Recommended PHP/Programming books.

If you already have an understanding of PHP, and you just want to make your code more modern, then perhaps: https://leanpub.com/mlaphp

Cool I will check out that book, looks interesting thanks! Beyond Laracasts sounds like a great idea, it's hard to weed out the good books from the bad.

That's a great list of books! I already own about half of them and might pick up a few more now. Another one that I highly recommend (although it's not about PHP) is SQL Antipatterns: http://www.amazon.com/SQL-Antipatterns-Programming-Pragmatic-Programmers/dp/1934356557

Most Laravel applications are likely to use a database, so having a good understanding of database design patterns and specifically what not to do is invaluable. I've been working with SQL for over 10 years now, and I still learned a ton from that book. It's not a book that teaches you the fundamental basics of SQL, so you'll need to look elsewhere for that, but it's still going to be a fantastic addition to your library.

Thanks @JeffreyWay!

@i960 Thanks man, thats a really good suggestion. Improving my SQL is definitely something I'm looking to do and I feel is a underrated part of improving performance on websites and applications!

Great book list @JeffreyWay, I would add this reference:

Learning PHP Design Patterns http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920028062.do

Bought paperback PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practices by Matt Zandstra off Amazon last night due to Jeffrey's recommendation. Seems it might be a good investment. Waiting for the delivery now.

PHP objects, patterns, and practices is a great book, highly recommended!

@toniperic It looks like you picked up Matt Zandstra's PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practices book several months ago. I am curious to know your thoughts about the book … particularly, the Patterns section.

read this gem. its awesome.

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920033868.do

@milon yeah I'm currently reading it and it's awesome. Even thought I know a decent amount of the content, it really helps to cement it well and get a really good understanding of modern PHP.

@orphanedrecord yeah. Not sure how many editions are out there, but I've got this one.

I really liked the book, especially the Patterns section as I was hoping to learn more about most-used patterns and start realizing when I could use them in my day-to-day projects. Every pattern has its own chapter, and in every chapter there is always an example that you're following thoroughout the whole chapter. Each pattern chapter is usually just a couple of pages, but sometimes in the patterns' chapter there's also some cool stuff like PHP history and how a single problem would be solved in older PHP versions and how it would be solved now, using the pattern.

Overally, I really liked the book and it was an enjoyable reading that undoubtedly improved my programming skills. It has more than 500 pages and I read it in three days I think. It's kind of addicting once you get into it. Would give it 9 out of 10, but that could just be me not understanding some of the patterns at first.

Hint: if you're anything like me, you might not get all (or most of) the patterns at first.

It'll take some time for you to experiment, get some more coding experience with simple projects or by watching Laracasts screencasts, and few months later you should just come back and read the book again and then all of the sudden everything will be much more understandable, even the stuff that seemed nuclear physics to you.

@toniperic Got it, thank you.

I agree with you, just moving forward without full grasp, then revisiting later, can make things click.

I will probably continue learning via Design Patterns With Laravel And PHP (Leanpub) and Head First Design Pattern (O'Reilly).

Here you can find a great recent book:

Modern PHP - New Features and Good Practices - By Josh Lockhart

Great reference for modern PHP and Server management.

@JEFFREYWAY - https://laracasts.com/recommended-reading returns 404

@jeffreyway Would be great if your recommended reading list could be reinstated. Currently it's 404ing. Thanks!

@JEFFREYWAY - Hey Jeffery, I did not know you lived so close to me (I am from Knoxville).

Listen, I have started my programming journey about two years ago with no prior experience.

My path to learning has been extremely difficult. I am having difficulties picking up Laravel, despite having a strong grasp on procedural PHP and a somewhat comfortable grasp on OOPHP.

Do you have any suggestions? I tried your Laravel from Scratch series, but quickly became lost halfway through.

You can refer to this list: https://hackr.io/blog/best-programming-books