Archive for August, 2006

PHP Video: Processing Forms with PHP - part 2

Tuesday, August 29th, 2006

Part two of my beginners video tutorials on how to use PHP to process HTML forms.
Video: PHP and forms video tutorial
Having covered the basics of forms in the first video, I now jump into the actual PHP code and introduce (for the first time) a built-in PHP construct called ‘Super Globals’.
We learn that Super Globals [...]

PHP Interfaces: when and why you should use them instead of classes?

Saturday, August 26th, 2006

In this article/podcast, I look at what php interfaces are, and when and why we would use them over classes.
AUDIENCE:
To follow along, you must know the basics of object oriented php.
-
Download the MP3: PHP Interfaces Explained.
The following notes are meant to support the podcast … I left the details in the podcast.
First, what are interfaces?

Interfaces [...]

What are database driven websites - podcast.

Saturday, August 26th, 2006

A quick podcast where I explain the basics behind what database driven websites are.
This podcast targets total beginners.
Database Driven Websites Explained.

I did not forget you guys.

Thursday, August 24th, 2006

I been away from making videos for about a week now because of a surprize root canal. This ultra-painful experience (I actually lost 10 lbs!) has prevented me from doing any video work (any work at all,) for last little while.
Let that be a lesson to you all:

If you grind your teeth in your [...]

Reaction to killerphp.com

Wednesday, August 16th, 2006

I’ve received many emails over the last few years, with complaints of how confusing PHP seemed … of how hard the documentation on the web seemed to be.
So I created killerphp.com to help those web designers who seemed to be more inclined to design and not to code.
THE WEBSITE LAUNCHED
I put up the first [...]

PHP Video: Processing Forms with PHP - part 1

Sunday, August 13th, 2006

In this video, I review a few key aspects about forms that relate directly to form processing with PHP.
… I cover these three attributes:

The ‘action’ attribute
The ‘method’ attribute
The ‘name’ attribute

In part 2, we will get into practical examples.
PS: these videos are still targeting web designers … so if you are a coder, keep your [...]

PHP Video - Associative Arrays

Monday, August 7th, 2006

Just released a new video on PHP associative arrays.
Associative arrays are one of the two types of arrays found in PHP and is (in my opinion) one of the most important aspects of the php programming language.
PHP associative arrays are used everywhere and are the underlying mechanism to so many important things in PHP … [...]

PHP Video - Indexed Arrays

Monday, August 7th, 2006

I just released a new video on the super important indexed array.
PHP indexed arrays are one of the two types of arrays that you’ll find in PHP.
> PHP indexed array video tutorial

3 Categories of Programming Languages

Monday, August 7th, 2006

From Killersites.com blog:
Recently a more practical way of classifying languages has come to my attention - classifying languages by problem-domain or in other words, context.
* System Languages
* Architectural Languages
* Application Languages
I like this list, because it really conveys a sense of practical use [...]

Will Ruby kill PHP?

Monday, August 7th, 2006

With the recent rise in popularity of the Ruby programming language (largely driven by the excellent but not perfect web framework called Rails), I’ve noticed a little fear in the air … fear on the part of some people in the PHP community.
Will Ruby kill PHP?
The short answer is: no.
MY REASONING
Though Ruby and PHP are [...]

PHP Video - PHP variables part 2

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006

In this video we expand on our exploration of PHP variables. We look at things like:

Variable expansion
String Concatenation

PHP variables part 2
Once you’ve finished this video, we will be looking at PHP arrays … the key to processing HTML forms.

Evangelizing PHP for web designers

Tuesday, August 1st, 2006

The ‘raison d’ĂȘtre’ for www.killerphp.com is basically to make PHP accessible to the average web designer.
I want to reach people who have more of a design background than a coding/programming background.
TODAY, PHP IS ESSENTIAL WEB DESIGN KNOWLEDGE
I can’t tell you how many times web designers have approached me about doing relatively simple things:

Process an [...]

PHP Video - PHP includes

Tuesday, August 1st, 2006

These two videos introduce you to one of the most important tools in PHP - PHP ‘includes’.
In a nutshell: PHP ‘includes’ allow you to include/insert code from other pages/documents into your PHP pages.
Web designers familiar with CSS can see this as being like linking to external CSS files. Except with PHP includes, you can insert:

HTML/XHTML
CSS
PHP [...]