Is PHP easier?

[clarabean]

I've been told that PHP is easier to learn than HTML and CSS and other things. Is this actually the case in your experience? Can PHP do as much as the others can, though?

[carl owen]

PHP is certainly a very good programming language and can do almost everything as HTML and CSS. However, HTML is quite simple in comparison to PHP. PHP was invented quite a long time before HTML was and hence HTML is more advanced than PHP is. PHP is also a very good programming language and I think it is very good if you wish to design your webpages. HTML is also a very good programming language and I think it basically depends on your requirements as to which programming language you should choose. If you are starting to learn a programming language then I would suggest you to learn HTML as it is easier to learn and is a quite good programming language.

[HappyNerd]

I personally think that HTML and CSS are easier to learn then PHP. PHP can do quite a few things, but I don't think it is a good choice for learning programming. I would suggest that you learn HTML/CSS and once you have mastered that, then try your hand at PHP

[Joseph]

Well, I do not have an idea about CSS but HTML is certainly easier in comparison to PHP and I agree to HappyNerd on this but I think if you learn HTML there is not need to learn PHP as HTML can do all the tasks which can be done through PHP.

[clarabean]

Okay then, HTML it is. I must have misunderstood something when reading about PHP, obviously. I'll work on expanding my knowledge of HTML beyond the basics that I've already learned.

[Bodhost-Andy]

The PHP code is executed by the server when the page is accessed and the resulting output comes in HTML within the Web page. When a user accesses a PHP page, his Web browser only gets sent the HTML code, since the server has processed the PHP code in the background. Most PHP pages are processed so quickly that it does not noticeably slow down the loading of the Web page.

The .php extension is important, since it tells the Web server that the page may include PHP code. Therefore, it must be run through the server's PHP engine before being sent to a client's Web browser. This allows dynamic content to be generated each time the Web page is loaded, based on the variables included in the PHP code. For example, PHP pages may load objects such as the current date and time, data from form fields submitted by a user, or information from a database. Still, once the page reaches the user's Web browser, everything is formatted as HTML.

[Lazlo90]

I think you might have heard the opposite and got it mixed up as honestly I think it'd be pretty hard to learn PHP without knowing HTML. As for CSS, it would help to learn that before going onto PHP but I wouldn't say it's 100% necessary. However, I do recommend that you get a good grasp of HTML before venturing onto PHP even if you just want to do something simple with it.

[php_rules]

You have to think of php as a totally different thing than html and css - css is all about the way that your website will look - things like color schemes and fonts. Html is more like the structure of your site - where various boxes go. These are both separate from the content of your site (the words and pictures) and again spearate from the php - the php is like the glue that takes the stylesheet (css) the structure (html) and the content (words and pics) and sticks them together.

[sharron]

I think CSS is easier than php. I learned CSS in less than two weeks.

[carl owen]

I agree to Sharron. CSS is much easier than PHP. But I think the easiest among all the three i.e. PHP, HTML and CSS is HTML. I have used all the three and according to me the codes of HTML can be remembered more easily than the codes of PHP and CSS. However, it depends on you also.

[webhappy]

I would say that it is harder to learn that simple hmtl, but at the same time it is hard to compare because php can do so much more and is more of a true programming language, where html is not really programming, it is just tagging.

[bluetrance05]

PHP is not that difficult to learn if you already know or have a basic understanding of HTML and some scripting knowledge. The difference is that PHP uses symbols like semi-colon, asterisk, underscore, dot and others. It might be confusing for most beginners out there but if they continue to master PHP, they will find it easy to learn.

[Sentinel]

PHP is easy to learn if you know C or C++. The syntax is very similar (and very similar to anything thats based on C/C++ syntax wise. HTML is totally different syntax to that of PHP and CSS, the best thing to do is to forrow a couple of the online tutorials.

[bossbob]

Is there a place online to take free php classes? I know html but I don't know anything about PHP and from what I've been reading, it looks like I'm going to need to get friendly in the PHP world.

[iamsam]

If you're interested in learning PHP, then I can recommend the tutorials at W3schools, Tizag, and php dot net. I haven't found any free PHP training courses online, though (most seem to be paid services), but you can check your local library to see if the have any books on the subject. You might also want to test your scripts before uploading them to your server, so I also recommend XAMPP for local testing.

[bossbob]

Originally Posted by iamsam

If you're interested in learning PHP, then I can recommend the tutorials at W3schools, Tizag, and php dot net. I haven't found any free PHP training courses online, though (most seem to be paid services), but you can check your local library to see if the have any books on the subject. You might also want to test your scripts before uploading them to your server, so I also recommend XAMPP for local testing.

Thanks, I was looking at Tizag the other day and it seems like it just might be the ticket for me. I haven't looked at XAMPP yet but will do so today.

[Jenny Walker]

PHP is way too confusing for me. I know it's just logic, so people say it should be easy to understand, but looking at a PHP code, it might as well be some alien language. HTML is a lot easier — opening tags, closing tags, and arranging them in the proper order... heck, one can put up a simple HTML page after only a few minutes of study.

[sandybeach]

I know HTML and I've been learning PHP, but I don't know anything about CSS. For me, PHP isn't all that hard, but I think that CSS would be over my head. I still may try my hand at it once I get the PHP down.

[gazzie]

I've been trying to learn PHP for a while now, but so far all I can do is modify existing code a little. I'm still a long way off from writing my own scripts. I think it's all the math that trips me up. >_<