lets see if I can add anything useful (you be the judge)...

1. aim high, you only learn when you push yourself beyond what you can already 
do.

2. take/make notes as you go, don't try to keep everything in your head :)

3. occasionally cut a few corners when you've bitten off more than you can chew.
(writing the perfect app is impossible but writing one that is usable is a 
great moral booster)

4. think about the data you are going to store and use, then make a few 
iterative
sketches of the DB schema and the relations it entails - often I just fire up
phpmyadmin and start hammering out some tables to get a feel of what it needs, 
this kind
of falls under note taking.

5. keep you eye on the big picture, don't let yourself be absored by every 
minute
detail/problem that crosses your path - sprinkle liberal 'TODO' comments in your
code and come back to them :-)

6. talk to your potential users about what they expect to be able to do (and 
how)

7. plan for the future but don't over do it - 'dynamic as possible' often ends 
up meaning
writing lots of code that either never gets used or is a pain to use/understand 
12 months
down the road.

8. make sketches of interfaces you expect to have in your app - they don't need 
to be super
detailed or complete - even the roughest 5 second scribbles can help to remind 
you of
your goals.

9. 'steal' (do keep it legal) code - 9 out of ten problems have been solved by 
someone else,
find their solution examine how they did it and then possibly refactor what 
they have and
make it fit into your own application - this can save time but more to the 
point if you
properly study other people's code .

10. always try to solve your own problems first and RFTM - then if you get stuck
ask smart question (this is a fairly good place ;-) ... there are plenty of 
people
who like to help out on tricky issues, especially when they know (or can tell) 
that
you have done the leg work before making an appeal.

11. among the replies to your post that I read I noticed both TG and Paul 
Novitski offering
some really good advice - take heed and then go have a lot of fun!

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Hey... I am new to the list so please forgive me if I say anything that might 
> have already been discussed.  So here we go...
> 
> OK I am attempting to start a new application using PHP.  I have started and 
> stoped this application now 2 times cause I get moving then I stop realizing 
> I should have done this work before hand and in a differant way.  I was 
> wondering does anyone have any places I can read on how develope a PHP Web 
> application like what area should I start with first, what are somethings I 
> need to think about before hand.  The application I am working on is Database 
> driven app.  It will have data inserted into the DB from various data sources 
> that are manually entered.
> 
> However I need to develope the app as dynamic as possible for future 
> add-ons... I know I am probably biting off more then I can chew at this 
> time... So any pointers or exampled (which would be great) on how to start an 
> app from scratch and also how to use OOP (Which I have a feeling is what I 
> need to learn) would be wonderful.  Thank you all for any help you can 
> provide.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Billy S.
> 
> 

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