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I have completed 'PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites Visual Quickpro 4th Edition' (well, almost done, I am on the last chapter)

and I was wondering if, regarding this book, I can start on ch 6 'Basic OOP' or do you recommend I start from chapter 1?

 

 

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I would really recommend you starting from the beginning with any book about introductory OOP. There's a solid learning curve at first when you switch from procedural to object-oriented programming, and most of that is due to the way you have to think about code. It's a very common mistake to jump straight into code, as many feel they already master coding to some degree. While that's true for many, the basic theory is insanely important, and has very little to do with coding skills. As I said earlier, it's a different approach to coding, not necessarily harder or more advanced.

 

I don't really remember the chapters in this book. You can probably skip some of the first chapters, but make sure you don't skip any OOP theory from the get go. While much of the stuff explained might seem below your current coding level, (and it likely is) it's fundamental in OOP. Make sure to don't blaze through theory because it seems simple. It'll pay of later to focus.

 

What I consider essential for understanding object-orientation:

- Theory about a Class and an Object. Read this thoroughly. Read it more than once.

- Theory about class structures and code planning (i.e what constitutes a class. This is very important and it's not obvious at first)

- Delegation. (A method should do only one specific job)

- Visibility (public, protected, private)

- Class scope and application scope.

- Polymorphism (building of existing classes)

 

Larry is very good at explaining all this, but make sure to take it slow from the start. It will really pay of later. Learning object-orientation is not tricky from a of coding skill level standpoint, but because of the theoretic foundation you need to write good code.

 

Good luck, and have fun. :)

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