the core mechanics like variables. My first PHP experience came from hacking on SMF, and although I'm still very much a beginner - having stopped doing PHP for some years - now I've got XF, I'm really excited to get back into it

 

[SneakyDave]

I came from a COBOL/DB2 on IBM/zOS world, and BASIC and Pascal prior to that. I was used to procedural languages. I decided to upgrade my skills and didn't like using { } to enclose conditionals like most modern languages do, and I didn't want to learn OOP, so I found out that PHP3 supported IF(): / ENDIF: FOREACH: / ENDFOREACH: constructs similar to COBOL, and it was still procedural at the time, so it came pretty naturally.