How to become a PHP5 pro?

What’s the best way to become a PHP5 pro?

I think it is my time to learn PHP5, but I don’t know where to start! Should I just read books about PHP5 or is it better to follow a study at school?
Some friends here in the Netherlands tell me that school isn’t needed to learn PHP5 on a professional degree, but I think it is.

How did you guys learn php?

About a month ago I started learning PHP 4 & 5. I have been using a combination of video tutorials and free online tutorials. I also look at simple PHP implementations, e.g. forms, etc and learn by doing....with the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn’t go to school to learn PHP. But that’s just me...Am not saying I am intelligent or anything like that, and I realize people are different, but I found the language very straightforward and relatively easy to learn....I can’t find it now, but I remember reading a post by Susan Sottwell here in the forums how she’s self-taught.

The challenge, in my experience is to think logically, using clear and brief code without repeating oneself needlessly, to achieve what you want, in other words, how to implement your ideas in the best way possible. On the other hand, I am not aiming, at least at this stage, to be a PHP pro. I just want to be comfortable or very comfortable with PHP....with the ability to write and/or understand not very complex snippets. That’s my 2 cents 

Yeah my aiming is to get a PHP5 pro and to get the Zend Certification. I didn’t excpect that I needed it to get a boost in my job, but I found out that it is really needed. So here I am, finding out how to become pro the best way.

In my opinion it is good to follow the sites and videos about php when you want to learn the basics, but it is not enough to get pro and to pass the Zend exam.

I also think it’s possible to pass the Zend exam and still not be a good coder. Experience is invaluable, and seeking out smart people to learn from is huge, imo. I’ve been programming since I was a kid in the mid 80’s, then taught myself php in 1995, but I feel like I’ve become a much better coder only in the last few years, after hanging around here. Everyone has their own path.

Get yourself a copy of the most recent Sam’s Learn PHP in 24 Hours. Seriously. I find those books cover all of the important bases and give you a jump-start into writing your own code or modifying other people’s and understanding what you’re doing and why.

Quote from: ZAP at Oct 28, 2008, 09:30 AM

Get yourself a copy of the most recent Sam’s Learn PHP in 24 Hours. Seriously. I find those books cover all of the important bases and give you a jump-start into writing your own code or modifying other people’s and understanding what you’re doing and why.

Definitely recommend starting off with something like this if you’re new to PHP.

For the Zend Certification, I’d also recommend getting the study guide as the Zend Certification is designed to test all areas of PHP and not just the most common areas. I remember looking into the certification a while back and some of the areas covered were really off the mainstream PHP stuff you’d likely use on a day-to-day basis.

Quote from: ZAP at Oct 28, 2008, 09:30 AM

Get yourself a copy of the most recent Sam’s Learn PHP in 24 Hours. Seriously. I find those books cover all of the important bases and give you a jump-start into writing your own code or modifying other people’s and understanding what you’re doing and why.

I used php before with version 3/4, but I think php5 is totally different because of the use of OOP, so I think that "Sam’s Leran PHP in 24 hours" is a great way to start again with php.
Where can I get that book in/to Europe? And can I get a legal Ebook version of it somewhere? I always like to have the printed version to read and the pdf version to have on my work for reference

What do you guys think about this book: http://www.sitepoint.com/books/phpant2/ ?
I think it is a good book to use as a reference while you are coding and I simply love books from sitepoint!