Re: RE: [PHP] This PHP list

Hey Peter, not to keep this discussion going (which of course i do by typing this), but i wanted to add a quick comment on what you wrote...in a lot of ways, i'm a "newbie" to PHP...i've only been using it seriously for a couple months (max)....but, i hate having others figure things out for me when i feel like i have the chance at figuring it out...so, i really take the time and put in the effort to look through the discussions, check the website, think and search, etc...i speak for myself of course, but i think the most frustrating thing (in any list, not just PHP) is NOT when a "newbie" asks "hey, how come i can't get variables within a function" ( the answer being "use global $variable name), but when someone posts a question like "i want to connect to mysql and display some stuff. how do i do this" Its not really a personal insult or anything, but to me, a post like that means that the person did not take the time to even read a tutorial; they just want someone to do it for them. Also, the "can you give me an example" thing is fine; sometimes things are tricky, and i would never tell someone to hold a question back. recently i was curious about authentication systems, so i looked around on the net, read some posts, looked through some books i had, and learned about it on my own, rather than typing "can someone tell me how to write an authentication system". So, IMHO, the part that gets people riled up is when its pretty obvious that the person has not even taken time to read a tutorial or try it on their own; the flipside is this: (at least when I see a post like this) "ok, i've looked EVERYWHERE, and i can't figure out why echo "$ARRAY{VARIABLE}"; won't work? any thoughts? That kinda question, in my eyes, is totally understandable. "what does echo do?" however is not... I'm not so much responding to you as giving my .02c about this whole topic...and for people who don't know, especially since the really good php coders on this list won't say "Sincerely, Rasmus, ( look for my name in the credits)" or "Julie, (author of that book people keep recommending), there are some SERIOUSLY GOOD coders on this list; respect everyone's time and try to figure out what you can for yourself- -its the best way to learn. When you get stuck, then ask. And for people who get really frustrated with the repeated "what's the best PHP editor", hell, i just smile and delete the e-mail, waiting to see who'll give that poster a nice reply... ok, sorry for those who're still reading....its 2:30 EST and i'm coding a minimum spanning tree in java, so this is a nice break... best regards to all, jack ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Houchin" <peterh@vfsa.com.au> Date: Thursday, March 29, 2001 2:02 am Subject: RE: [PHP] This PHP list > Being a newbie, and as i'm sure is the case with alot of other > newbies, one that doesn't have a lot of programming back ground, > ask stupid questions to this list because for some things that you > find easy others, like my self, don't know what to look for in the > manual ... so we ask it here... now if it wasn't for the more > knowledgeable people on this list, I like many others, would be > stuck with out any where to go .. > > So thanks to those of you that don't complain and crack the s#$@s > when newbie become repetitive. > > Peter > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ian Harris [mailto:iharris@quadtel.com] > Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 4:36 PM > To: php-general@lists.php.net > Subject: [PHP] This PHP list > > > > I was hoping that this PHP list would be of people developing with > PHP, who > have reached some level of familiarity with the product and when > they have > had a fair go at solving a problem, they then posted it to the > list. For > example, we have a problem in our code where the last object in an > array of > objects sometimes vanishes into thin air depending on whether you > comment-out a block of unrelated code further up the script. > > Unfortunately, this list is full of people with questions like "I > want to > access a database with PHP. Can someone please send me the source > code". > Does anyone know of any other PHP lists that are more suited to > non-trivial, > expert-related discussions? > > If there aren't any around, I'll start one on Yahoogroups or some > othersimilar service. > > regards > Ian. > > > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, e-mail: php-general-unsubscribe@lists.php.net > For additional commands, e-mail: php-general-help@lists.php.net > To contact the list administrators, e-mail: php-list- > admin@lists.php.net >