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I pursued my bachelors' degree in business administration, but my interest in Information Technology led me to acquire some knowledge of PHP programming and MySQL database. I find programming so interesting that I haven't applied for any job since my graduation. Currently I am staying home and just trying to acquire in-depth knowledge of PHP programming. So far I have developed couple of websites and web applications including Inventory+ Point of Sale Software and an Accounting system for small organizations.

I aim to have knowledge that a Computer Science graduate should have, and for that I want to read books but I have no idea where to start from.

Could you please suggest me some books and topics that I should study on?

Thanks a lot :)

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Related: programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/113688/…. Special book recommendation: The Pragmatic Programmer. – Péter Török Sep 14 '12 at 16:08

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3 Answers

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Start by reading and understanding what is SDLC (aka, Software development life-cycle) . It is an iterative process that involves self-improvement, learning, **practicing, practicing...**

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That would open your horizons on what areas do you need to learn or improve. There are several core software engineering books that you would also find very useful to read once you build couple of applications on your own.

For example: Once you have learned one OO programming language you may start looking at Head First Design patterns I love this book. Always by my side.

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Thanks a lot for your answer. I already heard about SDLC, but never studied in details. I will then start to study it again. But I have question to ask, if don't mind, do you think to get a job as a programmer you have to have a Computer Science Degree? Thanks :) – black_belt Sep 14 '12 at 17:43
No, you don't have to have CS degree to lunch a programmer job, however having a technical background is a plus. You may look at some certifications (Java, .NET certified professional developer) later on, once you get 2-3 years of experience. – ElYusubov Sep 14 '12 at 19:36
Thanks a lot :) – black_belt Sep 14 '12 at 20:16
up vote 1 down vote

Computer science and everyday software development in PHP hardly overlap. I can not remember when was the last time I needed anything more complicated than indexed array and foreach loop.

First I would recommend taking some of the courses in Coursera and the few other similar free e-learning platforms. They are free, and can give you enough knowledge to know what questions to ask afterwards. I would also suggest getting used to program paradigms and not languages.

Also there is a set of practical habits that you must acquire - using source control, writing clean, clear and maintainable code.

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up vote 1 down vote

Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science would be my suggestion for a book that covers a lot of CS topics from a Math perspective and does so in a good style. The book may be a bit intense but I'd presume that is fine.

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CS happens to be "intense" in maths/mathematical thinking. There's no way around that. – phant0m Sep 15 '12 at 11:17

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