I found that the php.net site is a very good place to start learning php. It has everything and the user comments are invaluable to getting user insight as to how it can be used in a real world situation.

A really good one that I've been using that can probably teach you PHP in the shortest amount of time is "Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours".

Good PHP books have been listed, online tutorials have actually helped me more though. Theres a much bigger breadth of topics with tutorials, have you done any?

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PHP for Dummies I'm serious :O)

I HATE the dummies series. cant stand any book that starts with "here is the power button to your computer"

But LOVE any book by O'REILLY publishers for technical subjects. Straight to the point with just what you want to know.

I liked this book:
Amazon.com: Learning PHP 5 (9780596005603): David Sklar: Books

hey,
I will suggest to learn Basic from W3schools and then purchase wrox professional PHP,Mysql book

i learned it form w3schools.com and i am like know everything about php
buy some good book and than continue with details

You really will want to get a begginers training course. They come with dvd's and workbooks. All Major book stores will have them in stock. Php is not hard to learn but is 100% easier if you have something to follow along. Good luck on that and if you have anything that gets you stuck. Feel free to send me a PM. I will help the best I can.

You can seach on google to learn

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Head First PHP & MySql - well worth it..I spent a month learning from the book. It gave me an excellent base of knowledge. It wasn't everything, but it was enough to land a few jobs that brought in a couple thousand each...

Good luck!

I didn't have a clue about programming in PHP and used Sam's Learn PHP in 24 hours. I thought it did the job well. By the time I was done with the book I understood the basics of php and could do basic programming. From there Google became my best friend and built upon the knowledge that this book taught.

Shannon

oreilly makes some good book.. i have not read their php books, but I've read other books of theirs

I agree with those that recommend the "Sams" teach yourself series.

10 years ago I went from a simple html editor to building a robust ecommerce system that same year -- thanks to what I learned from Sams teach book. Now I may have some advanced talent, but this book did help me get going..

There PHP and MySQL combo book is also very good and something I'd recommend too .. as if you get into PHP you will most likely end up needing to know MySQL as well.

One you learn the basics, then yes Google rocks - as does php.net. I often forget how things go together, and in a simple search I remember it again.

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Go to w3schools.com and teach yourself the basics first. Then, try reading PHP Solutions by David Powers or PHP And MySQL Web Development by Luke Welling and Laura Thomson.

you can learn from search engine.

I have an ebook on php if you want to check it out, just pm me if your interested.

I also vote for the Head First Series. I started out with there HTML/CSS book which was a huge help.

W3 schools is great as well.

W3Schools will do but I find that their tutorials often lack examples.

When you want a complete, easy to read and digest book go with the Head First series. The O'Reilly books on PHP are also top notch.

I learn from w3schools.com

I think the site is the number one php tutorial..