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PHP and MySQL FastTrack Report

As one of the many FastTracks at OpenAdvantage, the PHP and MySQL course that took place on the 21st and 22nd April 2005 was quite a hit. In this report, trainer Jono Bacon shares how the course went.

On Thursday and Friday last week, I gave a two day FastTrack course that explained to the four delegates how to get started with PHP and MySQL development. Starting from scratch, the aim of the course was to provide a solid, hands on approach to getting people up and running creating database driven web applications.

From the start of day one, the atmosphere on the course was relaxed and social. Each of the four delegates were chatty with each other and myself, and there was plenty of discussion and banter that was not only focused on the techniques covered in the course, but also on the greater IT and Open Source world in general. Topics including Open Source, web development, programming, IT, Microsoft, CMSs, Open Source advocacy, Linux User Groups and more was all discussed. This discussion not only involved the members of the course who were less familiar with Open Source, but it also spurred an encouragement to try additional Open Source software, including the Ubuntu Linux distribution used in the course.

At the start of the course, the XAMPP platform was installed on the machines. XAMPP provides an extremely easy to use means of getting a PHP and MySQL platform up and running, and it is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. With XAMPP, you literally download, unzip and run. Included with the software is an entire suite of web development tools, and each of the delegates was thrilled at how easy it was to install XAMPP and get up and running. This introduction equipped them with the means to get a PHP and MySQL setup running at home or work easily.

As the teaching started, some coverage of the PHP and MySQL platform was discussed, and then we quickly moved on to the hands-on development. This started with some basic PHP concepts and then moved on to start work on a CD shop web application. As the course continued, discussion of introductory database concepts, database creation, queries, validation, paging, updates and more was covered. As the second day came to a close, the delegates had written a powerful web application. Throughout the entire course, real world issues such as risks associated with web development and usability were also sprinkled into the learning.

As part of the FastTrack, a half day consultancy is also included. Each of the delegates was keen to capitalise on this part of the FastTrack and their consultancy sessions are all booked eagerly. These sessions give each delegate the opportunity to take the concepts covered on the course and apply them to their own specific projects. The consultancy also provided the opportunity for discussion of other Open Source issues of interest to them such as as web applications, content management, customer relations, desktop/server software and more.

All in all, it was a very positive and enjoyable course for the delegates and myself. Don't forget that FastTracks are happening every month at OpenAdvantage and they are entirely free. Have a look at the Events page for the latest events and come along and get involved.