Menu
Community /Pin to ProfileBookmark
@NogDogJul 15.2012 — #No great suggestions here, but a little encouragement: in the software engineering department where I work, of the 9 developers, one was an art major and two (including yours truly) were music majors. So it can be done, but you do need to have some interest in it: if you do, then you'll find yourself reading through this and similar forums , reading manual pages at php.net, playing around with ideas you have for things to try, and so forth.
If, on the other hand, such things seem like drudgery to you and a big bother, then there's not a lot of reason to expect it will get a lot better -- though admittedly anything is better once you get past the beginner stage (just think what it was like to start learning a musical instrument when you could barely make a musical sound with it). In the end, though, every good programmer I've known has had a built-in curiosity about it and is always poking around the 'net looking for answer, new ideas, latest trends, and so forth -- not waiting for someone to teach them (though it certainly does help if you can luck into a really good teacher or mentor along the way, mind you).
Struggling with PHP. bad tutor, need sexy online lessons
Hey guys,
I need some online resources for learning php. I’m basically looking for a substitute for a crappy tutor I currently have.
I need something to guide me through the world of php in a way that resembles being gently rowed through the streets of venice in a godola. I’m only willing/able to apply 13% of my attention to this web stuff (seriously, I drive myself nuts trying to pay attention to this stuff) so it needs to be engaging and have lots of repetition and emphasis on important parts. It needs to start from the very beginning (i.e. what the hell is it and what is its purpose?) and take me right through to the bare minimum amount knowledge required to fake it and pass the serverside module of my course.
To explain my poor attitude, I’m a graphic design graduate, a musician, and a generally creative person. After not having heaps of luck getting work in the competetive graphic design industry (admittedly I never worked THAT hard at it, I had a few freelance jobs) I decided that being a web developer was a perfect compromise between my creativity and job stability, and would impress my parents. Plus I used to mess around with BASIC as a kid, programming would be a breeze, I’d probably even enjoy it! …. How wrong I was, I really really struggle to pay attention to this stuff, totally opposite to my work ethic with graphic design and all things creative (i.e. staying up till 4am working, obsessing over ideas/concepts etc).
The last modules were fine, HTML and CSS were pretty easy, I didn’t pay a lot of attention but I got it anyway. Javascript was quite a bit more complex, I didn’t learn much, I spent most of the classes editing a music video for my band ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9lIR2tbcIg
We started the serverside module one week ago, this stuff is way more difficult, and to make matters worse we have a new tutor who seriously sucks! Her teaching style is terrible, she rushes through everything, has an accent that takes a bit of work to understand and she always has an uncomfortable demeanor. So now… #attention span {width: -99999px;}
I had a bit of a breakdown this week (e.g. “holy **** I’ve made a terrible decision doing this course, there’s no way I can do this, I need to change courses”) and had been talking to people about switching courses. I’ve now learned that if I withdraw from this course there’s no way to ‘transfer fees’ so I’d be throwing thousands of dollars down the drain. What I’m more concerned about is that if I withdraw from the course or fail more than 50% I will lose my future eligibility for student funding, and will basically stuff up the chance to study in the future (which I’ve now decided I want to do in further pursuit of a creative career).
So there it is, that’s why I’m only looking to scrape by. I don’t think I’m capable of REALLY applying myself. Best case scenario pass, worst case (but still okay by me) only pass 50% of the course.
What I’m hoping for is a link to a set of really engaging video lessons, I’m picturing scantily dressed blondes writing code on each others bodies while explaining syntax, with fireworks exploding and dolphins jumping through flaming hoops in the background, but anything you deem helpful would be appreciated, thanks!
Sign in
to post a comment4 Comments(s) ↴
0
@NogDogJul 15.2012 — #No great suggestions here, but a little encouragement: in the software engineering department where I work, of the 9 developers, one was an art major and two (including yours truly) were music majors. So it can be done, but you do need to have some interest in it: if you do, then you'll find yourself reading through this and If, on the other hand, such things seem like drudgery to you and a big bother, then there's not a lot of reason to expect it will get a lot better -- though admittedly anything is better once you get past the beginner stage (just think what it was like to start learning a musical instrument when you could barely make a musical sound with it). In the end, though, every good programmer I've known has had a built-in curiosity about it and is always poking around the 'net looking for answer, new ideas, latest trends, and so forth -- not waiting for someone to teach them (though it certainly does help if you can luck into a really good teacher or mentor along the way, mind you).