PHP for NonProgrammers

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You are a programmer. All of your life, you’ve made decisions like, “If I can’t stay awake during this staff meeting, I’ll have a third cup of coffee and a diet coke, or I’ll write tweets to entertain myself.” Every time you’ve thought “If…this, else that …” you’ve become more of a programmer. Every time you’ve labeled a plastic container “Christmas Stuff” and put your leftover tinsel and keepsake ornaments inside of it, you’ve become more of a programmer. <?php $variables == “containers for your stuff”; ?>

What You Will Learn

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PHP for Nonprogrammers will teach you a language (PHP) that you can use to convert your daily decision-making process into an exciting and useful skill. PHP is the language of Drupal. You will write PHP code, take it home, and continue practicing your new skill: bending the internet to your will.

If you already know CSS/HTML (and maybe a smidgeon of PHP), this training will extend your ability to theme a CMS like Drupal. If you have no formal coding experience, this training will demonstrate to you that the world of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Drupal developers is not beyond your reach. Once you complete this course, you will be ready to study module development and dive more deeply into the wonderful world of geek power.

To make sure you have all the skills you need, you will also learn important geek facts like which Star Trek captain is best (there is one right answer and one very wrong answer). We will practice quoting The Matrix and The Princess Bride.

What You Will Do

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The only way to learn to write code is to WRITE CODE. This course is 100% hands on. You will be writing code all day, at a pace that will feel gentle but in the end, shock you with how far you’ve come.

Don’t Worry!

You will have your own dev site to work on and you can access your site for 30 days after the course. Keep practicing! You can work at your own skill level and help is always nearby. Supported by at least one trainer for every 10 learners, you will get all the guidance you need to dive into programming.

And have fun doing it.

Who Should Attend

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Whether you are an HTML/CSS guru who wants to become a better themer or you have no experience with programing at all and want to see if this is a good career (or hobby) … this training is for you.

  • CSS/HTML buffs and themers who want to extend their ability to get the
    right data from the database into their templates (or remove existing data
    without “display:none”).
  • People who need to know the basics of PHP to better perform their role at
    work.
  • People who want to reset their career.
  • People who’ve always wanted to try coding but don’t enjoy competitive environments.
  • People who want to defend others from being eaten by robots.

Geek Speak

After the course, you will understand and have written code that includes:

  • Common errors and impediments
  • Variables
  • Arrays
  • Boolean logic
  • Conditional statements
  • Functions
  • PHP commonly found in the theme layer
  • A few drupal hooks (and how to use the API)
  • Simple database queries (time permitting)
  • The name of all six of the Monty Python's and other assorted geek essentials

Course Prerequisites

No prior coding experience is required. Truthfully, if you know anything more than basic PHP variables and "echo", this course is not for you. We will start with the basics, and most of the day will be spent building on them.

You must bring your own laptop and know how to access files on a remote server. If you've edited Drupal files on a server, or on your local machine, you already know all you need to know. We will post a handy PDF “How to get the most out of your training” with instructions soon … so check back before the Con.

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Well Tested!

This course is four years in the making and has been offered as a session, half-day training, full-day training, and an extended online immersion. Recently, it sold out at BADCamp in less than 48 hours. Reviewers rave, and we listen. Just for DrupalCon Portland, this training will be offered with 100% fewer references to the New England Patriots.

Meet the Trainers

Diana Montalion Dupuis offered self-designed trainings for many years before she became an uberGeek. (She’s even taught improv ;-) ) Since joining the Drupal community, she has trained at Camps and Cons, organized training for events, developed new trainings, and launched training programs. She even helps to define the "great training" selection criteria for DrupalCons. She is committed bringing more people into programming. During the day, she is VP of Engineering at Astonish Design, where talented coders constantly dazzle her.

View a video introduction!

Reach Out :-)

Talented trainers and PHP experts from Astonish Design (including Four Kitchens' David Diers, who will co-train the Drupal segment) will join in to ensure you get all the help you need.

Course Information

Experience Level: Beginner
Drupal Version: Drupal 7.x
Company: Astonish Design
Instructor(s): Diana Montalion Dupuis (dianadupuis)

This training is sold out

This course will not have a waitlist. If you want to try to get into this course we recommend showing up Monday, May 20 at 8:00am and checking to see if there are any cancellations.

Schedule info
Status: 
Accepted
Time Slot: 
Monday, May 20 - 09:00am-06:00pm