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Joshua Lawson
4,953 PointsShould I start with PHP 7?
Ok, I'm at the beginner, soon to be intermediate stage of my PHP education. I'm seeing a lot of things already about mysql being deprecated and mysql is what is being taught in Team Treehouse. Instead of spending my time getting more familiar with mysql I figured I'd go straight to PDO. This may slow down the learning process a bit, but it seems silly for me to learn an outdated language knowing that I will have to switch in the near future. That's like saying I first need to learn Latin, then I can learn English.
So my question is, since the only true development I've done so far has been minor apps just for me, should I go ahead and jump right into PHP7? I realize the learning curve will be steeper initially but I figured I would just go all in and see how it goes. I'm having a hard time finding sources for beginners who stumble upon PHP7. Would you really recommend someone get familiar with PHP 5.x before making the leap?
Thanks for any replies.
1 Answer
Greg Kaleka
39,021 PointsHey Joshua,
I don't see any issue with learning PHP7 right off the bat. Most of what you might learn about php 5.x would apply regardless, though - most of the changes are just syntax. In other words, don't worry too much about which one a tutorial or lesson is in. You should know the differences, since there's lots of code out there in PHP 5, and if you try to completely ignore it, you'll have a rough time. Better to be able to translate where necessary.
As for MySQL vs PDO, this is a false dichotomy. You should absolutely learn MySQL (which is a very small, basic language to learn, actually - it's not really like its own programming language), as PDO is simply a wrapper around MySQL, and it's actually very beneficial to know what's happening under the hood (moreso than knowing Latin, which is much much harder, and probably a lot less useful heh). It's also often much quicker to type a quick select statement when testing your database than using PDO. You may also eventually find yourself wanting to query a database from a language other than PHP, in which case you'll be really lost if all you know is PDO. MySQL is much more versatile.
Hope that helps - and good luck in your learning! There's a lot to learn, and often learning the hard stuff that seems not so useful is more beneficial than you might think.
Cheers
-Greg
Joshua Lawson
4,953 PointsJoshua Lawson
4,953 PointsThanks so much! I appreciate the input.