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PHP

Tianni Myers
Tianni Myers
10,453 Points

Is it okay to not get a lot of the challenges in the PHP beginner course?

I find myself searching for the answers for challenges a lot. At this point I’m a little frustrated because I'm close to finishing the PHP beginner course. I don’t know if I should be spending more time on these challenges or if I will just get it eventually. I think a lot of the times I just don’t understand what they are looking for and I think some of them are a little to hard. I also learn on Team Treehouse on and off bc of my day job so maybe it’s bc i’m not learning PHP consistently. Any advise? Has this happened to you when you were a beginner at PHP?

1 Answer

consistently is key. The only way you will get better is by doing. It's like anything else, keep doing it and it will stick. if being consistent is an issue, I would try and set aside a set time everyday to just write code, not the videos, but write what you learned. Remember there is no grade at the end of this, the only thing you take away is the work you produce. the "A" is the solid understanding of what you are learning by showcasing that knowledge.

Tianni Myers
Tianni Myers
10,453 Points

Well, I was recently fired from a Marketing position so now I have all the time in the world to follow my passion which is web development. I have printed code from Github before and just copied it to practice writing. For the most part I know the PHP syntax but as far as writing my own programs I don’t know what I can do or even where to start. I bought some books on computer science that I want to read to help train my brain to think like a programmer, in order to better understand computers and programming in general.

I hear ya, but I'd say you have come to the right spot. I'm assuming here, but I take it you want to write PHP, and be a backend dev. With that being said, I would start here at beginning PHP. Some concepts you might already know and that and that cool, but each course will have a small project for you to follow along and write yourself. Use you own code editor, use Git if not already, and do the courses and push those up to your repo. Personally, To think "like" a programmer is really one basic concept, and that is deconstructing, can you take a concept and break it down to its absolute smallest parts. That's it. Its about knowing your tool set and knowing where to start using those tools.

Start with the intro to PHP and work your way up. DON'T GO FAST. Remember no one cares about how manny courses you've done here or on any other learning platform. They only care about your proof and retention of knowing how to program. Code every day, and at least 1 hour. I hope this helps.