I'm absolute beginner of PHP
 

What should I do to learn PHP? I currently don't even know the ABC of PHP. Would you guys recommend me some books, tutorials etc? Thanks

There is a book list already forming around the beginner forum as well. But one thing I would do is just get php on your machine and think of some task you want to perform.

Map out a diagram of the steps needed to get that working and start either searching php.net or google.com.

Once the tutorials are up and running I'm sure they will be a great help.

Also, one thing that needs to be done if you have yet to do it, learn HTML. I can't stress enough how many people start to learn PHP but fail because their lack of knowledge for something that is almost a requirement before hand.

But on another note, this is exactly what this website is for. Feel free to post any questions you have and we'll do our best to help out! :)

I suggest picking up a book or heading over to some PHP websites and read some tutorials. http://www.phpfreaks.com (where I work) is a very good place to pick up on PHP, with tons of tutorials, articles, code snippets, etc...

Best of luck to you!

3dbuzz offers a range of videos that have helped me out, Im not very good yet, but they are helping me out learning quite alot.

buying books from half.com could help, they have a good selection of books available, and half of them don't even cost that much. I would recommend getting learn php, apache, and mysql in 24 hours (500 pages long). It shows you how to setup apache,php, and mysql properly, and almost everything a beginner should know about php.

Once the tutorial section is finished I plan to write a tutorial how to install apache, php and mysql on both *nix and windows.

Wooow that will be a good addition to the site Ryan, For an absoloute begginger the best thing is to learn PHP and MYsql Incorporated, Just get strait in and Start coding, Thats whats working for me.

thats nice, I didn't find installing apache, and php diffucult, had a little trouble with mysql the first time.

You may also want to try installing some of the more popular (and open source) php programs like phpbb (forums), Mambo (open source cms), php-nuke or post-nuke (other open source cms with alot of modules).

Playing around with them will give you a good feel for php and what it does but dont take anything as coding gold (especially the nukes since they are often known to be insecure).

If you have a site you should try to automate things with php and if not, consider starting one on something you like just to build your skills.

That's exactly what I did for my first php driven website. I just basically made a small CMS with changing styles using cookies and such. Just something simple is what you need to start with.