This weeks Codecademy was not that difficult. I found it pretty easy to follow and understand, unlike the Javascript one that was a glitching and took an excessive amount of time to complete.

I found it very interesting to learn all of the different things that PHP can do. For example, it can:

• evaluate data from a browser
• build custom web content to serve the browser
• talk to a database
• send and receive cookies

I found it very helpful in class when we took time to  really go through again what the servers and browsers do, and how they are able to read the different languages of HTML and PHP as well as others. For instance, the learning of LAMP:

• Linux
• Apache
• MYSQL
• PHP

This would be how WordPress runs, the platform that even this site was created on.

In class, it was also interesting to learn about the backend of PHP and websites. Professor Linch used an analogy of databases being like tables. The columns are called fields and the rows are called records. These “tables” are all connected to each other through different ids and allow websites to function properly.

I also found it helpful in class when we went through and downloaded MMAP and went through the specific steps we needed to take in order for our PHP to show up. I find step-by-step tutorials better and more informative than when we were just going through the W3 Schools websites and briefly talking about the different types of variables and things we might come across. I am a visual learner and find it helpful to truly break it down to its simplest principle, write it out all together, and implement it to see what the outcomes are.

I think in the future that it would be helpful during class to have more hands on work that we all have the same assignments to work on and we work through them.