Negus Live Linux Series Practical PHP and MySQL

Chapter 1. A New Approach

Learning how to program has always been tough. Although a mind-boggling array of documentation, tutorials, Web sites, videos, books, and other resources is available, learning to program is still fundamentally difficult, particularly if you don’t wear sandals and a ponytail.

One of the main reasons learning to code is so difficult is that code is typically taught in an unnatural way. Most books and tutorials seem to follow a clear-cut path of explaining the minor details of the language and then continuing to build upon each detail to cover more complex concepts. This kind of tuition is akin to cramming for exams—it is difficult to remember all of the separate bits of information in the right order and how they relate ...