Every quality software should have tests. So...

Read the unit tests / features tests first. Those will show you how a specific piece of the code works.

Also:

1. Play with composer packages.
   
2. Learn about PHP SPL
   
3. Learn about design patterns and beyond
   
4. Learn TDD, setup PHPUnit, Behat, Mink, PHPSpec
   
5. Read PHP The Right Way
   
6. Learn about clean code, EBI, DCI and how to put MVC on a shorter leash here: http://ikke.info/clean_code.html and here http://ikke.info/todo.txt and check out the #cleancode IRC channel on freenode
   
7. Read a couple of books like: PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice or Code Complete or Clean Code or The Pragmatic Programmer or The Mythical Man-Month
   
8. Start an open-source project or contribute to one
   
   
   There are a lot to learn and if you really like programming you will never stop learning.
   
   

For all the posts that will eventually come, PHP is a viable language to learn. I'm not saying it's the best language, nor a language that I would point to as an example of "this is how all programming should be done", but there's one big thing PHP has going for it:

For The Web, It Gets Shit Done

So, really, stop with the hate.

As for learning PHP, don't start with a framework. Learn core PHP first and then pick a framework. You'll have a better understanding about what is going on.

Join a local user group. Even if you can't make it to meetings, most of them have newsgroups that you can post questions to and get local advice. Check out http://www.zend.com/en/community/local-php-groups to see if there is one near you.

If you're not on Twitter, get on there to follow big names in the community. @calevans, @lornajane, @weierophinney, and @grmpyprogrammer are a few to follow.

Resources for help that aid in learning PHP:

• The PHP Website: http://php.net/docs.php
  
• PHP Developer: http://www.phpdeveloper.org/
  
• PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice: http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330829587&sr=8-1
  
• Real-World Solutions for Developing High-Quality PHP Frameworks and Applications: http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Developing-High-Quality-Frameworks-Applications/dp/0470872497/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330829770&sr=1-1
  
  [Edit]
  And before I get downvoted to hell for daring to support PHP, keep in mind that I'm not saying the OP should only learn PHP. Ruby, Python, and .NET all have great things going for them, and PHP should just be one tool in a programmer's toolbox if they are programming for the web.

Checkout the book PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice by Matt Zandstra, it helped me dive right into OOP after years of procedural programming.

Check out this online book, it covers a wide array of PHP topics, but there are some solid chapters on objects including the building of a basic OOP website.

The book, PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice is an incredible resource of PHP OOP concepts and application design. It starts off with a few chapters on the basics of OO PHP coding, giving you the rundown of syntax and inner-workings. From there it covers popular OOP design patterns (MVC, Adapter, Component, etc) and then lives up to its name by showing the patterns in practice.

After you've picked up the basics of OOP, check out a PHP web framework. I would recommend CodeIgniter for its amazing documentation, not to mention this wonderful set of video tutorials CodeIgniter from Scractch featured on Nettuts.

Once you get a working knowledge of a framework and have built some basic applications and websites, take the time to study the code behind the framework. Find out where the entry point is and trace its execution, checking out the source for each and ever object that is instantiated. Not only will you pick up on some sweet OOP concepts, but you'll gain a great understanding of how a typical OO PHP application is structured.

Good luck and have fun!

Keep your programs DRY! (Don't repeat yourself) In procedural, you would take those large blocks of code and faction them up into functions. With OOP, look even more abstractly and take several large blocks of related code and put them into classes, which are, at a very basic level, a collection of related functions and properties.

PHP the right way is a very good site, but for books one of my favorite in php is http://www.amazon.com/dp/143022925X/ PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice. I never used media wiki but joomlas code base a few years ago was a joke (hope it has gotten better!).

Just FYI, the 3rd edition came out June 2010

http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302134786&sr=1-3

I've heard really good things about PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice.

http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342717094&sr=8-1

I've go with PHP Objects Patterns & Prac. I haven't read the other 2, but this book is definitely worth investing in

I haven't read it all yet, but I've gotten through a good amount of PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice by Matt Zandstra. Just like you, prior to reading this I was a seasoned PHP programmer but developed very little OOP stuff. The book provides some good real-world examples and also gives the pros/cons of the techniques he's teaching.

Check out this question on StackOverflow.

I could also vouch for PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice. When I was learning OOP, I found the book straightforward and quite easy to understand.

> How do I learn all the technologies that have emerged out in the recent years?

Slowly.

Read. Books, large projects, small projects, blogs.

I wrote something on PHPUnit.

I wrote something on XDebug.

I wrote something on Composer.

Frameworks aren't for learning how to write PHP. You should already know PHP pretty well before deciding on using a framework. If you try to learn OOP through using a framework you're Going To Have a Bad Time.

Read this to figure out what a framework actually is and what it's for.

If you're not very familiar with how to use OOP, read /u/ircmaxell's blog, from the beginning.

If you need to actually gain more in-depth understanding of OOP, read this and then this.

My advice, this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/143022925X/ref=oss_product

You should read this: http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X

This helped me a lot when getting used to OOP and how to practically use it in my apps.

read this
then this

Build something you like while reading them.

For someone so spread out, one of the best things you can do is get a book about design patters / principles, as those theories spread across multiple languages.

General : http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345469375&sr=1-1&keywords=design+patterns

This was a decent one for PHP: http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345469244&sr=8-1&keywords=php+design+patterns

The book Learning PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS & HTML5 was one of the most useful PHP books I read as a newcomer to PHP. It's very basic but it teaches how you can start using PHP to do useful and interesting things.

After making it though that book, I think PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice is a really good next step. It will help you learn to design, organize, and write your code to a more professional standard. It will also help you better understand the workings of a PHP framework.

PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice - Expert's Voice in Open Source -

I am only on page 65 and I got a good grasped of OOP.


Building PHP Applications with Symfony, CakePHP, and Zend Framework

Another great book. Especially if you havent decided which framework to go with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCUV3iv9xOs&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP442FA2C127377F07

Followed by http://www.amazon.com/dp/143022925X/

When you're beginning in PHP, remember that the code that you write at first will be almost surely very insecure in some way or another. Now no-one is perfect at security, but just keep this in the back of your mind while you're learning :)

http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454065646&sr=8-2&keywords=php+pattern

Imo good replacement for gang of four book would be this http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X
To be honest i don't think there is much depth into PHP itself. If you want to become a better programmer you should pick up other languages preferably fundamentally different from PHP. It will change your preception of problems/solutions and the way you program in your main language.

Eu sunt în general împotriva tutorialelor, cel puţin pe partea de programare. E greu de urmărit şi nu prea are de-a face cu procesul de învăţare ci mai degrabă cu cel de înmagazinare a unor cunoştinţe.
Cel mai bine ar fi la început să începi să citeşti o carte/un articol despre concepte ale programării în general pentru ca apoi să te apuci de sintaxa unui anume limbaj. Plus că îţi trebuie determinare şi multă răbdare.

Odată ce ai prins basicul limbajului, recomandarea mea ar fi să te implici într-un proiect la care poţi contribui cu cod. Codul ăsta va suferi o grămadă de transformări pentru ca la final să nu mai semene deloc cu cel de la început. Ştiu, sună descurajator dar ăsta e procesul natural prin care îţi îmbunătăţeşti skillurile.

Dacă vrei neapărat tutorial video, singura mea recomandarea ar fi PHP with MySQL Essential Training
with Kevin Skoglund
, însă repet: nu mi se pare cea mai fericită metodă de a învăţa programare. Cele mai sfinte lucruri în PHP sunt: cărţile, practica şi http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php!

Dintre cărţi ţi-aş recomanda:

• Programming PHP
  
• Learning PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, and CSS: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites
  
• PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice 3rd Edition (Expert's Voice in Open Source)
  
  Astea fiind spuse, îţi urez spor la treabă!

I have an older edition but it was worth every penny.

http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X

There's this: http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X

And while i won't link to them here, you can find pirated PDFs of that book quite easily in Google, if you'd like to skim through and see if it's what you're looking for (and if it is, buy it - don't be a dick).

PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice (3rd Ed) is a fantastic book which is a little bit more advanced that takes you into the OOP aspect of PHP.

I started with Head First PHP & MySQL when I started years ago. Two books I loved the most though were Beginning PHP and MySQL From Novice to Professional and PHP Solutions Dynamic Web Design Made Easy.

Later this book helped me immensely PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice.

Ultimately, php.net is your bible and you can learn everything from there alone. Post on forums and ask for help. Try something and stick with it, don't jump around creating dozens of projects but stick with one and expand it.

Also this

Years ago, when I wanted to go from hacking around in PHP to learning to use the language properly, I found an excellent book that helped a lot: PHP Objects, Patterns and Practice. The author walks you through creating a basic framework of your own. (Personally, I prefer basic things to heavyweight frameworks anyway.) It's a great book, and it seems there was a new edition published in 2010. I would recommend it.