Resources for learning programming

[the_pm]

Hey everyone,

We're looking to put together a resource directory for IWDN, made up of all those links we kick around these forums and whatever other resources people have for us to post.

Has anyone come across a programming site that was particularly beneficial to them? What links would you recommend as part of the list? General links are ok (alistapart.com, w3schools.com, etc.), but specific links that cover items you've found to be of particular worth would be just as helpful as well.

I'm placing this thread here because we've found it fairly easy to find and evaluate good resources for client-side coding, but server-side tutorials, articles and essays are more difficult for us to judge as being worthwhile or not. I suppose it won't hurt to suggest all other types of resources as well: client-side coding, visual design, etc. If you run/own/administrate a resource that would be helpful for other, don't be shy about sharing it too!

Thanks :)

[sonicgroup]

Well, for server-side:

http://php.net/manual (the manual is the single greatest resource I've ever found)
http://www.zend.com/developers.php (Zend maintains an impressive developer section with tutorials, code samples, etc.)
http://www.phpdeveloper.org (RSS aggregator of PHP-related sites, but also contains a decent tutorial/article archive)
http://www.phppatterns.com (a nice blog with a great link archive of tutorials, projects, and resources)
http://www.devshed.com (DevShed runs regular tutorial series on many server-side technologies - not just PHP)
http://www.codewalkers.com (not updated terribly often, but a nice tutorial database)
http://www.devx.com (more geared to enterprise development, so they concentrate a lot on JSP and ASP, but still some good stuff)
http://www.sitepoint.com (great tutorials on everything from PHP and graphic design to HTML, CSS, and running a design business)

[Alex]

http://www.phpfreaks.com
http://www.xampp.de
http://www.cssdrive.com

[BigBison]

I think we should include book titles.

"The Art of Computer Programming"
Volumes 1-3, by Donald E. Knuth

Because fundamentals are the best place to start.

[the_pm]

Good idea Eric. We can link to pages containing information on these books and ways people can purchase them.

[yasbas]

Hi,

Try http://DaTutorials.com .

You can find there tutorials about cliennt-side and server-side programing, like JavaScript, VB Script, Html, DHtml, ADO, PHP, ASP etc. Also you will find Photoshop tutorials plus free resources, like free website templates, free forum skins, free software etc.

Regards,
Yas

[the_pm]

Hi Yas, thanks for the resource, it looks very promising, and welcome to IWDN :)

[yasbas]

10x :D

Another useful resource is http://CodeProject.com with a lot of source code available. And I think that many people will agree that looking at the source code is also very good way to learn programming :)

[the_pm]

See now, I find that to be a double-edged sword. It's a good way to learn programming, but it's also a good way to learn some very bad habits, depending on how good the initial programmer is. The problem is that a novice won't know the difference. After learning things badly, they have to come to IWDN and unlearn everything they shouldn't have known in the first place. But if the coders who contribute Code Project are good, and you can find sites that house good contributions, then you have a winner :)

[sonicgroup]

I can speak to that from firsthand experience. I've had to unlearn a lot of bad habits over the years. My advice would be to get some formal training or a good book on just about any modern programming language. That will teach you good coding habits. Good coding habits are essentially the same across languages, so that knowledge will help you weed out the good from bad no matter what language you use.

[Anoop]

By learning a language, we can do the coding. But if we are looking for good and proffesional
coding, we should be aware of the standards and the software fundamentals. The following books are worth reading.

1) Code Complete
2) Rapid Development

By Steve McConnell


-Anoop